John Updike Quotes

I grew up in Harlem Grant projects, and I didn't have a whole lot then. I've always been good about only getting what I need, not what I want. Just because someone else has something, I don't feel the need to.

We are not that flash, me or the missus. In fact, we are quite low-maintenance.

I think that being a simple person suits me.

We never complained, 'We don't have this or that.' Even though we had to plant certain things and harvest them to be able to eat, we never complained.

. . . Wait, my child, wait and work on. Patience, patience. . . . .

If we are deprived of hope as well as fear, we are compensated by being given an almost endless patience for enduring or simply for waiting.

Wisdom makes a slow defense against trouble, though a sure one in the end.

Don't you *ever* let go?" "I haven't yet." "Why?" "I suppose... because in this world, after everyone panics, there's always got to be someone to tip the wee out of the shoe.

I have children. I have a family to support. But I really could live in a one-room apartment, as long as the television worked. I never needed anything. Just a comfortable chair and I'm fine.

We should strive to go on in fortune and misfortune like a clock during a thunderstorm.

Patience is a good palfrey, and will carry us a long day.

Set not thyself to attain much rest, but much patience.

The way to succeed is never quit. That's it. But really be humble about it. ... You start out lowly and humble and you carefully try to learn an accretion of little things that help you get there.

Grateful to be a little boat, full of water, still floating.

What can we do but keep on breathing in and out, modest and willing, and in our places?

Life is hard and astonishingly complicated.... No one great reform will make it easy. Most of us who work -- or want to work -- will always have trouble or discontent. So we must learn to be calm, and train all our faculties, and make others happy.

Work hard and meticulously. When in trouble, look closely at a text that is a good example of what you're trying to do. And be patient.

We should manage our fortune as we do our health - enjoy it when good, be patient when it is bad, and never apply violent remedies except in an extreme necessity

Stand through life firm as a rock in the sea, undisturbed and unmoved by its ever-rising waves

I'll tell you how I handle stress. I say-This too shall pass. You've got to try to stay cool and admit when you're wrong, and tell them when you're right.

She was alive, and they were dead. She had to try to make her life big. As big as she could. She promised Bailey she would keep playing.

I was never pegged to be the next great American tennis player by any means. I wasn't a prodigy. I'm a late bloomer. Whatever happens, I'm proud of what I've done.

I think most human beings, even if you're in a situation that's constricting or complicated or hard, they try to survive.

If you are left with only one piece of homespun,wear it with dignity