The 72 best quotes by Truman Capote

This American writer is known for the quality of his works and his provocative character.

Truman Capote was one of the most outstanding journalists and writers of the 20th century. His works and books, such as the acclaimed In Cold Blood, have gone down in literary history. For this reason, it is not it is not unusual that there are many quotes by Truman Capote that are still remembered today, either because of their soberingWhether for their sobering character or for their wit.

The best phrases of Truman Capote

These are some of Capote's most memorable lines.

1. I am an alcoholic, a drug addict and a homosexual. I am a genius.

A phrase that, in the historical context in which it was said, was very provocative.

2. I don't like to leave a book unfinished, but I begged God to forgive me with the readings I did of Joyce. My sentences had never been so long, but his writings were unreadable.

An opinion on James Joyce's work of literature, not devoid of humor.

I am an American and an American never wants to be anything else.

Something that could be considered a ridicule or a patriotic proclamation, paradoxically.

4. A conversation is a dialogue, not a monologue. That is why there are so few good conversations, because two good conversationalists rarely meet.

About the logic of wit: it works best alone.

5. I am a man of obsessions rather than passions.

One of Truman Capote's phrases that describe his personality.

6. Every good writer begins with a viper's nest of negative criticism, as happened to me.

Appreciation about his beginnings as a writer.

7. Life is a good play with a poorly written third act.

Aphorism about the evolution that life makes us go through.according to this writer.

8. Words have always saved me from sadness.

The therapeutic role of language.

9. Everything literature does is gossip.

Controversial opinion on the nature of literature.

10. Every failure is the one that gives flavor to success.

It is necessary to have a global vision of failure, one that includes the times when things go well.

11. When God gives you a gift, he also gives you a whip. And that whip is for self-flagellation.

A special skill encourages us to apply discipline to it.

12. It is better to look up to heaven than to live in it.

A pun on the realistic mentality.

13. Just because something is true does not mean that it is convenient, neither in life nor in art.

An important distinction.

14. Friendship is a full-time occupation if that someone is really your friend. Therefore, you can't have too many friends, there wouldn't be time for all of them.

A simple observation but with important connotations.

15. My strongest ambitions still revolve around short stories, with them I was initiated in the art of writing.

The simplest stories can be the ones that touch our hearts the most..

16. If you spend too much time eating apples, you end up hating apples. That's what happens to me with my imagination for my books: I pull on it so much that I run on empty, so I have to wait a few years until I regain my imagination to write again and exhaust it again.

An apt comparison.

17. Before you shake your head, make sure you've got it.

Another of Truman Capote's aphorisms, in this case about the ability to reason.

18. I have the feeling that I have never experienced a single moment of tranquility in my life, unless you count the occasional lumbago.

A busy life full of intense experiences.

19. I even read the labels on my clothes for reading.

This is how he described one of the habits that best defined him.

20. I will only say that the only thing a writer should work with is the documentation he has collected as a result of his own effort and observation, and he cannot be denied the right to use it. It can be condemned, but not denied.

Reflection on freedom of expression.

21. More tears are shed for answered prayers than for unanswered ones.

What we desire may be a trap.

22. The good people of Kansas want to kill me and some executioner there will be who will be glad to do the job. Killing is very easy.

Commentary on the detractors most devoted to the cause of hatred.

23. Discipline is the most important part of success.

A key to making projects prosper.

24. Love is a chain of love, for nature is a chain of life.

Comparison between two concepts that are considered a fundamental part of life experience..

25. Good taste is the death of art.

Good taste is based on conventions, which is already given beforehand.

26. All people have the disposition to work creatively. What happens is that most people never notice it.

Creativity is a default state that day-to-day contingencies keep repressed.

27. What saddens me most is the unnecessary loneliness of my childhood.

A look back to the years when I was a child.

28. It amuses me to talk on television about the things I don't like to write about.

A different medium requires a different register.

29. Of course, imagination can always open any door, turn the key and make way for terror.

The uncontrollable component of imagination is what makes it unique.

30. For me, the greatest pleasure in writing is not the subject matter, but the music the words make.

The forms can be more important than the content.

31. When murder is involved, there is little consideration for personal pain. Nor with intimacy. Nor with personal feelings. Questions must be asked. And some of them hurt deeply.

The value of lives makes sensitivity take a back seat, on certain occasions.

32. The state of mind of the man who signs a life insurance policy is similar to that of the man who signs his will: he necessarily thinks of death.

Another of Truman Capote's phrases based on everyday life.

33. Some ciu****dades, like packages wrapped under Christmas trees, contain unexpected gifts, secret delights.

About the secrets that some places hold.

34. Because as long as you are in this life, you always have something waiting for you and even if you know it and you know, moreover, that it is something bad, what are you going to do? You can't stop living.

