Create Yours Create Yours

Top 500 Saul Bellow Quotes (2026 Update)
Page 9 of 10

Saul Bellow Quote: “Well, you are a privileged character. You’re the only man living whose mother lost her mind and died.”

401. “Well, you are a privileged character. You’re the only man living whose mother lost her mind and died.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “What actually happened? I gave up the shelter of an orderly, purposeful, lawful existence because it bored me, and I felt it was simply a slacker’s life.”

402. “What actually happened? I gave up the shelter of an orderly, purposeful, lawful existence because it bored me, and I felt it was simply a slacker’s life.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “Unrequited love. Nowadays called hysterical dependency.”

403. “Unrequited love. Nowadays called hysterical dependency.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “We had an enormous sunset, a smashing of gaudy colours, apocalyptic reds and purples such as must have appeared on the punished bodies of great saints, blues heavy and rich. I woke Iva, and we watched it, hand in hand. Her hand was cool and sweet. I had a slight fever.”

404. “We had an enormous sunset, a smashing of gaudy colours, apocalyptic reds and purples such as must have appeared on the punished bodies of great saints, blues heavy and rich. I woke Iva, and we watched it, hand in hand. Her hand was cool and sweet. I had a slight fever.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “Nature is a deep imitator. And as man is the prince of organisms he is master of adaptations. He is the artist of suggestions. He himself is his principle work of art, in the body working in the flesh. What miracle! What triumph! Also, what a disaster! What tears are to be shed!”

405. “Nature is a deep imitator. And as man is the prince of organisms he is master of adaptations. He is the artist of suggestions. He himself is his principle work of art, in the body working in the flesh. What miracle! What triumph! Also, what a disaster! What tears are to be shed!”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “Roumanian is an easy language. You just add a tl to everything.”

406. “Roumanian is an easy language. You just add a tl to everything.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “This rest and well-being were only a momentary difference in the strange lining or variable silk between life and void.”

407. “This rest and well-being were only a momentary difference in the strange lining or variable silk between life and void.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “The soul requires intensity.”

408. “The soul requires intensity.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “Strict and literal truthfulness was a trivial game and might even be a disagreeable neurotic affliction.”

409. “Strict and literal truthfulness was a trivial game and might even be a disagreeable neurotic affliction.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “Ah, poor fellow! – and Herzog momentarily joined the objective world in looking down on himself. He too could smile at Herzog and despise him. But there still remained the fact. I am Herzog. I have to be that man. There is no one else to do it. After smiling, he must return to his own Self and see the thing through.”

410. “Ah, poor fellow! – and Herzog momentarily joined the objective world in looking down on himself. He too could smile at Herzog and despise him. But there still remained the fact. I am Herzog. I have to be that man. There is no one else to do it. After smiling, he must return to his own Self and see the thing through.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “And I thought there was altogether too much of this to live with. Better forget it, in part. The Ganges is there with its demons and lords; but you have a right also, and merely, to wash your feet and do your personal laundry in it. Or even if you had a good car it would take more than a lifetime to do a tour of all the Calvaries.”

411. “And I thought there was altogether too much of this to live with. Better forget it, in part. The Ganges is there with its demons and lords; but you have a right also, and merely, to wash your feet and do your personal laundry in it. Or even if you had a good car it would take more than a lifetime to do a tour of all the Calvaries.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “And while the losses were small they weren’t gains, were they? They were losses. He was tired of losing, and tired also of the company, and so he had gone by himself to the movies.”

412. “And while the losses were small they weren’t gains, were they? They were losses. He was tired of losing, and tired also of the company, and so he had gone by himself to the movies.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “What you do know is that there is one fact of Jewish life unchanged by the creation of a Jewish state: you cannot take your right to live for granted. Others can; you cannot. This is not to say that everyone else is living pleasantly and well under a decent regime. No, it means only that the Jews, because they are Jews, have never been able to take the right to live as a natural right.”

