Quotes from The Assistant

Bernard Malamud ·  246 pages

Rating: (8.3K votes)


“When I don't feel hurt, I hope they bury me.”
― Bernard Malamud, quote from The Assistant


“His worst fault is he thinks his brains entitle him to certain privileges.”
― Bernard Malamud, quote from The Assistant


“But she had recently come to think that in such unhappy times--when the odds were so high against personal happiness--to find love was miraculous, and to fulfill it as best two people could was what really mattered.”
― Bernard Malamud, quote from The Assistant


“She had recently come to think that in such unhappy times-when the odds were so high against personal happiness-to find love was miraculous, and to fulfill it as best as two people could was what really mattered. Was it more important to insist a man's religious beliefs be exactly hers, or that the two of them have in common ideals, a desire to keep love in their lives, and to preserve in every possible way what was best in themselves? The less difference among people, the better; thus she settled it for herself yet was dissatisfied for those for whom she hadn't settled it,”
― Bernard Malamud, quote from The Assistant


“Overnight business could go down enough to hurt; yet as a rule it slowly recovered--sometimes it seemed to take forever--went up, not high enough to be really up, only not down.”
― Bernard Malamud, quote from The Assistant



“Where a boy runs he never forgets.”
― Bernard Malamud, quote from The Assistant


“Lei si recava in biblioteca in media due volte a settimana, prendendo solo un libro o due per volta, perché ritornare a chiederne un altro era una delle sue poche gioie. Anche nei momenti in cui si sentiva più sola le piaceva trovarsi in mezzo ai libri, sebbene qualche volta fosse deprimente vedere il numero dei volumi che non aveva ancora letto.”
― Bernard Malamud, quote from The Assistant


“Le storie ci accompagneranno finchè esisterà l'uomo. Lo si capisce, in parte, dall'effetto che hanno sui bambini. Grazie alle storie i bambini capiscono che il mistero non li ucciderà. Grazie alle storie scoprono di avere un futuro.”
― Bernard Malamud, quote from The Assistant


“It was a strange thing about people- they could look the same but be different.”
― Bernard Malamud, quote from The Assistant


“Erano i primi di novembre e all'alba l'oscurità della notte durava ancora nella via, ma il vento, con meraviglia del negoziante, imperversava già. Gli sbatté con violenza il grembiule in faccia mentre si chinava a raccogliere le due cassette di latte dal bordo del marciapiede. Ansimando, Morris Bober trascinò fino alla porta i pesanti recipienti.”
― Bernard Malamud, quote from The Assistant



“Più sgobbava - la sua fatica era un'immagine del tempo che divora se stesso - meno sembrava possedere.”
― Bernard Malamud, quote from The Assistant


“Certe persone desidererebbero che i loro figli leggessero di più. Io vorrei che tu leggessi di meno.”
― Bernard Malamud, quote from The Assistant


“Era in balia di ogni soffio di vento, non possedeva nulla.”
― Bernard Malamud, quote from The Assistant


“Era nato buono, il che se ti capita è una virtù.”
― Bernard Malamud, quote from The Assistant


“L'America era diventata troppo complicata e un uomo non contava più nulla. Troppi negozi, troppe depressioni, troppe ansie. Cosa aveva voluto fuggire, venendo qui?”
― Bernard Malamud, quote from The Assistant



“Quando un uomo è onesto dorme tranquillo. E questo vale più di cinque centesimi rubati.”
― Bernard Malamud, quote from The Assistant


“L'uomo non dimentica mai i luoghi in cui ha corso da bambino.”
― Bernard Malamud, quote from The Assistant


“Sam Pearl, curvo su un foglio verde delle corse, gli fece un cenno di saluto con la mano grassoccia. A nessuno dei due veniva mai in mente di mettersi a chiacchierare. Che ne capiva lui delle corse di cavalli? Che ne sapeva l'altro della tragicità della vita?”
― Bernard Malamud, quote from The Assistant


“Tirò su una palata di neve e la buttò in strada. Si polverizzò a mezz'aria e turbinò via.”
― Bernard Malamud, quote from The Assistant


“Quando si ha qualcosa da fare che valga la pena, dormire è una perdita.”
― Bernard Malamud, quote from The Assistant



“L'idea che qualunque cosa facesse si dovesse trasformare in un evento irrimediabile, gli dava un senso disperato di frustrazione.”
― Bernard Malamud, quote from The Assistant


“Ogni occhiata perduta, per uno che viveva di sguardi, era una perdita irrimediabile.”
― Bernard Malamud, quote from The Assistant


About the author

Bernard Malamud
Born place: in Brooklyn, New York, The United States
Born date April 28, 1914
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