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Top 500 Saul Bellow Quotes (2026 Update)
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Saul Bellow Quote: “Maybe the making of mistakes expressed the very purpose of his life and the essence of his being here.”

451. “Maybe the making of mistakes expressed the very purpose of his life and the essence of his being here.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “Margaret would tell him he did not really want a divorce; he was afraid of it. He cried, “Take everything I’ve got, Margaret. Let me go to Reno. Don’t you want to marry again?” No. She went out with other men, but took his money. She lived in order to punish him.”

452. “Margaret would tell him he did not really want a divorce; he was afraid of it. He cried, “Take everything I’ve got, Margaret. Let me go to Reno. Don’t you want to marry again?” No. She went out with other men, but took his money. She lived in order to punish him.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “She just has fixed herself on me to kill me. She can do it at long distance. One of these days I’ll be struck down by suffocation or apoplexy because of her.”

453. “She just has fixed herself on me to kill me. She can do it at long distance. One of these days I’ll be struck down by suffocation or apoplexy because of her.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “Oh, death from what we do not want is the most common of all the causes.”

454. “Oh, death from what we do not want is the most common of all the causes.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “I know how long – endless – people’s stories are when they have grievances. And how tedious for everyone.”

455. “I know how long – endless – people’s stories are when they have grievances. And how tedious for everyone.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “But then he realized that he did not need to perform elaborate abstract intellectual work – work he had always thrown himself into as if it were the struggle for survival. But not thinking is not necessarily fatal. Did I really believe that I would die when thinking stopped? Now to fear such a thing – that’s really crazy.”

456. “But then he realized that he did not need to perform elaborate abstract intellectual work – work he had always thrown himself into as if it were the struggle for survival. But not thinking is not necessarily fatal. Did I really believe that I would die when thinking stopped? Now to fear such a thing – that’s really crazy.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “But I’m thinking of the great death populations of the Gulags and the German labor camps. Why does the century – I don’t know how else to put it – underwrite so much destruction? There is a lameness that comes over all of us when we consider these facts.”

457. “But I’m thinking of the great death populations of the Gulags and the German labor camps. Why does the century – I don’t know how else to put it – underwrite so much destruction? There is a lameness that comes over all of us when we consider these facts.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “Is it faith? Or is it simply childishness, expecting to be loved for doing your bidden task? It is, if you’re looking for the psychological explanation, childish and classically depressive.”

458. “Is it faith? Or is it simply childishness, expecting to be loved for doing your bidden task? It is, if you’re looking for the psychological explanation, childish and classically depressive.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “Looking for happiness – ought to be prepared for bad results.”

459. “Looking for happiness – ought to be prepared for bad results.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “The challenge of modern freedom, or the combination of isolation and freedom which confronts you, is to make yourself up. The danger is that you may emerge from the process as a not-entirely-human creature.”

460. “The challenge of modern freedom, or the combination of isolation and freedom which confronts you, is to make yourself up. The danger is that you may emerge from the process as a not-entirely-human creature.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “Why should one man have the power to damage all nature or pollute the entire world?”

461. “Why should one man have the power to damage all nature or pollute the entire world?”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “No one seemed satisfied, and Wilhelm was especially horrified by the cynicism of successful people. Cynicism was bread and meat to everyone And irony, too. Maybe it couldn’t be helped.”

462. “No one seemed satisfied, and Wilhelm was especially horrified by the cynicism of successful people. Cynicism was bread and meat to everyone And irony, too. Maybe it couldn’t be helped.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “No court would have awarded her the amounts he paid.”

463. “No court would have awarded her the amounts he paid.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “He was an extremely correct person except that he never shaved in the morning, not caring, probably, how he looked to the fumblers and the old people and the operators and the gamblers and the idlers of Broadway uptown.”

464. “He was an extremely correct person except that he never shaved in the morning, not caring, probably, how he looked to the fumblers and the old people and the operators and the gamblers and the idlers of Broadway uptown.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “That’s right. That was bad. Especially winters. You should have had more sense. That house made a prisoner of her. It must have been just dreary, washing and cooking, and to have to hush the baby, or you’d raise hell, she said. You couldn’t think when June was crying, and you’d rush from your room hollering.” “Yes, I was stupid – a blockhead.”

465. “That’s right. That was bad. Especially winters. You should have had more sense. That house made a prisoner of her. It must have been just dreary, washing and cooking, and to have to hush the baby, or you’d raise hell, she said. You couldn’t think when June was crying, and you’d rush from your room hollering.” “Yes, I was stupid – a blockhead.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “And he makes all sorts of people feel that he has exactly what they’ve been looking for. Subtlety for the subtle. Warmth for the warm. For the crude, crudity. For the crooks, hypocrisy. Atrocity for the atrocious. Whatever your heart desires. Emotional plasma which can circulate in any system.”

