168 Quotes by John D. MacDonald

I had that fractional part of consciousness left which gave me a remote and unimportant view of reality. The world was a television set at the other end of a dark auditorium, with blurred sound and a fringe area picture.

These are our realities, and, like our ancestors of fifty thousand years ago, if we--as a species rather than as an individual--are uninformed or careless, or indifferent to the Facts (emphasis mine), then survival as a species is in serious doubt." ~~John D. MacDonald, Reading for Survival. c. 1987

The nonreader in our culture wants to believe. He is the “one born every minute”. The world is so vastly confusing and baffling to him that he feels there has to be some simple answer to everything that troubles him.

Vulnerability is the curse of the thinking classes.

Please not yet. Those are the three eternal words. Please not yet.

We were about to give up and call it a night when somebody threw the girl off the bridge.

In all emotional conflicts, the thing you find the most difficult to do, is the thing that you should do."--Meyer's Law

When you see the ugliness behind the tears of another person, it makes you take a closer look at your own.

Integrity is not a conditional word. It doesn't blow in the wind or change with the weather. It is your inner image of yourself, and if you look in there and see a man who won't cheat, then you know he never will. Integrity is not a search for the rewards of integrity. Maybe all you ever get for it is the largest kick in the ass the world can provide. It is not supposed to be a productive asset.