The 72 best phrases of Truman Capote

Truman Capote was one of the most prominent journalists and writers of the 20th century. His works and his books, such as the acclaimed In Cold Blood, have gone down in the history of literature. So It is not uncommon for there to be many Truman Capote phrases that are still remembered today, either because of his instructive character or because of his ingenuity.

• Related article: "The 55 best phrases about Psychology... and its meaning"

The best phrases of Truman Capote

These are some of Capote's most memorable lines.

1. I am an alcoholic, drug addict and homosexual. I'm a genius.

Phrase that, in the historical context in which it was said, was very provocative.

2. I don't like to leave a book unfinished, but I begged God to forgive me with my readings of Joyce. My prayers had never been so long, but his writings were infumable.

An opinion on the literary work of James Joyce, not devoid of humor.

3. I am an American and an American never wants to be something else.

Something that could be considered a ridicule or a patriotic proclamation, paradoxically.

4. A conversation is a dialogue, not a monologue. This is why there are so few good conversations, because two good conversationalists rarely get together.

On the logic of wit: he works best alone.

5. I am a man of obsessions more than passions.

One of Truman Capote's phrases that describe his personality.

6. Every good writer begins with a viper's nest of negative criticism, as it happened to me.

Appreciation about your beginnings as a writer.

7. Life is a good play with a poorly written third act.

Aphorism about the evolution that life makes us go through, according to this writer.

• You may be interested: "The 9 stages of human life"

8. Words have always saved me from sadness.

The therapeutic role of language.

9. Everything literature does is gossip.

Controversial opinion on the nature of literature.

10. All failure is the one that gives flavor to success.

You have to have a global vision of failure, one that includes the times when things go well for us.

11. When God gives you a gift, he also gives you a whip. And that whip is for self-flagellating.

A special ability encourages us to apply discipline in it.

12. It is better to look up to the sky than to live in it.

A pun on the realistic mindset.

13. The fact that something is true does not mean that it is convenient, neither in life nor in art.

An important distinction.

14. Friendship is a full-time occupation if that someone is really your friend. Therefore, you cannot have many friends, there would not be time for everyone.

A simple observation but with important connotations.

15. My strongest ambitions still revolve around stories, with them I started in the art of writing.

The simplest stories they can become the ones that touch our hearts the most.

16. If you spend a lot of time eating apples, you end up hating apples. That happens to me with the imagination for my books: I throw so much of it that I am empty, so I have to wait a few years until I gain my imagination again to write again and return to exhaust it.

A successful comparison.

17. Before you shake your head, make sure you have it.

Another of Truman Capote's aphorisms, in this case about the ability to reason.

18. I feel like I haven't had a single quiet moment in my life, unless I count the occasional low back pain.

A busy life full of intense experiences.

19. For reading I even read the labels of the clothes.

Thus he described one of the habits that best defined him.

20. I will only say that the only thing that a writer must work with is the documentation that he has collected as a result of his own effort and observation, and he cannot be denied the right to use it. It can be condemned, but not denied.

Reflection on freedom of expression.

21. More tears are shed for answered prayers than unanswered ones.

What we want may be a trap.

22. The good people of Kansas want to kill me and some executioner will be happy to do the job. Killing is very easy.

Comment on the detractors most devoted to the cause of hatred.

23. Discipline is the most important part of success.

A key to making projects prosper.

24. Love is a chain of love, for nature is a chain of life.

Comparison between two concepts that are considered a fundamental part of life experience.

• You may be interested: "The 4 types of love: what different kinds of love are there?"

25. Good taste is the death of art.

Good taste is based on conventions, which is already given in advance.

26. All people are willing to work creatively. What happens is that most never notice it.

Creativity is a default state that day-to-day contingencies keep repressed.

27. What saddens me the most is the unnecessary loneliness of my childhood.

A look back to the years when he was a child.

28. I enjoy talking on television about the things I don't like to write about.

A different medium requires a different registration.

29. Of course, the imagination can always open any door, turn the key and give way to terror.

The uncontrollable component of imagination is what makes it unique.

30. For me, the greatest pleasure in writing is not the subject matter, but the music that the words make.

Forms can be more important than content.

31. When murder is at stake, you can't have a lot of considerations with personal pain. Not with privacy. Not with personal feelings. You have to ask questions. And some hurt deeply.

The value of lives makes sensitivity take a backseat, on certain occasions.

32. The state of mind of the man who signs life insurance is similar to that of the one who signs his will: he necessarily thinks of death.

Another of Truman Capote's phrases based on the everyday.

33. Some cities, like packages wrapped under Christmas trees, contain unexpected gifts, secret delicacies.

About the secrets that some places hold.

