J.D. Salinger, The Catcher In The Rye Quotes
It's funny. All you have to do is say something nobody understands and they'll do practically anything you want them to.
I am always saying "Glad to've met you" to somebody I'm not at all glad I met. If you want to stay alive, you have to say that stuff, though.
And I have one of those very loud, stupid laughs. I mean if I ever sat behind myself in a movie or something, I'd probably lean over and tell myself to please shut up.
The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of the mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one.
You can't stop a teacher when they want to do something. They just do it.
The more expensive a school is, the more crooks it has — I'm not kidding.
Grand. There's a word I really hate. It's a phony. I could puke every time I hear it.
I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it's crazy, but that's the only thing I'd really like to be. I know it's crazy.
Certain things, they should stay the way they are. You ought to be able to stick them in one of those big glass cases and just leave them alone.
Anyway, I'm sort of glad they've got the atomic bomb invented. If there's ever another war, I'm going to sit right the hell on top of it. I'll volunteer for it, I swear to God I will.
It's partly true, too, but it isn't all true. People always think something's all true.
I like to be somewhere at least where you can see a few girls around once in a while, even if they're only scratching their arms or blowing their noses or even just giggling or something.
You're going to have to find out where you want to go. And then you've got to start going there.
If a girl looks swell when she meets you, who gives a damn if she's late?
All these handsome guys are the same. When they're done combing their goddam hair, they beat it on you.
I think that once you have a fair idea where you want to go, your first move will be to apply yourself in school.
I mean how do you know what you're going to do till you do it?
But what I mean is, lots of time you don't know what interests you most till you start talking about something that doesn't interest you most.
These intellectual guys don't like to have an intellectual conversation with you unless they're running the whole thing.
I felt so damn happy all of a sudden, the way old Phoebe kept going around and around. I was damn near bawling, I felt so damn happy, if you want to know the truth.
People with red hair are supposed to get mad very easily, ..., and he had very red hair.
I always pick a gorgeous time to fall over a suitcase or something.
I know more damn perverts, at schools and all, than anybody you ever met, and they’re always being perverty when I’m around.