466. “And he makes all sorts of people feel that he has exactly what they’ve been looking for. Subtlety for the subtle. Warmth for the warm. For the crude, crudity. For the crooks, hypocrisy. Atrocity for the atrocious. Whatever your heart desires. Emotional plasma which can circulate in any system.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “You’re very sympathetic, even the young girls feel that. You’d make a good provider. But they go more for the other types.”

467. “You’re very sympathetic, even the young girls feel that. You’d make a good provider. But they go more for the other types.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “Without teaching, Jewry was an impossibility.”

468. “Without teaching, Jewry was an impossibility.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “Now Gersbach always boomed along in conversation. He was so emphatic in style, so impressive in his glances, looked so clever that you forgot to inquire whether he was making sense.”

469. “Now Gersbach always boomed along in conversation. He was so emphatic in style, so impressive in his glances, looked so clever that you forgot to inquire whether he was making sense.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “Cynicism was bread and meat to everyone. And irony, too. Maybe it couldn’t be helped. It was probably even necessary.”

470. “Cynicism was bread and meat to everyone. And irony, too. Maybe it couldn’t be helped. It was probably even necessary.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “I discovered, however, in the early days of our marriage that, in having her way, she put my interests ahead of her own.”

471. “I discovered, however, in the early days of our marriage that, in having her way, she put my interests ahead of her own.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “Because today’s asylum might be the dungeon of tomorrow.”

472. “Because today’s asylum might be the dungeon of tomorrow.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “When I was younger I used to think that my good intentions were somehow communicated to people by a secret telepathic wig-wag system. It was therefore disappointing to see at last that unless I spelt things out I couldn’t hope to get credit for goodwill.”

473. “When I was younger I used to think that my good intentions were somehow communicated to people by a secret telepathic wig-wag system. It was therefore disappointing to see at last that unless I spelt things out I couldn’t hope to get credit for goodwill.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “My very fingertips rehearsed how they would work the keys of the trumpet, imagination’s trumpet, when I got ready to blow it at last. The peals of that brass would be heard beyond the earth, out in space itself. When that Messiah, that savior faculty the imagination was roused, finally we could look again with open eyes upon the whole shining earth.”

474. “My very fingertips rehearsed how they would work the keys of the trumpet, imagination’s trumpet, when I got ready to blow it at last. The peals of that brass would be heard beyond the earth, out in space itself. When that Messiah, that savior faculty the imagination was roused, finally we could look again with open eyes upon the whole shining earth.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “But such vexations always filled me with energy as well. And if I later became such a formidable mass of credentials it was because I put such slights to good use. I avenged myself by making progress.”

475. “But such vexations always filled me with energy as well. And if I later became such a formidable mass of credentials it was because I put such slights to good use. I avenged myself by making progress.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “M-machinery’ll make an ocean of commodities. Dictators can’t stop it. Man will accept death. Live without God. That’s a b-brave project. End of an illusion. But with what values instead?”

476. “M-machinery’ll make an ocean of commodities. Dictators can’t stop it. Man will accept death. Live without God. That’s a b-brave project. End of an illusion. But with what values instead?”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “Because you’re a highbrow and married a highbrow broad. Somewhere in every intellectual is a dumb prick. You guys can’t answer your own questions –.”

477. “Because you’re a highbrow and married a highbrow broad. Somewhere in every intellectual is a dumb prick. You guys can’t answer your own questions –.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “But how we love looking fine in the eyes of the world – how beautiful are the old when they are doing a snow job!”

478. “But how we love looking fine in the eyes of the world – how beautiful are the old when they are doing a snow job!”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “Wait a minute, though: Sammler denied himself the privilege of the high-principled intellectual who must always be applying the purest standards and thumping the rest of his species on the head. When he tried to imagine a just social order, he could not do it. A non-corrupt society? He could not do that either. There were no revolutions that he could remember which had not been made for justice, freedom, and pure goodness. Their last state was always more nihilistic than the first.”

479. “Wait a minute, though: Sammler denied himself the privilege of the high-principled intellectual who must always be applying the purest standards and thumping the rest of his species on the head. When he tried to imagine a just social order, he could not do it. A non-corrupt society? He could not do that either. There were no revolutions that he could remember which had not been made for justice, freedom, and pure goodness. Their last state was always more nihilistic than the first.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “Rubin, the man at the newsstand, had poor eyes. They may not have been actually weak but they were poor in expression, with lacy lids that furled down at the corners.”

