J.D. Salinger Quotes (158 Quotes)

Certain things, they should stay the way they are. You ought to be able to stick them in one of those big glass cases and just leave them alone.

I hate actors. They never act like people. They just think they do.

If you do something too good, then, after a while, if you don't watch it, you start showing off. And then you're not as good any more.

It's partly true, too, but it isn't all true. People always think something's all true.

Some people you shouldn't kid, even if they deserve it.

What really knocks me out is a book that, when you're all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it. That doesn't happen much, though.

If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth.

Take most people, they are crazy about cars. They worry if they get a little scratch on them, they are always talking about have many miles they get to a gallon, and if they get a brand new car already they start thinking about trading it in for one that is even newer. I do not even like old cars.... I'd rather have a horse. A horse is at least human, for God's sake.