Richard Ford

Novelist

Richard Ford is an acclaimed American author known for his insightful exploration of identity and human experience in novels like 'The Sportswriter.'

Born
February 4, 1944
Quotes
105
Rank
#5883

About Richard Ford

Richard Ford — Life and Legacy

Richard Ford is a prominent American novelist recognized for his profound insights into the complexities of identity and the human condition. His notable work, 'The Sportswriter,' delves into the life of a writer grappling with personal loss and existential questions, setting the stage for his exploration of life's intricacies. Ford's core thinking revolves around the tension between personal history and the present, often articulated through his characters' introspective journeys. For instance, he reflects on the nature of memory and identity with the quote, 'The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.' This highlights how our past experiences shape our current selves, emphasizing the fluidity of identity and the impact of time on personal narratives. His exploration of solitude and its role in self-discovery resonates deeply with readers today. Ford's quotes reveal a nuanced understanding of how isolation can lead to profound insights, making his work relevant in a world where individuals often seek connection amidst personal struggles.

Quote collection

Richard Ford quotes (page 1 of 6)

105 quotes — follow a thought to its full quote page.

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"Construed as turf, home just seems a provisional claim, a designation you make upon a place, not one it makes on you. A certain set of buildings, a glimpsed, smudged window-view across a schoolyard, a musty aroma sniffed behind a garage when you were a child, all of which come crowding in upon your latter-day senses -- those are pungent things and vivid, even consoling. But to me they are also inert and nostalgic and unlikely to connect you to the real, to that essence art can sometimes achieve, which is permanence."

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"Find what causes a commotion in your heart. Find a way to write about that"

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"I know you can dream your way through an otherwise fine life, and never wake up, which is what I almost did."

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"Some idiotic things are well worth doing."

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"Your life doesn't mean what you have or what you get. Its what your'e willing to give up."

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"If you lose all hope, you can always find it again."

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"Maturity, as I conceived it, was recognizing what was bad or peculiar in life, admitting it has to stay that way, and going ahead with the best of things."

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"Some people want to be bank presidents. Other people want to rob banks."

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"Our ex-wifes always harbour secrets about us that make them irresistable. Until, of course, we remember who we are and what we did and why we are not married anymore."

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"The art of living your life has a lot to do with getting over loss. The less the past haunts you, the better."

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"Literature should not be exclusive, it should be inclusive. My general view is that you can't, based on your own experience, project what a book will do for someone else. That's why I don't review books."

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"It's been my habit of mind, over these years, to understand that every situation in which human beings are involved can be turned on its head. Everything someone assures me to be true might not be. Every pillar of belief the world rests on may or may not be about to explode. Most things don't stay the way they are very long. Knowing this, however, has not made me cynical. Cynical means believing that good isn't possible; and I know for a fact that good is. I simply take nothing for granted and try to be ready for the change that's soon to come."

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"Theres a lot to be said for doing what youre not supposed to do, and the rewards of doing what youre supposed to do are more subtle and take longer to become apparent, which maybe makes it less attractive. But your life is the blueprint you make after the building is built."

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"At the exact moment any decision seems to be being made, it's usually long after the real decision was actually made--like light we see emitted from stars."

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"You can't always go to the well and have things be funny."

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"I don't want to be taken to Bhutan and smell the flowers. I want to be told something I couldn't have been told any other way."

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"Reading is probably what leads most writers to writing."

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"I have a theory... that someplace at the heart of most compelling stories is something that doesn't make sense."

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"Love isn’t a thing, after all, but an endless series of single acts."

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