Category - Alice McDermott

Discover the thoughtful Quotes of Alice McDermott, a philosopher and author. Our collection of his most impactful quotes reflects his deep understanding of language, philosophy, and history. Motivational Quotes of Alice McDermott
Whether seeking thought-provoking reflections or academic wisdom, Alice McDermotts words offer a rich source of intellectual inspiration. #AliceMcDermott Alice McDermott

Alice McDermott

Publishing a short story can sometimes feel like shouting into the dark… your words come out, and then nothing… but I don’t think that’s why I tend to write novels rather than stories.

– Alice McDermott

Alice McDermott

After a long run of almost thirty years, you get to the point where you say, ‘These are my concerns.’ It’s not so much this is what I set out to claim – it is a kind of refrain.

– Alice McDermott

Alice McDermott

My parents were both first-generation Irish Catholics raised in Brooklyn.

– Alice McDermott

Alice McDermott

I’ve always believed you go to literature to find the shared human experience, not the categorized human experience.

– Alice McDermott

Alice McDermott

Right away I think of two books – ‘Wuthering Heights’ and ‘Rebecca’ – and of just sinking into them as a young reader. I think they must have appealed not just to my romantic adolescent soul, but I suppose there’s also an appealing darkness in both of them.

– Alice McDermott

Alice McDermott

I was born in Brooklyn, but I never lived there.

– Alice McDermott

Alice McDermott

It worries me that undergrads and high school students are forced into books they aren’t ready for, like Faulkner’s, and then they are afraid of putting their toes in the water again.

– Alice McDermott

Alice McDermott

You’re a human being, and every time a list of prize nominations comes out and your name isn’t on it, you do have that thumb-in-the-eye feeling.

– Alice McDermott

Alice McDermott

I know Irish-American people. I know what their homes look like. I know what they have for dinner. I know how they turn a phrase.

– Alice McDermott

Alice McDermott

I believe that the interior life is the same for all of us. And because they’re steeped in faith, Irish-American Catholics are a people who have a language for the examined life.

– Alice McDermott

Alice McDermott

I’m interested in characters who should know better, who know they should give up, move on, accept life as it is, with all its constraints – life, death, time – but don’t.

– Alice McDermott

Alice McDermott

At the beginning of every semester, I ask my graduate students whether there is something I should read that will help me understand their work.

– Alice McDermott

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