480. “Rubin, the man at the newsstand, had poor eyes. They may not have been actually weak but they were poor in expression, with lacy lids that furled down at the corners.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “In the language of evolutionary theory Bryan was a dead branch of the life-tree.”

481. “In the language of evolutionary theory Bryan was a dead branch of the life-tree.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “Certain expressions burn people up, and especially the expression of wisdom, which can lead you straight to the loony bin. You will have earned it!”

482. “Certain expressions burn people up, and especially the expression of wisdom, which can lead you straight to the loony bin. You will have earned it!”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “It was the middle-class female solidarity, defending a nice girl from charges of calculation and viciousness. Nice girls marry for love. But should they fall out of love, they must be free to love another. No decent husband will oppose the heart.”

483. “It was the middle-class female solidarity, defending a nice girl from charges of calculation and viciousness. Nice girls marry for love. But should they fall out of love, they must be free to love another. No decent husband will oppose the heart.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “Didn’t Margaret know that he was nearly at the end of his rope? Of course. Her instinct told her that this was her opportunity, and she was giving him the works.”

484. “Didn’t Margaret know that he was nearly at the end of his rope? Of course. Her instinct told her that this was her opportunity, and she was giving him the works.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “I may be old enough for my second childhood, but at least the first is well behind me.”

485. “I may be old enough for my second childhood, but at least the first is well behind me.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “No life so barren and subordinate that it didn’t have imaginary dignities, honors to come, freedom to advance.”

486. “No life so barren and subordinate that it didn’t have imaginary dignities, honors to come, freedom to advance.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “For to be fully conscious of oneself as an individual is also to be separated from all else.”

487. “For to be fully conscious of oneself as an individual is also to be separated from all else.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “Is it an easier farewell for Dad if we don’t part friends?”

488. “Is it an easier farewell for Dad if we don’t part friends?”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “She has two husbands. Whose are the kids? The fellow detected her and she gave a signed confession that two of the four children were not the father’s.”

489. “She has two husbands. Whose are the kids? The fellow detected her and she gave a signed confession that two of the four children were not the father’s.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “Gratitude! I was deeply grateful. But the politic gratitude of weakness, of the sufferer, furious underneath.”

490. “Gratitude! I was deeply grateful. But the politic gratitude of weakness, of the sufferer, furious underneath.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “It seemed necessary for him to lift one shoulder in order to put his hand into his jacket pocket.”

491. “It seemed necessary for him to lift one shoulder in order to put his hand into his jacket pocket.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “She liked to give the example of Whistler the painter when he was taken to task by a woman who said, “I never see trees like that.” He told her, “No, ma’am, but don’t you wish you could?” This could be a variation on “Ye have eyes and see not,” an aesthete’s version of it.”

492. “She liked to give the example of Whistler the painter when he was taken to task by a woman who said, “I never see trees like that.” He told her, “No, ma’am, but don’t you wish you could?” This could be a variation on “Ye have eyes and see not,” an aesthete’s version of it.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “Can’t dump the sonofabitch, can we? Terrible handicap, a soul.”

493. “Can’t dump the sonofabitch, can we? Terrible handicap, a soul.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “It is better to die what you are than to live a stranger forever.”

494. “It is better to die what you are than to live a stranger forever.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “He turned out to be right. Grielescu had attached himself to the Nazis, not to the milder, Italian form of fascism.”

495. “He turned out to be right. Grielescu had attached himself to the Nazis, not to the milder, Italian form of fascism.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “He tried to make his lust comical, to show how absurd it all was, easily the most wretched form of human struggle, the very essence of slavery.”

496. “He tried to make his lust comical, to show how absurd it all was, easily the most wretched form of human struggle, the very essence of slavery.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “But the Jews feel that the world was created for each and every one of us, and when you destroy a human life you destroy an entire world – the world as it existed for that person.”

497. “But the Jews feel that the world was created for each and every one of us, and when you destroy a human life you destroy an entire world – the world as it existed for that person.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “Never has any country given its people so many toys to play with or sent such highly gifted individuals to the remotest corners of idleness, as close as possible to the frontiers of pain.”

498. “Never has any country given its people so many toys to play with or sent such highly gifted individuals to the remotest corners of idleness, as close as possible to the frontiers of pain.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “I got a lawyer, and she got one, too, and both of them talk and send me bills, and I eat my heart out.”

499. “I got a lawyer, and she got one, too, and both of them talk and send me bills, and I eat my heart out.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “An old man, disappointed, of failing strength, may try to reinvigorate himself by means of anger.”

500. “An old man, disappointed, of failing strength, may try to reinvigorate himself by means of anger.”

— Saul Bellow

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