John Knowles
John Knowles
John Knowles was an American novelist best known for A Separate Peace. He died in 2001 at the age of 75...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth16 September 1926
CountryUnited States of America
knows
I did no know everything there was to know about myself, and knew that I did not know it.
prayer night feet
Never say you are five feet nine when you are five feet eight and a half" was the first one I encountered. Another was, "Always say some prayers at night because it might turn out that there is a God.
acceptance people understanding
There are special, strange gifted people in the world and they have to be treated with understanding
parent sometimes accepting
I knew that part of friendship consisted in accepting a friend’s shortcomings, which sometimes included his parents.
war school hatred
I never killed anybody and I never developed an intense level of hatred for the enemy. Because my war ended before I ever put on a uniform; I was on active duty all my time at school; I killed my enemy there.
summer exeter
The summer of 1943 at Exeter was as happy a time as I ever had in my life.
school class members
Exeter was, I suspect, more crucial in my life than in the lives of most members of my class, and conceivably, than in the lives of almost anyone else who ever attended the school.
teaching yale letdowns
The best teaching I ever experienced was at Exeter. Yale was a distinct letdown afterward.
sick people generations
Young people in my generation were sort of in lockstep, and it wasn't just the '40s, either. In the '30s and in the '50s it was the same. No one ever dropped out unless he got sick or got kicked out.
mother dad father
My father was in the coal business in West Virginia. Both dad and mother were, however, originally from Massachusetts; New England, to them, meant the place to go if you really wanted an education.
numbers people feelings
There are simply more young people than there ever were. You get this feeling of strength. Also, large numbers can be a drawback, making it difficult to lose one's anonymity.
developed leg pain
An abscess on his leg developed and he was in so much pain.
reflection confusion world
Peace is indivisible, and the surrounding world confusion found no reflection inside me.
sarcasm weak protest
Sarcasm is the protest of the weak.