12 Quotes & Sayings By Patrick Dewitt

Patrick deWitt is a novelist who lives in New York City. His novels include the short story collection "The Sisters Brothers," which was a finalist for the National Book Award, and the novel "The Sisters Brothers," which was a finalist for the Man Booker Prize and won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Fiction. In 2011, he published "The Sisters Brothers," a novel about two brothers traveling from Oregon to California in the 1850s. He was previously nominated for a National Book Award ("The Sisters Brothers") and a Pulitzer Prize ("The Refusal") Read more

DeWitt's work has been translated into twenty languages.

I do not know what it was about that boy...
1
I do not know what it was about that boy but just looking at him, even I wanted to clout him on the head. It was a head that invited violence. Patrick DeWitt
2
Work will drive you crazy if you let it. Patrick DeWitt
3
I sighed. ‘It doesn’t matter what we do. Money comes and goes.’ I shook my head. ‘It doesn’t matter and you know it doesn’t. Patrick DeWitt
4
I lay in the dark thinking about the difficulties of family, how crazy and crooked the stories of a bloodline can be. Patrick DeWitt
5
There is nothing typical about my profession.’ Suddenly I did not want to talk about it any longer. ‘I don’t want to talk about it any longer. Patrick DeWitt
6
Some wear greed as a fine suit of clothes. But you, my son, bear its stamp ever more poorly. Patrick DeWitt
7
I was intentionally curbing the impulse to be funny and hiding the ability. I wrote any number of very serious attempts at poems, short stories, novels - horrible. At a certain point, I recognized that it was fun to write dialogue that had a degree of lightness and humor. Patrick DeWitt
8
I've stopped reading about the death of books because it's wasteful and morbid and insulting to the authors, agents, publishers, booksellers, critics, and readers that keep the world community of fiction interesting. Patrick DeWitt
9
I think of myself as somebody who, in a moment-to-moment way, I'm quite happy. But I think I am a bit doubtful and wary of true happiness, and, like a lot of my friends, there's been a good degree of self-sabotage. Patrick DeWitt
10
Whenever we changed schools, we had to make a new set of friends. At the time, of course, I hated it. But looking back now, I'm really glad I did, because it forces independence on you. Patrick DeWitt
11
When you're 8 years old, and you've become subconsciously familiar with the layout and design of Black Sparrow books, and you know the difference between Miles Davis and John Coltrane, something is bound to stick. Patrick DeWitt