Patricia Highsmith Quotes

United States, Writer
January 19, 1921 – February, 4, 1995.

Patricia Highsmith (January 19, 1921 – February 4, 1995) was an American novelist and short story writer best known for her psychological thrillers, including her series of five novels based on the character of Tom Ripley. She wrote 22 novels and numerous short stories throughout her career, and her work has led to more than two dozen film adaptations. Her writing derived influence from existentialist literature, and interrogated notions of identity and popular morality. She was dubbed "the poet of apprehension" by novelist Graham Greene.

Also known as Screenwriter

I can't write if someone else is in the house, not even the cleaning woman.

Patricia Highsmith
- House
- Woman
- Write
Ripley is married. And he's not lost. He has his feet on the ground.

Patricia Highsmith
- Lost
- Feet
- Ground

If people have bought something of mine, they know by now that I will decline writing it for the movies.

Patricia Highsmith
- People
- Writing
- Movies
I didn't hang around films. I don't know if I'd ever seen Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes.

Patricia Highsmith
- Know
- Lady
- Seen
I don't want to know movie directors. I don't want to be close to them. I don't want to interfere with their work. I don't want them to interfere with mine.

Patricia Highsmith
- Work
- Movie
- Want
My imagination functions much better when I don't have to speak to people.

Patricia Highsmith
Some fellow from the Third World kept hammering for prizes for a Communist film which was rotten.

Patricia Highsmith
- World
- Film
- Communist
A few years ago, there were requests to me, Can we make this? I said that I have no rights. Contact the Hitchcock estate, which won't release it for a remake.

Patricia Highsmith
- Rights
- Estate
- Requests

For neither life nor nature cares if justice is ever done or not.

Patricia Highsmith
- Life
- Done
- Nature
I only know it takes weeks to recover, as if one had been in a car accident.

Patricia Highsmith
- Know
- Car
- Car Accident
I think J.D. Salinger is correct in granting no interviews, and in making no speeches.

Patricia Highsmith
- Think
- Making
- Speeches
I hope it will be set in California. In a way, I made a mistake, because a New Jersey policeman can't operate that way in New York. But in California, he can move between different counties.

Patricia Highsmith
- Different
- Hope
- Mistake
I don't think Ripley is gay. He appreciates good looks in other men, that's true. But he's married in later books. I'm not saying he's very strong in the sex department. But he makes it in bed with his wife.

Patricia Highsmith
- Good
- Men
- True
I like to work for four or five hours a day. I aim for seven days a week.

Patricia Highsmith
- Work
- Day
- Week

That wasn't a bad price for a first book. My agent upped it as much as possible. I was 27 and had nothing behind me. I was working like a fool to earn a living and pay for my apartment.

Patricia Highsmith
- Book
- Bad
- Me
I find the public passion for justice quite boring and artificial.

Patricia Highsmith
- Passion
- Justice
- Find
I hated cracking the whip, and these juries turn into political things.

Patricia Highsmith
- Political
- Things
- Turn
I don't set the alarm to get up. I get up when I feel like it.

Patricia Highsmith
- Up
- Like
- Feel
I was in New York. Hitchcock was in California. He rang me to make a report on his progress and said, I'm having trouble. I've just sacked my second screenwriter.

Patricia Highsmith
I have Graham Greene's telephone number, but I wouldn't dream of using it. I don't seek out writers because we all want to be alone.

Patricia Highsmith
- Want
- Dream
- Alone

I prefer to live in the country where it's quiet. Woody Allen movies there are dubbed into Italian.

Patricia Highsmith
- Live
- Country
- Movies
I have no television - I hate it.

Patricia Highsmith
- Hate
- Television
Robert Walker as Bruno was excellent. He had elegance and humor, and the proper fondness for his mother.

Patricia Highsmith
- Mother
- Humor
- Elegance