413. “What you do know is that there is one fact of Jewish life unchanged by the creation of a Jewish state: you cannot take your right to live for granted. Others can; you cannot. This is not to say that everyone else is living pleasantly and well under a decent regime. No, it means only that the Jews, because they are Jews, have never been able to take the right to live as a natural right.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “Slavery has never really been abolished. More people are enslaved to different things than you can shake a stick at.”

414. “Slavery has never really been abolished. More people are enslaved to different things than you can shake a stick at.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “The lawyers – see? – draw up an agreement, and she says okay on Monday and wants more money on Tuesday. And it begins again.”

415. “The lawyers – see? – draw up an agreement, and she says okay on Monday and wants more money on Tuesday. And it begins again.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “She was a bathing beauty – short, the usual breasts, hips, and smooth thighs.”

416. “She was a bathing beauty – short, the usual breasts, hips, and smooth thighs.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “But I have had visions of judgment. I see mainly the obstinacy of cripples. We do not love ourselves, but persist in stubbornness. Each man is stubbornly, stubbornly himself.”

417. “But I have had visions of judgment. I see mainly the obstinacy of cripples. We do not love ourselves, but persist in stubbornness. Each man is stubbornly, stubbornly himself.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “For knowledge of death makes us wish to extend our lives at the expense of others. And this is the root of the struggle for power.”

418. “For knowledge of death makes us wish to extend our lives at the expense of others. And this is the root of the struggle for power.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “It’s the hysterical individual who allows his life to be polarized by simple extreme antitheses like strength – weakness, potency – impotence, health – sickness.”

419. “It’s the hysterical individual who allows his life to be polarized by simple extreme antitheses like strength – weakness, potency – impotence, health – sickness.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “His friend, his former friend, Valentine, and his wife, his ex-wife Madeleine, had spread the rumor that his sanity had collapsed.”

420. “His friend, his former friend, Valentine, and his wife, his ex-wife Madeleine, had spread the rumor that his sanity had collapsed.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “Well, for instance, what it means to be a man. In a city. In a century. In transition. In a mass. Transformed by science. Under organized power. Subject to tremendous controls. In a condition caused by mechanization. After the late failure of radical hopes. In a society that was no community and devalued the person. Owing to the multiplied power of numbers which made the self negligible.”

421. “Well, for instance, what it means to be a man. In a city. In a century. In transition. In a mass. Transformed by science. Under organized power. Subject to tremendous controls. In a condition caused by mechanization. After the late failure of radical hopes. In a society that was no community and devalued the person. Owing to the multiplied power of numbers which made the self negligible.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “But can thought wake you from the dream of existence? Not if it becomes a second realm of confusion, another more complicated dream, the dream of intellect, the delusion of total explanations.”

422. “But can thought wake you from the dream of existence? Not if it becomes a second realm of confusion, another more complicated dream, the dream of intellect, the delusion of total explanations.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “He was the obscure failure of an aggressive and powerful clan.”

423. “He was the obscure failure of an aggressive and powerful clan.”

— Saul Bellow

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

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

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “I believe Uncle’s intuition to have been that plants functioned as sense organs, collecting cosmic data for the earth itself.”

425. “I believe Uncle’s intuition to have been that plants functioned as sense organs, collecting cosmic data for the earth itself.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “Hearts quaking with cheap and feeble charity or oozing potato love have not written history.”

426. “Hearts quaking with cheap and feeble charity or oozing potato love have not written history.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “Mind you, I’m a great admirer of our species. I stand in awe of the genius of the race. But a large part of this genius is devoted to lying and seeming what you are not.”

427. “Mind you, I’m a great admirer of our species. I stand in awe of the genius of the race. But a large part of this genius is devoted to lying and seeming what you are not.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “This is the way of the weak; quiet and fair.”

428. “This is the way of the weak; quiet and fair.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “More than human, can you have any use for life? Less than human, you don’t either.”

