Quotes from Mr. Sammler's Planet

Saul Bellow ·  288 pages

Rating: (2.8K votes)


“Being right was largely a matter of explanations.”
― Saul Bellow, quote from Mr. Sammler's Planet


“The terms which, in his inmost heart, each man knows. As I know mine. As all know. For that is the truth of it — that we all know, God, that we know, that we know, we know, we know.”
― Saul Bellow, quote from Mr. Sammler's Planet


“Greatness without models? Inconceivable. One could not be the thing itself - Reality. One must be satisfied with symbols. Make it the object of imitation to reach and release the high qualities. Make peace therefore with intermediacy and representations. Otherwise the individual must be the failure he now sees and knows himself to be.”
― Saul Bellow, quote from Mr. Sammler's Planet


“The Indian temperament is so excitable, you know.”
― Saul Bellow, quote from Mr. Sammler's Planet


“But fathers are soft on daughters. Look how Dad favors Angela. He gave her ten times more. Because she reminded him of Mae West. He was always smiling at her boobs. He wasn't aware of it. Mother and I saw it.”
― Saul Bellow, quote from Mr. Sammler's Planet



“He was looking for the Knight of Faith, the real prodigy. That real prodigy, having set its relations with the infinite, was entirely at home in the finite. Able to carry the jewel of faith, making the motions of the infinite, and as a result needing nothing but the finite and the usual. Whereas others sought the extraordinary in the world. Or wished to be what was gaped at.”
― Saul Bellow, quote from Mr. Sammler's Planet


About the author

Saul Bellow
Born place: in Lachine, Quebec, Canada
Born date June 10, 1915
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“I wish wishing were enough, but it's not. Sometimes you need a thing.”
― David Arnold, quote from Mosquitoland


“All of this suggests that one of the best things each of us can do—not only for ourselves, but also for our children and grandchildren—is to metabolize our pain and heal our trauma. When we heal and make more room for growth in our nervous systems, we have a better chance of spreading our emotional health to our descendants, via healthy DNA expression. In contrast, when we don’t address our trauma, we may pass it on to future generations, along with some of our fear, constriction, and dirty pain.”
― Resmaa Menakem, quote from My Grandmother's Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Mending of Our Bodies and Hearts


“His attention caught, her companion raised his eyes from the book which lay open beside him on the table and directed them upon her in a look of aloof enquiry. 'What's that? Did you say something to me, Venetia?'
'Yes, love,' responded his sister cheerfully, 'but it wasn't of the least consequence, and in any event I answered for you. You would be astonished, I daresay, if you knew what interesting conversations I enjoy with myself.”
― Georgette Heyer, quote from Venetia


“but one egg isn't good for anything at all”
― L. Frank Baum, quote from Ozma of Oz


“What are you afraid of then?'
She pondered. He had already noticed that it was her hands which indicated what she was thinking of quite as much as her face and now he watched as she cupped them, making them ready to receive her thoughts.
'Not being able to see, I think,' she said.
'Being blind, you mean?'
'No, not that. That would be terrible hard but Homer managed it and our blind piano tuner is one of the serenest people I know. I mean ... not seeing because you're obsessed by something that blots out the world. Some sort of mania of belief. Or passion. That awful kind of love that makes leaves and birds and cherry blossom invisible because it's not the face on some man.”
― Eva Ibbotson, quote from A Song for Summer


Interesting books

Undaunted Courage: The Pioneering First Mission to Explore America's Wild Frontier
(39.9K)
Undaunted Courage: T...
by Stephen E. Ambrose
The Stranger Beside Me: Ted Bundy The Shocking Inside Story
(43.9K)
The Stranger Beside...
by Ann Rule
Taran Wanderer
(32.7K)
Taran Wanderer
by Lloyd Alexander
The Soldiers of Halla
(20.9K)
The Soldiers of Hall...
by D.J. MacHale
Pure
(21.9K)
Pure
by Julianna Baggott
Unscrupulous
(1.8K)
Unscrupulous
by Avery Aster

About BookQuoters

BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.