278 Quotes by Edmund White

He thought to himself, I’ll never be this perfect again, an idea that made him sad.

You are the Perfect Young Man: honest, clean, virile.

When you see a book you want, buy it instantly because you may never find it again.

That’s one of the problems—and joys—of old age: every time you read a book it’s the first.

The most important things in our intimate lives can't be discussed with strangers, except in books.

Writers say two things that strike me as nonsense. One is that you must follow an absolute schedule everyday. If you're not writing well, why continue it? I just don't think this grinding away is useful.

I'm sorry," Billy says, "but I felt it was too organized. I like ellipses and teeny jottings and spontaneous poems and particularly all those devices like long lists of melancholy things.

Is that how you stay so fresh and young, drinking the sperm of teenage males?

I’ve always associated reading and writing with sex.