American - Critic | April 23, 1929 -
The immense majority of human biographies are a gray transit between domestic spasm and oblivion.
George Steiner
GrayHumanMajorityTransitBetween
To many men... the miasma of peace seems more suffocating than the bracing air of war.
MenPeaceWarMoreAirSeems
My writing of fiction comes under a very general heading of those teachers, critics, scholars who like to try their own hand once or twice in their lives.
WritingTeachersHandTryCritics
Every one of my opponents, every one of my critics, will tell you that I am a generalist spread far too thin in an age when this is not done anymore, when responsible knowledge is specialized knowledge.
AgeKnowledgeI AmYouDoneWill
Books are in no hurry. An act of creation is in no hurry; it reads us, it privileges us infinitely. The notion that it is the occasion for our cleverness fills me with baffled bitterness and anger.
AngerMeBitternessCreationActUs
Given my age, I am pretty near the end, probably, of my career as a writer, a scholar, a teacher. And I wanted to speak of things I will not be able to do.
AgeTeacherI AmSpeakEndCareer
I have every reason to believe that an individual man or woman fluent in several tongues seduces, possesses, remembers differently according to his or her use of the relevant language.
WomanManBelieveLanguageReason
I find so much writing colourless, small in its means, unwilling to take stylistic risks. Often it goes wrong; I am not the one to judge. Sometimes, I hope, it goes right.
HopeI AmRisksWritingSmallJudge
I have students who are now in chairs in five continents. They invite me to their inaugurals. A tremendous reward.
MeRewardNowStudentsFiveInvite
I'm sorry, I'm absolutely convinced that there is at the moment no realistic prospect for very much hope in human affairs.
HopeMomentSorryHumanRealistic
It took 10 months for me to learn to tie a lace; I must have howled with rage and frustration. But one day I could tie my laces. That no one can take from you. I profoundly distrust the pedagogy of ease.
DayMeFrustrationLearnYouRage
I learned early on that 'rabbi' means teacher, not priest.
TeacherEarlyRabbiPriestMeans
Copyright © 2024 QuotesDict George Steiner quotes