429. “More than human, can you have any use for life? Less than human, you don’t either.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “The Dictator must have living crowds and also a crowd of corpses.”

430. “The Dictator must have living crowds and also a crowd of corpses.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “He said, repeating the opinion of Socrates in the Phaedrus, that a tree, so beautiful to look at, never spoke a word and that conversation was possible only in the city, between men.”

431. “He said, repeating the opinion of Socrates in the Phaedrus, that a tree, so beautiful to look at, never spoke a word and that conversation was possible only in the city, between men.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “The secret of our being still asks to be unfolded. Only now we understand that worrying at it and ragging it is no use. The first step is to stop these oscillations of consciousness that are keeping me awake. Only, before you command the oscillations to stop, before you check out, you must maneuver yourself into a position in which metaphysical aid can approach.”

432. “The secret of our being still asks to be unfolded. Only now we understand that worrying at it and ragging it is no use. The first step is to stop these oscillations of consciousness that are keeping me awake. Only, before you command the oscillations to stop, before you check out, you must maneuver yourself into a position in which metaphysical aid can approach.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “The human being, more and more oppressed by the peculiar terms of his existence – one time around for each, no more than a single life per customer – has to think of the boredom of death. O those eternities of nonexistence! For people who crave continual interest and diversity, O! how boring death will be! To live in the grave, in one place, how frightful!”

433. “The human being, more and more oppressed by the peculiar terms of his existence – one time around for each, no more than a single life per customer – has to think of the boredom of death. O those eternities of nonexistence! For people who crave continual interest and diversity, O! how boring death will be! To live in the grave, in one place, how frightful!”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “Anyone who wants to govern the country, has to entertain it.”

434. “Anyone who wants to govern the country, has to entertain it.”

— Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow Quote: “Everybody wanted to be what he was to the limit.”

435. “Everybody wanted to be what he was to the limit.”

— 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.”

436. “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.”

437. “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.”

438. “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.”

439. “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.”

440. “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?”

441. “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 –.”

442. “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!”

443. “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.”

444. “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.”

445. “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.”

446. “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!”

447. “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.”

448. “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.”

449. “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.”

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

— Saul Bellow

Quotes About Writing

Quotes About Writing

Firsts Quotes

Thought Provoking Quotes

Thought Provoking Quotes

Reading Quotes

Fun Quotes

PREV 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 NEXT

Quotes About Writing

Quotes About Writing

BOOKS WRITING READING

Firsts Quotes

Thought Provoking Quotes

Thought Provoking Quotes

THOUGHT-PROVOKING

Reading Quotes

READING

Fun Quotes

Country Quotes

Motivational Quotes

Motivational Quotes

INSPIRATIONAL SUCCESS MOTIVATIONAL

Inspirational Entrepreneurship Quotes

Inspirational Entrepreneurship Quotes

ENTREPRENEURSHIP BUSINESS INSPIRATIONAL

Positive Quotes

Positive Quotes

POSITIVITY

Albert Einstein Quotes

Albert Einstein Quotes

SCIENCE LIFE

Startup Quotes

ENTREPRENEURSHIP BUSINESS INSPIRATIONAL

Steve Jobs Quotes

Steve Jobs Quotes

ENTREPRENEURSHIP BUSINESS APPLE

QUOTE TEXT

— ,

Close

Save image...
Permalink
Open in new tab
Copy quote text

Beautiful Wallpapers and Images

We hope you enjoyed our collection of 500 Saul Bellow Quotes.

All the images on this page were created with QuoteFancy Studio.

Use QuoteFancy Studio to create high-quality images for your desktop backgrounds, blog posts, presentations, social media, videos, posters, and more.

Thank you!

Please check your email.

Learn more

Browse by:

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

hello@quotefancy.com

Terms of use Privacy policy Quote Maker Contact us

© 2026 Quotefancy. All rights reserved.