In New York one lives in the moment rather more than Socrates advised, so that at a party or alone in your room it will always be difficult to guess at the long term worth of anything.
Harold Brodkey

Almost the first thing I did when I became ill was to buy a truly good television set.
Harold Brodkey

I feel sorry for the man who marries you... because everyone thinks you're sweet and you're not.
Harold Brodkey

This identity, this mind, this particular cast of speech, is nearly over.
Harold Brodkey

I have thousands of opinions still - but that is down from millions - and, as always, I know nothing.
Harold Brodkey

True stories, autobiographical stories, like some novels, begin long ago, before the acts in the account, before the birth of some of the people in the tale.
Harold Brodkey

It is like visiting one's funeral, like visiting loss in its purest and most monumental form, this wild darkness, which is not only unknown but which one cannot enter as oneself.
Harold Brodkey

I can't change the past, and I don't think I would. I don't expect to be understood. I like what I've written, the stories and two novels. If I had to give up what I've written in order to be clear of this disease, I wouldn't do it.
Harold Brodkey