“The need to write comes from the need to make sense of one’s life and discover one’s usefulness.”

— John Cheever, Accepting Edward MacDowell Medal (September 8, 1979)

About John Cheever

1912 – 1982

American novelist and short-story writer.

“Art is the triumph over chaos.”

“Admire the world. Relish the love of a gentle woman. Trust in the lord.”

“When the beginnings of self-destruction enter the heart it seems no bigger than a grain of sand.”

“The wise man will live as long as he ought, not as long as he can.”

“In theory there is nothing to hinder our following what we are taught; but in life there are many things to draw us aside.”

“The better part of valour is discretion; in the which better part I have saved my life.”

“So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, so long lives this, and this gives life to thee.”

“We are such stuff as dreams are made on; and our little life is rounded with a sleep.”

“Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage.”