J. D. Salinger - The Catcher in the Rye (1951)

88 Sourced Quotes

View all J. D. Salinger Quotes
I think that one of these days," he said, "you're going to have to find out where you want to go. And then you've got to start going there. But immediately. You can't afford to lose a minute. Not you.

J. D. Salinger
Some game. If you get on the side where all the hot-shots are, then it's a game, all right - I'll admit that. But if you get on the other side, where there aren't any hot-shots, then what's a game about it? Nothing. No game.

J. D. Salinger
I thought what I'd do was I'd pretend I was one of those deaf-mutes.

J. D. Salinger
She really started to cry, and the next thing I knew, I was kissing her all over - anywhere - her eyes, her nose, her forehead, her eyebrows, and all, her ears - her whole face except her mouth and all.

J. D. Salinger
If you weren't around, I'd probably be someplace way the hell off. In the woods or some goddamn place. You're the only reason I'm around, practically.

J. D. Salinger
I'm the most terrific liar you ever saw in your life. It's awful. If I'm on my way to the store to buy a magazine, even, and somebody asks me where I'm going, I'm liable to say I'm going to the opera. It's terrible.

J. D. Salinger
I was half in love with her by the time we sat down. That's the thing about girls. Every time they do something pretty, even if they're not much to look at, or even if they're sort of stupid, you fall half in love with them, and then you never know where the hell you are. Girls. Jesus Christ. They can drive you crazy. They really can.

J. D. Salinger
I don't even know what I was running for—I guess I just felt like it.

J. D. Salinger
It isn't very serious, I have this tiny little tumor on the brain.

J. D. Salinger
It was a very stupid thing to do, I'll admit, but I hardly didn't even know I was doing it.

J. D. Salinger
Many, many men have been just as troubled morally and spiritually as you are right now. Happily, some of them kept records of their troubles.

J. D. Salinger
It was that kind of a crazy afternoon, terrifically cold, and no sun out or anything, and you felt like you were disappearing every time you crossed a road.

J. D. Salinger
The thing with kids is, if they want to grab for the gold ring, you have to let them do it, and not say anything. If they fall off, they fall off, but it's bad if you say anything to them.

J. D. Salinger
I told her I loved her and all. It was a lie, of course, but the thing is, I meant it when I said it. I'm crazy. I swear to God I am.

J. D. Salinger
It's funny. All you have to do is say something nobody understands and they'll do practically anything you want them to.

J. D. Salinger
You never even worried, with Jane, whether your hand was sweaty or not. All you knew was, you were happy. You really were.

J. D. Salinger
You can't stop a teacher when they want to do something. They just do it.

J. D. Salinger
I felt so lonesome, all of a sudden. I almost wished I was dead.

J. D. Salinger
Grand. There's a word I really hate. It's a phony. I could puke every time I hear it.

J. D. Salinger
Real ugly girls have it tough. I feel so sorry for them sometimes.

J. D. Salinger
Don't ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody.

J. D. Salinger
Life is a game, boy. Life is a game that one plays according to the rules. - Mr. Spencer

J. D. Salinger
'You know that song If a body catch a body comin' through the rye? I'd like—''It's If a body meet a body coming through the rye!' old Phoebe said…'I thought it was If a body catch a body,' I said.

J. D. Salinger
I'd never yell, "Good luck!" at anybody. It sounds terrible, when you think about it.

J. D. Salinger
While I was walking I passed these two guys that were unloading this big Christmas tree off a truck. One guy, kept saying to the other guy, 'Hold the sonunvabitch up! Hold it up, for Chrissake!' It certainly was a gorgeous way to talk about a Christmas tree.

J. D. Salinger
It's not too bad when the sun's out, but the sun only comes out when it feels like coming out.

J. D. Salinger
I think if you don't really like a girl, you shouldn't horse around with her at all, and if you do like her, then you're supposed to like her face, and if you like her face, you ought to be careful about doing crumby stuff to it, like squirting water all over it. It's really too bad that so much crumby stuff is a lot of fun sometimes.

J. D. Salinger
In every school I've gone to, all the athletic bastards stick together.

J. D. Salinger