Norman MailerThinkers

The African American is unable to saunter down a street with any real certainty that violence will not visit him. Thus he could rarely afford the sophisticated inhibitions of civilization, relinquishing the pleasures of the mind for the more obligatory pleasures of the body,'.

An African American is he who is unable to saunter down a street with any real certainty that violence will not visit him.

America is a hurricane, and the only people who do not hear the sound are those fortunate if incredibly stupid and smug white protestants who live in the center, in the serene eye of the big wind.

America is a country where few people will trust you unless you are irreverent.

Anxiety flows like a muddy river.

Anxiety is the natural role of twentieth-century man.

Art's final purpose is to intensify, even, if necessary, to exacerbate, the moral consciousness of people.

Boredom is the underlying illness of the 20th century... it slays more of existence than war.

Chicago is a town where nobody can forget how the money was made. It was picked up from floors still slippery with blood.

Democracy is a tyranny whose borders are undefined... one discovers how far one can go only by traveling in a straight line until one is stopped.

Divorce is a way of really getting to know your partner. It is said that you don't know anything about a woman until you meet her in court.

Growth is dependent on being always in motion just a little bit, one way or another.

Growth is the natural direction of life. Life is guided by the cruel principal that one must grow or else pay more for remaining the same.

A Hero is a man who would argue with the Gods, and so awakens devils to contest his vision. The more a man can achieve, the more he may be certain that the devil will inhabit a part of his creation.