David Lodge Quotes

Literature is mostly about having sex and not much about having children. Life is the other way round.

literature life children sex

Any language is necessarily a finite system applied with different degrees of creativity to an infinite variety of situations, and most of the words and phrases we use are ''prefabricated'' in the sense that we don't coin new ones every time we speak.

time system creativity language sense words speak variety infinite

Walt Whitman who laid end to end words never seen in each other's company before outside of a dictionary.

words end company dictionary

Morris read through the letter. Was it a shade too fulsome? No, that was another law of academic life: it is impossible to be excessive in flattery of one's peers.

life law letter flattery read impossible

The damages are far reaching - from the shoreline, to the pipes of power plants and municipal waterworks, to the many other lakes and rivers that are under threat and indeed under harm as zebra mussels and many other species spread from the Great Lakes across the continent.

power rivers harm great plants threat

Jogging, I believe they call it. It seems to be an epidemic psychological illness afflicting Americans these days. A form of masochism, like the flagellantes in the Middle Ages.

funny humour

I respect a man who can recognize a quotation. It's a dying art.

man art

Language is the net that holds thought trapped within a particular culture. But if one could only strike the ball with sufficient force, with perfect timing, it would perhaps break through the netting, continue on its course, never fall to earth, but go into orbit around the world.

culture force language