Life drives us to go on.

35. In school we only learn to recognize words and write them down; But the application of those words to real life is something that only life and experience can teach us.

The difference between knowing and knowing how to do.

36. We meet one day by the river, and that's it. We are both independent. We never promised each other anything.

Some unions are more the result of context than anything else.

37. His enemy was anyone who was what he wanted to be or who had something he wanted to do.

Envy is very powerful.

38. The military do not lose sleep. They murder and on top of that they get medals.

A criticism of the military institution.

39. Christmas. Jesus! I simply can't stand it. Don't expect a card from me this year. I'm not sending any.

Another of the writer's personal opinions, in this case concerning Christmas.

40. It is easy to ignore the rain if you own a raincoat.

Material conditions greatly affect our attitudes.

41. And thank you. For saving my life. You are wonderful. One of a kind. I love you.

A lot can be said in a few words.

42. Writing stopped being fun when I discovered the difference between good and bad writing.

The categorical distinction can break down the enjoyment of certain things.

43. Nothing is as common as believing that others are partly to blame for our failures.

We very easily project our guilt onto others.

44. What is life? It is the glow of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in winter. It is the brief shadow that crosses the grass and is lost in the sunset.

Various metaphors to describe the inexplicable.

45. Wrinkles and bones, gray hair and diamonds: I can't wait for that moment.

The beautiful part of old age.

46. Few people are able to demonstrate a principle of common ethics when their deliberation is poisoned by emotions.

Emotions cloud our ability to make decisions based on ethics.

47. One day, I began to write, unaware that I had chained myself for life to a noble but implacable master.

Writing can become addictive.

48. The rigorously superstitious individual is also almost always a blind believer in fate.

Superstitions make us believe that we are subject to incomprehensible forces which are incapable of being understood and which, consequently, control us.

49. You can't fuck a guy and cash his checks without at least trying to convince yourself that you love him.

An appreciation of cognitive dissonance.

50. I'll never get used to anything. Getting used to it is like being dead.

Experiencing everything as if it were new makes it more interesting.

51. There is no shame in having a dirty face, shame is never washing it.

Distinction between the circumstances of life and not trying to fight the bad.

52. He would not dare to kill the fleas of a dog. He would just run it over.

Another of Truman Capote's funny phrases when describing someone.

53. You must not give your Heart to wild creatures: the more you give it to them, the stronger they become.

Life advice on personal relationships.

54. He laughed and told me he didn't believe in heaven or hell, just dust on dust.

A line that with just one metaphor manages to portray the character.

55. The rich are never hanged. Only the poor and friendless.

There is classism even in death.

56. Because remember this: if a bird will carry the sand, grain by grain, from one side of the ocean to the other, when it has transported it all, that would only be the beginning of eternity.

Powerful image to give us an idea of the scale of time.

57. I loved her so much as to forget myself, my self-pitying despairs, and content myself with the thought that a thing was going to happen that made her happy.

Love can become an obsession.

58. When someone gives you their trust, you always remain indebted to them.

The emotional imprint left by these experiences lasts a long time.

59. Things do not always turn out the way you want them to, sometimes they turn out the other way around.

The results can be contrary to our interests.

60. It is not a question of fidelity to one's own concepts, it is a question of compromise in order to remain an individual without the constant threat of conventional pressures.

The importance of maintaining one's own identity.

61. The brain can take advice, but not the heart.

Emotions do not understand arguments.

62. It is impossible for a man who enjoys freedom to imagine what it means to be deprived of it.

A matter of perspective.

63. A writer cannot be blamed for what a character says.

Characters are not extensions of the author's personality.

64. There is so much to learn, and from so many sources: not only from books, but from music, painting, and even from simple everyday observation.

There are practically infinite sources of knowledge.

65. Love, having no geography, knows no borders.

A universal emotion.

66. A silence lingered in the air and a distant laughter spread through the carriage, cut into equal slices.

Amusing description of a laugh.

67. Most people who get tattoos have some feeling of inferiority and thus try to create a mark of virility in themselves.

A debatable appreciation of the hidden intentions of those who get tattoos.

68. Mike Jagger moves as if he were doing a parody of the mixture of a majorette and Fred Astaire.

Criticism of this famous musician.

69. Villages are the best place to spend Christmas; the atmosphere is immediately created and its influence makes them come alive.

A special context for the celebration.

70. We are free to do and say what we want, as long as this freedom of speech and action does not harm others.

One of the basic principles of functionalism.

71. There is, in conventionalism, a considerable dose of hypocrisy.

Normality requires pretense to be maintained.

72. Every few years our bodies undergo a complete remodeling; whether it is desirable or undesirable, there is nothing more natural than for us to change.

Stability is an illusion.