“The papers exaggerate. They exaggerate everything, just to sell papers. The government exaggerates, to keep our minds off what morons they are.”

— John Updike , book Rabbit at Rest

Rabbit at Rest (1990)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "The papers exaggerate. They exaggerate everything, just to sell papers. The government exaggerates, to keep our minds o…" by John Updike?

John Updike 240

American novelist, poet, short story writer, art critic, an… 1932–2009

Related quotes

“I am probably exaggerating a little, but I owe my equilibrium to ink and paper.”

Julien Green (1900–1998) American author

“I think that is the big danger in keeping a diary: you exaggerate everything.”

Jean Paul Sartre book Nausea

Source: Nausea

“Keep in mind that it would be an exaggeration to tell, or convince another individual that they are COMPLETELY wrong.”

Mwanandeke Kindembo (1996) Congolese author

“Females choose; their choosiness is inherited; they prefer exaggerated ornaments; exaggerated ornaments are a burden to males.”

Matt Ridley (1958) economist

Source: The Red Queen (1993), Ch. 5

“Aren’t our eyes made to be torn out, and our hearts for the same purpose? At the same time it’s really not that bad; that’s an exaggeration and a lie, everything is exaggeration, the only truth is longing, which cannot be exaggerated. But even the truth of longing is not so much its own truth; it’s really an expression of everything else, which is a lie. This sounds crazy and distorted, but it’s true.
Moreover, perhaps it isn’t love when I say you are what I love the most — you are the knife I turn inside myself, this is love.”

Franz Kafka book Letters to Milena

Hat matt nicht die Augen, um sich sie auszureißen und das Herz zum gleichen Zweck? Dabei ist es ja nicht so schlimm, das ist Übertreibung und Lüge, alles ist Übertreibung, nur die Sehnsucht ist wahr, die kann man nicht übertreiben. Aber selbst die Wahrheit der Sehnsucht ist nicht so sehr ihre Wahrheit, als vielmehr der Ausdruck der Lüge alles übrigen sonst. Es klingt verdreht, aber es ist so.
Auch ist es vielleicht nicht eigentlich Liebe wenn ich sage, daß Du mir das Liebste bist; Liebe ist, daß Du mir das Messer bist, mit dem ich in mir wühle.
Letter to Milena Jesenská (14 September 1920) http://www.abyssal.de/zitate/liebe.htm
Variant translations:
In this love you are like a knife, with which I explore myself.
Letters to Milena (1952)