Thomas Pynchon Quotes

Dream is not that which you see while sleeping it is something that does not let you sleep.

I realized that we were all sort of conspiring, well, not conspiring against each other, but all this cloak and dagger stuff and I was like; what is this?

While we are sleeping, two-thirds of the world is plotting to do us in.

I don't think there's anything that will make me stop doing it. There may be a time when it's not available to anyone. You may have to come listen at my basement window... but I can't stop.

Deals, flattery, threats and promises are part of the process, certainly; do not flinch from any opportunity to scheme and plot, however sordid and demeaning it may appear.

I was part and parcel of the whole conspiracy.

For an old spy and codebreaker like myself, nothing in the world happens by coincidence.

The idea I'd been toying with fully formed in my mind. "I'm plotting." "oh?" His mouth curved in a wicked grin. "Do Tell." Chapter 5 pg. 50

Whenever anything is being accomplished, it is being done, I have learned, by a monomaniac with a mission.

A man who has schemed for some time can no longer do without it; all other ways of living are to him dull and insipid.

The best laid plot can injure its maker, and often a man's perfidy will rebound on himself.

I'll find you," he says, watching me with the eyes I remember. "I won't let you go again

If you have an idea of what you want to do in your future, you must go at it with almost monastic obsession. [...] You have to go at it single-mindedly and let nothing get in your way.

I'll find you- Keep calling for me, Viola- Cuz here I come.

I saw a man pursuing the horizon;Round and round they sped.I was disturbed at this;I accosted the man."It is futile," I said,"You can never-""You lie," he cried,And ran on.

I was obsessed. I wouldn't quit. My grades suffered. I didn't care.

Never give up on something that you can't go a day without thinking about.

You must have complete determination. The worst opponent you can come across is one whose aim has become an obsession.

You must have complete determination. The worst opponent you can come across is one whose aim has become an obsession. For instance, if a man has decided that he is going to bite off your nose no matter what happens to him in the process, the chances are he will succeed in doing it. He may be severely beaten up, too, but that will not stop him from carrying out his objective. That is the real fighter.

Oh! think what anxious moments pass between The birth of plots, and their last fatal periods, Oh! 'tis a dreadful interval of time, Filled up with horror all, and big with death!

Conspiracies no sooner should be formed Than executed.

You can want success all you want, but to get it, you can’t falter. You can’t slip. You can’t sleep. One eye open, for real, and forever.

After further introductions were made, we settled in the family room. Yes, the living room would have been nicer, but I wanted comfortable surroundings while plotting to murder one famed historical figure with another one. ~Cat

Quit everything until you find something that you just cannot quit.