John O Hara Quotes & Sayings

Becoming the reader is the essence of becoming a writer. — John O'Hara

I have work to do, and I am afraid not to do it. — John O'Hara

In every marriage the wife has to keep her mouth shut about at least one small thing her husband does that disgusts her. — John O'Hara

But whats the use of being old if you cant be dumb? — John O'Hara

John Wayne is not just an actor, and a very fine actor - John Wayne is the United States of America. — Maureen O'Hara

John Wayne was one of the greatest ambassadors for the United States that ever lived. — Maureen O'Hara

Little old ladies of both sexes. Why do I let them bother me? — John O'Hara

They say great themes make great novels.. but what these young writers don't understand is that there is no greater theme than men and women. — John O'Hara

Men go to musicals. Women are the ones who buy the tickets for plays. — John O'Hara

America may be unique in being a country which has leapt from barbarism to decadence without touching civilization. — John O'Hara

There comes a time in a man's life, if he is unlucky and leads a full life, when he has a secret so dirty that he knows he never will get rid of it. (Shakespeare knew this and tried to say it, but he said it just as badly as anyone ever said it. 'All the perfumes of Arabia' makes you think of all the perfumes of Arabia and nothing more. It is the trouble with all metaphors where human behavior is concerned. People are not ships, chess men, flowers, race horses, oil paintings, bottles of champagne, excrement, musical instruments or anything else but people. Metaphors are all right to give you an idea.) — John O'Hara

Illinois is a state of suspended animation and the people live in hibernation from Oct. to whenever it ever gets warmer. — John O'Hara

John Candy knew he was going to die. He told me on his 40th birthday. He said, well, Maureen, I'm on borrowed time. — Maureen O'Hara

The truth is that the writers who most influenced me weren't people categorized as crime writers. I'd say I learned more from John O'Hara, who isn't much read today but whose short stories I really admired, and Hemingway, who I think has lasted pretty good. — Elmore Leonard

The people who want regeneration to be permanent are fanatics for the happy ending, dissatisfied with themselves and with anyone else, unrealistic men and women, anti-Christs, who were entertained by the miracles but learned nothing from Calvary. — John O'Hara

My stepfather, John O'Hara, was the goodest man there was. He was not a man of many words, but of carefully chosen ones. He was the one parent who didn't try to fix me. One night I sat on his lap in his chair by the woodstove, sobbing. He just held me quietly and then asked only, "What does it feel like?" It was the first time I was prompted to articulate it. I thought about it, then said, "I feel homesick." That still feels like the most accurate description - I felt homesick, but I was home. — Sarah Silverman

I love books; my suitcases are always full of them. Books and shoes. I read when I am sad, when I am happy, when I am nervous. My favourite British author is Jane Austen, and my favourite American one is John O'Hara. — Carolina Herrera

An artist is his own fault. — John O'Hara

Much as I like owning a Rolls-Royce, I could do without it. What I could not do without is a typewriter, a supply of yellow second sheets and the time to put them to good use. — John O'Hara

When you try to battle with John Ford, you have to give in. — Maureen O'Hara

Bing: You're a heel ... a low down rotten heel ... anything that doesn't go your way, anything that you can't have you destroy. — John O'Hara

He thought of his own by-now legendary novel, American Disillusionment, that cyclone which, for years, had woven its erratic path across the flatlands of his imaginary life, always on the verge of grandeur or disintegration, picking up characters and plotlines like houses and livestock, tossing them aside and moving on. It had taken the form, at various times, of a bitter comedy, a stoical Hemingwayesque tragedy, a hard-nosed lesson in social anatomy like something by John O'Hara, a bare-knuckles urban Huckleberry Finn. It was the autobiography of a man who could not face himself, an elaborate system of evasion and lies unredeemed by the artistic virtue of self-betrayal — Michael Chabon

George Gershwin died on July 11, 1937, but I don't have to believe it if I don't want to. — John O'Hara

Book reviewers are little old ladies of both sexes. — John O'Hara

Never play cards with a man named Doc, and never eat at a place called Mom's. — John O'Hara

When How Green Was My Valley finally wrapped, I thought John Ford was a walking god. — Maureen O'Hara

Our story opens in the mind of Luther L. (L for LeRoy) Fliegler, who is lying in his bed, not thinking of anything, but just aware of sounds, conscious of his own breathing, and sensitive to his own heartbeats. Lying beside him is his wife, lying on her right side and enjoying her sleep. — John O'Hara

The depth of John Candy's talent did surprise me. He was one of my all-time favorite leading men. — Maureen O'Hara

Socially, I never belonged to any class, rich or poor. To the rich I was poor, and to the poor I was poor pretending to be like the rich. — John O'Hara

The trouble is people leave too much to luck. They get married and then trust to luck. They should be sure in the first place. — John O'Hara

Of all the jaw-droppingly beautiful women who've become genuine movie stars, none has had a longer film career (62 years), has been filmed in Technicolor more often (34 times), has had a more versatile group of leading men (from John Wayne to John Candy) or has spent more time held captive on a pirate ship than our TCM Star of the Month for July, the magnificent red-headed Maureen O'Hara. — Robert Osborne

I can get very depressed by a review that is unfair, unreasonable, and totally destructive ... — John O'Hara

Hot lead can be almost as effective coming from a linotype as from a firearm. — John O'Hara

You always want to be the person who doesn't need to be included, but it feels damn good to be among you people. My first Broadway show was Master Class, and I saw Audra McDonald. The one that sealed the deal was Ragtime, with Marin Mazzie. My first big role was with John Lithgow, and he taught me the ropes. Norm Lewis sang the night I met my husband. It makes me feel like I have a family. — Kelli O'Hara

One of those strange things that happens in movies is that you need someone to actually say people's names, or else you have no idea who those kids are. This was a way for her to introduce who the important boys were in the story, but then it just was so funny that it became a centerpiece to it. When you look at the character design that Tim did for Weird Girl, and what Catherine [O'Hara] did with the voice, and it's gonna kill. — John August

I edited that [men's adventure] stuff, I read it all. I went from that to The Saturday Evening Post. The very first day at the Post, I edited a piece by John O'Hara and Hannah Arendt. She said, 'Come on, vat are you doink?'

"I said, 'You're okay Arendt, but you're no Walter Kaylin. — Mel Shestack

So who's perfect? ... Washington had false teeth. Franklin was nearsighted. Mussolini had syphilis. Unpleasant things have been said about Walt Whitman and Oscar Wilde. Tchaikovsky had his problems, too. And Lincoln was constipated. — John O'Hara

There would seem to be four stages in the composition of a story. First comes the germ of the story, then a period of more or less conscious meditation, then the first draft, and finally the revision, which may be simply 'pencil work' as John O'Hara calls it - that is, minor changes in wording - or may lead to writing several drafts and what amounts to a new work. — Malcolm Cowley

When Caroline Walker fell in love with Julian English she was a little tired of him. That was in the summer of 1926, one of the most unimportant years in the history of the United States, and the year in which Caroline Walker was sure her life had reached a pinnacle of uselessness. — John O'Hara