Quotes from Something Happened

Joseph Heller ·  576 pages

Rating: (6.3K votes)


“Something did happen to me somewhere that robbed me of confidence and courage and left me with a fear of discovery and change and a positive dread of everything unknown that may occur.”
― Joseph Heller, quote from Something Happened


“i know at last what i want to be when i grow up. when i grow up i want to be a little boy.”
― Joseph Heller, quote from Something Happened


“Maybe I am senile already and people are too kind to tell me. People are not kind and would tell me. (Maybe people have told me, and I'm too senile to remember).”
― Joseph Heller, quote from Something Happened


“I get the willies when I see closed doors.”
― Joseph Heller, quote from Something Happened


“I have a feeling that someone nearby is soon going to find out something about me that will mean the end, although I can't imagine what that something is.”
― Joseph Heller, quote from Something Happened



“I frequently feel I'm being taken advantage of merely because I'm asked to do the work I'm paid to do.”
― Joseph Heller, quote from Something Happened


“It's a real problem to decide whether it's more boring to do something boring than to pass along everything boring that comes in to somebody else and then have nothing to do at all.”
― Joseph Heller, quote from Something Happened


“I suppose it is just about impossible for someone like me to rebel anymore and produce any kind of lasting effect. I have lost the power to upset things that I had as a child; I can no longer change my environment or even disturb it seriously.”
― Joseph Heller, quote from Something Happened


“trying to evade the people who frighten us. We come to work, have lunch, and go home. We goose-step in and goose-step out, changing our partner and wander all about, sashay around for a pat on the head, and promenade home till we all drop dead.”
― Joseph Heller, quote from Something Happened


“That's what Paradise is- never knowing the difference.”
― Joseph Heller, quote from Something Happened



“Depreciating motels, junked automobiles, and quick-food joints grow like amber waves of grain.”
― Joseph Heller, quote from Something Happened


“And between us now there is this continual underground struggle over something trivial and nebulous that won't abate and has lasted nearly as long as the two of us have known each other. "I love you.”
― Joseph Heller, quote from Something Happened


“Niet nikoho, kým by som bol radšej než sám sebou - aj keď sa v skutočnosti nemám rád a dokonca som si ani nie istý, kto som.”
― Joseph Heller, quote from Something Happened


About the author

Joseph Heller
Born place: in Brooklyn, New York, The United States
Born date May 1, 1923
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“Gymnastes, Gargantua’ya düşmanın ardına düşmenin gerekli olup olmadığını sordu.
Gargantua şöyle karşılık verdi ona:
“Hiç gerekli değil, çünkü gerçek askerlik sanatı gereğince düşmanı umutsuzluğa düşürmemeliyiz; bıçak kemiğe dayandı mı, düşman yıpranıp tükenmekte olan gücünü ve yüreğini yeniden toparlayıverir. Hiçbir kurtuluş umudu kalmaması, bitmiş tükenmiş insanları diriltip kurtaracak olan ilaçların en iyisidir. Nice zaferler, yenenlerin elinden kaçıp yenilenlerin eline geçmiştir, çünkü yenenler hak ettikleri kadarıyla yetinmeyip her şeyi çiğneyip yok etmeye, düşmanlarını haber götürecek tek kişi bırakmamacasına öldürmeye kalkmışlardır! Düşmanlarınıza kapıları, yolları açın her zaman; hatta gümüşten bir köprü kurun onlara geçip gitmeleri için.”
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“Everything was like a business deal to him. Approach from different angles until you find one that works. "Go on then," I said, rolling my eyes. "Make your pitch. But remember, the clock is ticking." "Dinner." "Dinner? As in, the two of us?" He nodded. "That sounds dangerously close to a date," I replied. "Wouldn't that be breaking the rules?" He smiled ruefully. "Maybe, but I don't believe you've given me much choice." "Of course I have. You could just leave me alone instead." "I don't consider that an option at all.”
― Maya Cross, quote from Locked


“Oh, God in heaven, kill me now…” Rachel groaned. “I hate going to see Mrak. I always feel awkward going back to Velik Tor. After being a Scorpion for so long, after everything Oron’s told us about Mrak’s past…” she shook her head darkly. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to resist the temptation to perforate his bowels.”
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“You made that up, he did not say that!”
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Rachel squinted at the writing. “Faul.”
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