More quotes by J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye

"I'm not trying to tell you,"he said "that only educated men are able to contribute something valuable to the world. It's not so.But I do say that educated and scholarly men, if they're brilliant and creative to begin with--which, unfortunately, is rarely the case--tend to leave infinitely more valuable records behind them than men do who are MEREly brilliant and creative."
"It's such a stupid question, in my opinion. I mean, how do you know what you're going to do till you do it? The answer is, you don't. I think I am, but how do I know? I swear it's a stupid question."
"Don't ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody."
"Grand. There's a word I really hate. It's a phony. I could puke every time I hear it."
"It's partly true, too, but it isn't all true. People always think something's all true."