Pulitzer and Nobel Prize winning author, Saul Bellow, transformed modern literature with his prose. Grappling with the chaos of modern society and American identity, Bellow’s work often commented on what it means to be alive.
Here are 10 quotes to help you “seize the day.”
1. “Unexpected intrusions of beauty. This is what life is.”
– Saul Bellow, “Herzog”
2. “There are times when the most practical thing is to lie down.”
– Saul Bellow, “Humboldt’s Gift”
3. “The best and purest human beings, from the beginning of time, have understood that life is sacred.”
– Saul Bellow, “Mr. Sammler’s Planet”
4. “Associate with the noblest people you can find; read the best books; live with the mighty; but learn to be happy alone.”
– Saul Bellow, “Ravelstein”
5. “I feel that art has something to do with the achievement of stillness in the midst of chaos. “
– Interview excerpted in “Conversations with Saul Bellow”
6. “In an age of madness, to expect to be untouched by madness is a form of madness. But the pursuit of sanity can be a form of madness, too.”
– Saul Bellow, “Henderson The Rain King”
7. “Everybody needs his memories. They keep the wolf of insignificance from the door.”
– Saul Bellow, “Mr. Sammler’s Planet”
8. “Bringing people into the here-and-now. The real universe. That’s the present moment. The past is no good to us. The future is full of anxiety. Only the present is real – the here-and-now. Seize the day.”
– Saul Bellow, “Seize the Day”
9. “You have to fight for your life. That’s the chief condition on which you hold it.”
– Saul Bellow, “Herzog”
10. “You don’t know what you’ve got within you. A person either creates or he destroys. There is no neutrality.”
– Saul Bellow, “Seize the Day”
