“Let us, rather, like the Greek writers, tear the tragedy to shreds.”

“No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise for the writer, no surprise for the reader.”

“No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader”

“The central problem of the Greek tragedies is why we suffer so at the hands of God. The movement that evoked Greek tragedy in the fifth century B. C. was spread over the East Mediterranean evoking a parallel response in Israel. …And as in Greek tragedy, Job deals with the problem of why man suffers so at the had of God.”

“If they [the Germans] attack, we will defend. If they do not attack until winter comes, then we will and will tear them to shreds!”

“I can remember being young enough, long ago, to believe that in Tennessee Williams the giant themes of Greek tragedy had returned, all hung about with Magnolias. Ignorance of Greek tragedy helped in this view.”

“Being a writer in a library is rather like being a eunuch in a harem.”

“In Greek tragedy, they fall from great heights. In noir, they fall from the curb.”

“The tragedy of life is not death but what we let die inside of us while we live.”

“I should like to know if taking this old Declaration of Independence, which declares that all men are equal upon principle and making exceptions to it where will it stop. If one man says it does not mean a negro, why not another say it does not mean some other man? If that declaration is not the truth, let us get the Statute book, in which we find it and tear it out! Who is so bold as to do it! If it is not true let us tear it out! Let us stick to it then, let us stand firmly by it then.”