Bernard Malamud

"One can't make pure clay of time's mud. There is no life that can be recaptured wholly; as it was. Which is to say that all biography is ultimately fiction."

"I think I said "All men are Jews except they don't know it." I doubt I expected anyone to take the statement literally. But I think it's an understandable statement and a metaphoric way of indicating …"

"If I may, I would at this point urge young writers not to be too much concerned with the vagaries of the marketplace. Not everyone can make a first-rate living as a writer, but a writer who is serious…"

"We have two lives, Roy, the life we learn with and the life we live with after that. Suffering is what brings us toward happiness."

"Without heroes, we're all plain people, and don't know how far we can go."

"Those who write about life, reflect about life…. you see in others who you are."

"There comes a time in a man's life when to get where he has to – if there are no doors or windows – he walks through a wall."

"Life is a tragedy full of joy."