Norman Mailer Quotes

A modern democracy is a tyranny whose borders are undefined; one discovers how far one can go only by traveling in a straight line until one is stopped.

Norman Mailer



Alimony is the curse of the writing class.

Norman Mailer



America is a hurricane, and the only people who do not hear the sound are those fortunate if incredibly stupid and smug White Protestants who live in the center, in the serene eye of the big wind.

Norman Mailer



Because there is very little honor left in American life, there is a certain built-in tendency to destroy masculinity in American men.

Norman Mailer



Culture's worth huge, huge risks. Without culture we're all totalitarian beasts.

Norman Mailer



Each day a few more lies eat into the seed with which we are born, little institutional lies from the print of newspapers, the shock waves of television, and the sentimental cheats of the movie screen.

Norman Mailer



Every moment of one's existence one is growing into more or retreating into less. One is always living a little more or dying a little bit.

Norman Mailer



Giving a camera to Diane Arbus is like putting a live grenade in the hands of a child.

Norman Mailer