Joseph Heller Quotes

You cannot continue to victimize someone else just because you yourself were a victim once—there has to be a limit

Our history doesn't look at our own violence, the violence in our own past, and we go out and repeat it someplace else.

One day I decided to try to have a complete day without tea. I was quite shaken. I was quite disturbed.

Fern was up at daylight, trying to rid the world of injustice. As a result, she now has a pig. A small one to be sure, but nevertheless a pig. It just shows what can happen if a person gets out of bed promptly.

To bring about change, you must not be afraid to take the first step. We will fail when we fail to try.

Somebody must have sense enough and morality enough to cut off the chain of hate and the chain of evil in the universe. And you do that by love

I have this terrible habit of wanting to try to be consistent and develop a philosophy that's coherent.

Either you vegetate and look out a window, or activate and try to effect change.

I'm just trying to do my part before I get hit by a bus.

I have a good memory for words, and when I come upon a word I don't know, I remember it, or try to - it's almost like a tic.

A lot of fancier yarns come from people trying to tell the truth. It’s not easy once you’re out of the habit.

If she doesn't speak, she is making a choice. If she doesn't try, she can lose her chance forever. -An-mei

There's no point sitting here, using words that mean nothing. Go and experiment. It's time you got out of here. Go and re-conquer your kingdom, which has grown corrupted by routine. Stop repeating the same lesson, because you won't learn anything new that way.

If we really want to live, we'd better start at once to try.

Once one habit peels away the others follow it. You have to hold on, or the next thing you'll find yourself parading down the street in your nightdress. Habit is everything.

I told my manager, 'If we can't do the things now that we want to do, what good is the power?... Let's test it and try to get the things done that we believe in.'

Black folks don't have a chance, so they are in the hood, dealing drugs, in a shoot-out. They do it again and one more time they are out.

The difference between those that succeed and those that fail is, those that succeeded tried.

I would rather fail trying than succeed at doing nothing.

I am trying to check my habits of seeing, to counter them for the sake of greater freshness. I am trying to be unfamiliar with what I'm doing.

There is no excuse for not trying.

Try stuff. I also used to believe that it's better to be smart than lucky because if you're smart you can out-think the competition. I don't believe that anymore-this is not to say that you should strive for a high level of stupidity. My point is that luck is a big part of many successes, so (a) don't get too bummed out when you see a bozo succeed; and (b) luck favors the people who try stuff, not simply think and analyze. As the Chinese say, "One must wait for a long time with your mouth open before a Peking duck flies in your mouth."

The truth of the matter is, we're not far away from where we should be. We can complain about the problem or we can go out and solve the problem. I choose to go out and try to solve the problem.