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61 John Knowles Quotes Worth Knowing

Famous As: Writer, Novelist, Journalist
Born On: September 16, 1926
Died On: November 29, 2001
Born In: Fairmont
Died At Age: 75
John Knowles was an eminent American novelist renowned for his work, ‘A Separate Peace’. He did his schooling from St.Peter’s High School and pursued his graduation from ‘Philips Exeter Academy’. Before embarking on a career of a novelist, he served for two years in the U.S Army Air Force in World War II. Early in his career, he wrote for ‘Hartford Courant’ and also served as the assistant editor for the ‘Holiday Magazine’. He received a lot of encouragement from ‘Thornton Wilder’ and thereafter, he began writing books and novels. We have created a corpus of some popular and famous quotable quotations and sayings by John Knowles which have been extracted from his writings, books, thoughts, novels, work and life. Zoom through the quotes and sayings by John Knowles and get inspired.
There was no harm in taking aim, even if the target was a dream.

There was no harm in taking aim, even if the target was a dream.

John Knowles
I felt that I was not, never had been and never would be a living part of this overpoweringly solid and deeply meaningful world around me.

I felt that I was not, never had been and never would be a living part of this overpoweringly solid and deeply meaningful world around me.

John Knowles
Nothing endures. Not a tree. Not love. Not even death by violence.

Nothing endures. Not a tree. Not love. Not even death by violence.

John Knowles
What I mean is, I love winter, and when you really love something, then it loves you back, in whatever way it has to love.

What I mean is, I love winter, and when you really love something, then it loves you back, in whatever way it has to love.

John Knowles
Sarcasm... the protest of those who are weak.

Sarcasm... the protest of those who are weak.

John Knowles
It seemed clear that wars were not made by generations and their special stupidities, but that wars were made instead by something ignorant in the human heart

It seemed clear that wars were not made by generations and their special stupidities, but that wars were made instead by something ignorant in the human heart

John Knowles
I began to know that each morning reasserted the problems of night before, that sleep suspended all but changed nothing, that you couldn’t make yourself over between dawn and dusk.

I began to know that each morning reasserted the problems of night before, that sleep suspended all but changed nothing, that you couldn’t make yourself over between dawn and dusk.

John Knowles
Everything has to evolve or else it perishes.

Everything has to evolve or else it perishes.

John Knowles
So the more things remained the same, the more they changed after all. Nothing endures. Not love, not a tree, not even a death by violence.

So the more things remained the same, the more they changed after all. Nothing endures. Not love, not a tree, not even a death by violence.

John Knowles
But I was used to finding something deadly in things that attracted me; there was always something deadly lurking in anything I wanted, anything I loved.

But I was used to finding something deadly in things that attracted me; there was always something deadly lurking in anything I wanted, anything I loved.

John Knowles
Everyone has a moment in history which belongs particularly to him.

Everyone has a moment in history which belongs particularly to him.

John Knowles
It is a sad day when one looks back and sees that his largest regrets have become some of the most integral elements of his dreams.

It is a sad day when one looks back and sees that his largest regrets have become some of the most integral elements of his dreams.

John Knowles
But something held me back. Perhaps I was stopped by that level of feeling, deeper than thought, which contains the truth.

But something held me back. Perhaps I was stopped by that level of feeling, deeper than thought, which contains the truth.

John Knowles
Always say some prayers at night because it might turn out that there is a God.

Always say some prayers at night because it might turn out that there is a God.

John Knowles
When you love something it loves you back in whatever way it has to love.

When you love something it loves you back in whatever way it has to love.

John Knowles
You have to do what you think is the right thing, but just make sure it’s the right thing in the long run, and not just for the moment.

You have to do what you think is the right thing, but just make sure it’s the right thing in the long run, and not just for the moment.

John Knowles
I did no know everything there was to know about myself, and knew that I did not know it.

I did no know everything there was to know about myself, and knew that I did not know it.

John Knowles
Gene, on the desire to be Finny:

Gene, on the desire to be Finny: "I lost part of myself to him then, and a soaring sense of freedom revealed that this must have been my purpose from the first: to become a part of Phineas.

John Knowles
So the more things stay the same, the more they change after all.

So the more things stay the same, the more they change after all.

John Knowles
As I said, this was my sarcastic summer. It was only long after that I recognized sarcasm as the protest of people who are weak.

As I said, this was my sarcastic summer. It was only long after that I recognized sarcasm as the protest of people who are weak.

John Knowles
I never killed anybody and I never developed an intense level of hatred for the enemy. Because my war ended before I ever put on a uniform; I was on active duty all my time at school; I killed my enemy there.

I never killed anybody and I never developed an intense level of hatred for the enemy. Because my war ended before I ever put on a uniform; I was on active duty all my time at school; I killed my enemy there.

John Knowles
So the more things remain the same, the more they change after all—plus c'est la même chose, plus ça change. Nothing endures, not a tree, not love, not even a death by violence.

So the more things remain the same, the more they change after all—plus c'est la même chose, plus ça change. Nothing endures, not a tree, not love, not even a death by violence.

John Knowles
Life is fighting. In life, it's the look ahead that counts. We are all born equally far from the sun. There is a land of the living and a land of the dead and the bridge is love.

Life is fighting. In life, it's the look ahead that counts. We are all born equally far from the sun. There is a land of the living and a land of the dead and the bridge is love.

John Knowles
Stranded in this mill town railroad yard while the whole world was converging elsewhere, we seemed to be nothing but children playing among heroic men.

Stranded in this mill town railroad yard while the whole world was converging elsewhere, we seemed to be nothing but children playing among heroic men.

John Knowles
I knew that part of friendship consisted in accepting a friend’s shortcomings, which sometimes included his parents.

I knew that part of friendship consisted in accepting a friend’s shortcomings, which sometimes included his parents.

John Knowles
The scornful force of his tone turned the word into a curse

The scornful force of his tone turned the word into a curse

John Knowles
Because it seemed clear that wars were not made by generations and their special stupidities, but that wars were made instead by something ignorant in the human heart.

Because it seemed clear that wars were not made by generations and their special stupidities, but that wars were made instead by something ignorant in the human heart.

John Knowles
I jounced the limb.

I jounced the limb.

John Knowles
We are all born equally far from the sun.

We are all born equally far from the sun.

John Knowles
What deceived me was my own happiness; for peace is indivisible, and the surrounding world confusion found no reflection inside me.

What deceived me was my own happiness; for peace is indivisible, and the surrounding world confusion found no reflection inside me.

John Knowles