34. Because while you are in this life, you always have something waiting for you and even if you know it and also know that it is something bad, what are you going to do? You cannot stop living.

Life prompts us to continue.

35. At school we only learn to recognize words and write them; But applying those words to real life is something that only life and experience can teach us.

The difference between knowing and knowing how to do.

36. We met by the river one day, and that's it. We are both independent. We had never promised ourselves anything.

Some unions are the result of context more than anything else.

37. His enemy was anyone who was what he wanted to be or who had something he wanted to do.

Envy is very powerful.

38. The military do not lose sleep. They murder and they put medals on top.

A critique of the military institution.

39. Christmas. Jesus! I just can't bear it. This year don't expect a card from me. I will not send any.

Another of the personal opinions of the writer, in this case in relation to Christmas.

40. It's easy to ignore the rain if you have a raincoat.

Material conditions greatly affect our attitudes.

41. And thanks. For saving my life. You're wonderful. Only. I love you.

In short, a lot can be said.

42. Writing stopped being fun when I discovered the difference between good and bad writing.

The categorical distinction can break the enjoyment of certain things.

43. Nothing is as common as believing that others are partly to blame for our failures.

We very easily project our guilt onto others.

44. What is life? It is the glow of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in winter. It is the brief shadow that crosses the grass and is lost in the sunset.

Various metaphors to describe the inexplicable.

45. Wrinkles and bones, gray hair and diamonds: I can't wait for that moment to come.

The beautiful part of old age.

46. Few people are capable of demonstrating a common ethical principle when their deliberation is poisoned with emotions.

The emotional clouds our ability to make decisions based on ethics.

47. One day, I began to write, not knowing that I had chained myself for life to a noble but implacable master.

Writing can be addictive.

48. The rigorously superstitious individual is also almost always a blind believer in destiny.

Superstitions make us believe that we are subject to forces incapable of being understood that, consequently, they control us.

49. You can't fuck a guy and cash his checks without at least trying to convince yourself that you love him.

An appreciation on cognitive dissonance.

50. I will never get used to anything. Getting used is like being dead.

Experiencing everything as new makes it more interesting.

51. It is not a shame to have a dirty face, the shame is never to wash it.

Distinction between the circumstances of life and not trying to fight the bad.

52. He wouldn't dare kill fleas on a dog. He would just run him over.

Another of Truman Capote's funny phrases when describing someone.

53. You don't have to give your heart to wild beings: the more you give it to them, the stronger they become.

Life advice on personal relationships.

54. She laughed and told me that she didn't believe in heaven or hell, just dust on dust.

A line that with just a metaphor manages to portray the character.

55. The rich are never hanged. Only the poor and friendless.

There is classism even in death.

56. Because remember this: if a bird carried the sand, grain by grain, from one side of the ocean to the other, when it had transported it all, that would only be the beginning of eternity.

Powerful image to get an idea of ​​the time scale.

57. I loved her so much that I could forget myself, my self-pitying despairs, and be content with the thought that something was going to happen that made her happy.

Love can lead to obsession.

58. When someone gives you trust from him, you always remain in his debt.

The emotional imprint left by these experiences lasts a long time.

59. Things don't always go the way you want them to, sometimes they go the other way around.

The results may be contrary to our interests.

60. It is not a question of fidelity to one's own concepts, it is a question of commitment to continue being an individual without the constant threat of conventional pressures.

The importance of maintaining your own identity.

61. The brain can take advice, but not the heart.

Emotions do not understand arguments.

62. It is impossible for a man who enjoys freedom to imagine what it means to be deprived of it.

A matter of perspective.

63. You can't blame a writer for what a character says.

The characters are not extensions of the author's personality.

64. You have to learn so much, and from so many sources: not only from books, but also from music, painting and even from the simple observation of every day.

There are practically infinite sources of knowledge.

65. Love, having no geography, knows no borders.

A universal emotion.

66. A silence lingered in the air and a distant laugh spread through the carriage, cut into equal slices.

Funny description of a laugh.

67. Most people who get tattoos have some feeling of inferiority and thus try to create a mark of manhood on themselves.

A debatable appreciation about the hidden intentions of those who tattoo themselves.

68. Mike Jagger moves like he's parodying a majorette and Fred Astaire mix.

Criticism of this famous musician.

69. The towns are the best to spend Christmas; immediately the atmosphere is created and its influence makes them revive.

A special context for the celebration.

70. We are free to do and say what we want, as long as this freedom of speech and action does not harm others.

One of the basic principles of functionalism.

71. There is, in convention, a considerable dose of hypocrisy.

Normality requires pretending to be maintained.

72. Every few years our bodies undergo a complete makeover; whether it is desirable or not, nothing more natural than that we change.

Stability is an illusion.