John Updike

"Dreams come true. Without that possibility, nature would not incite us to have them."

"American art in general... takes to surreal exaggerations and metaphors; but its Puritan work ethic has little use for the playful self-indulgence behind Parisian Surrealism."

"The true New Yorker secretly believes that people living anywhere else have to be, in some sense, kidding."

"Being able to write becomes a kind of shield, a way of hiding, a way of too instantly transforming pain into honey."

"Professionalism in art has this difficulty: To be professional is to be dependable, to be dependable is to be predictable, and predictability is esthetically boring - an anti-virtue in a field where we hope to be astonished and startled and at some deep level refreshed."

"Humor is my default mode."

"Professionalism in art has this difficulty: To be professional is to be dependable, to be dependable is to be predictable, and predictability is esthetically boring - an anti-virtue in a field where we hope to be astonished and startled and at some deep level refreshed."

"What art offers is space - a certain breathing room for the spirit."

"Rain is grace; rain is the sky descending to the earth; without rain, there would be no life."

"Art is like baby shoes. When you coat them with gold, they can no longer be worn."

"Professionalism in art has this difficulty: To be professional is to be dependable, to be dependable is to be predictable, and predictability is esthetically boring - an anti-virtue in a field where we hope to be astonished and startled and at some deep level refreshed."

"Professionalism in art has this difficulty: To be professional is to be dependable, to be dependable is to be predictable, and predictability is esthetically boring - an anti-virtue in a field where we hope to be astonished and startled and at some deep level refreshed."