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At college, and perhaps for a year afterwards, they had believed in literature, had believed in Beauty and in personal expression as an absolute end. When they lost this belief, they lost everything.
Nathanael West -
Like a dead man, only friction could make him warm or violence make him mobile.
Nathanael West
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It's solitary drinking that makes drunkards.
Nathanael West -
Feeling is of the heart and nerves and the crudeness of its expression has nothing to do with its intensity.
Nathanael West -
No dream ever entirely disappears. Somewhere it troubles some unfortunate person and some day, when that person has been sufficiently troubled, it will be reproduced on the lot.
Nathanael West -
Art Is a Way Out. Do not let life overwhelm you. When the old paths are choked with the débris of failure, look for newer and fresher paths. Art is just such a path. Art is distilled from suffering.
Nathanael West -
Only those who still have hope can benefit from tears.
Nathanael West -
Every child, everywhere; in the whole world there was not one child who was not gravely, sweetly dancing.
Nathanael West