Don't judge it. Just write it. Don't judge it. It's not for you to judge it. Interview in Esquire Magazine 10/10

— Philip Roth

Everybody who flashed the signs of loyalty he took to be loyal. Everybody who flashed the signs of intelligence he took to be intelligent. And so he had failed to see into his daughter, failed to see into his wife, failed to see into his one and only mistress—probably had never even begun to see into himself

— Philip Roth

Every man's endeavor was imbued with responsibility

— Philip Roth

Everything dictated silence and self-control, but I couldn't restrain myself and spoke my mind.

— Philip Roth

Fear tends to manifest itself much more quickly than greed, so volatile markets tend to be on the downside. In up markets, volatility tends to gradually decline.

— Philip Roth

For discipline is imposed not just on oneself but on those in one's orbit.

— Philip Roth

He was trying hard to continue to exist as himself despite the unlikeliness of everything.

— Philip Roth

How much time could you spend staring out the ocean, even if it was the ocean you'd loved since you were a boy?

— Philip Roth

I can lie about my name, I can lie about my school, but how am I going to lie about this fucking nose? "You seem like a very nice person Mr. Porto-Novo, but why do you go around covering the middle of your face like that?" Because suddenly it has taken off, the middle of my face! Because gone is the button of my childhood years, that pretty little thing that people used to look at in my carriage, and lo and behold, the middle of my face has begun to reach out towards God. Porto-Novo and Parsons my ass, kid, you have got J-E-W written right across the middle of your face...

— Philip Roth

I don’t ask writers about their work habits. I really don’t care. Joyce Carol Oates says somewhere that when writers ask each other what time they start working and when they finish and how much time they take for lunch, they’re actually trying to find out, "Is he as crazy as I am?" I don’t need that question answered.

— Philip Roth