37+ John D. MacDonald Quotes On Religion, Government And Education

John D. MacDonald was an American novelist and short-story writer. He was best known for his popular and critically acclaimed series of novels featuring the private detective Travis McGee. His works combine elements of mystery, adventure, psychological suspense, and social commentary in a unique and engaging style. Following is our collection on famous quotes by John D. MacDonald on religion, leadership, government.

Top 10 John D. MacDonald Quotes

1. Integrity is not a conditional word. It doesn't blow in the wind or change with the weather.
2. Night and gin and music-the right setting for peeling off the thin clinging layers of bullshit and finding one's way down closer to the essential self.
3. The only thing in the world worth a damn is the strange, touching, pathetic, awesome nobility of the individual human spirit.
4. If the cards are stacked against you, reshuffle the deck.
5. A nonreader is somebody standing there in a blindfold.
6. Friendships, like marriages, are dependent on avoiding the unforgivable.
7. A man with a credit card is in hock to his own image of himself.
8. A set definite objective must be established if we are to accomplish anything in a big way.
9. It's no good telling somebody they're trying too hard. It's very much like ordering a child to go stand in a corner for a half hour and never once think about elephants.
10. [To] me organized religion, the formalities and routines, [is] like being marched in formation to look at a sunset.

John D. MacDonald Short Quotes

• People cannot endure inexplicable worthlessness
• The only thing that prisons demonstrably cure is heterosexuality.
• The intensity of your desire governs the power with which the force is directed.
• To enjoy enduring success we should travel a little in advance of the world.
• All thinking is done with the glands. Logic is added later to tidy things up.
• My purpose is to entertain myself first and other people secondly.
• In the morning I'm often anti-semantic.
• Being an adult means accepting those situations where no action is possible.
• We were about to give up and call it a night when somebody threw the girl off the bridge.

John D. MacDonald Famous Quotes And Sayings

Integrity is not a conditional word. It doesn't blow in the wind or change with the weather. It is your inner image of yourself, and if you look in there and see a man who won't cheat, then you know he never will. — John D. MacDonald

Up with life. Stamp out all small and large indignities. Leave everyone alone to make it without pressure. Down with hurting. Lower the standard of living. Do without plastics. Smash the servo-mechanisms. Stop grabbing. Snuff the breeze and hug the kids. Love all love. Hate all hate. — John D. MacDonald

At times it seems as if arranging to have no commitment of any kind to anyone would be a special freedom. But in fact the whole idea works in reverse. The most deadly commitment of all is to be committed only to one's self. Some come to realize this after they are in the nursing home. — John D. MacDonald

As I holed up in the City of Angels, I was also aware of a comforting feeling of anonymity. In the world's biggest third-class city I could pass unnoticed. I spoke the language. I was familiar with the currency. I could drink the water. I could almost breathe the air, late April air, compounded of interesting hydrocarbons. — John D. MacDonald

Now each one of us, black or white, is a symbol. The war is out in the open and the skin color is a uniform. All the deep and basic similarities of the human condition are forgotten so that we can exaggerate the few differences that exist. — John D. MacDonald

This was not some pretty little girl, coyly flirtatious, delicately stimulated. This was the mature female of the species, vivid, handsome and strong demanding that all the life within her be matched. Her instinct would detect any hedging, any dishonesty, any less than complete response to her - and then she would be gone for good. — John D. MacDonald

I am wary of the whole dreary deadening structured mess that we have built into such a glittering top-heavy structure that there is nothing left to see but the glitter, and the brute routines of maintaining it. — John D. MacDonald

We have been endowed with the capacity and the power to create desirable pictures within and to find them automatically in the outer world of our environment. — John D. MacDonald

...it isn't foolish or wicked to enjoy. Wickedness is hurting people on purpose. I love what you are and who you are and how you are. You give me great joy. And you make horrible coffee. — John D. MacDonald

Now it stands to reason, mister, any damn fool stares into the sun long enough, he'll end up seeing exactly what some other damn fool tells him he's going to see. — John D. MacDonald

Your mind, which is yourself, can be likened to a house. The first necessary move then, is to rid that house of all but furnishings essential to success. — John D. MacDonald

Way over half the murders committed in this country are by close friends or relatives of the deceased. A gun makes a loud and satisfying noise in a moment of passion and requires no agility and very little strength. How many murders wouldn't happen, if they all had to use hammers and knives? — John D. MacDonald

When you see the ugliness behind the tears of another person, it makes you take a closer look at your own. — John D. MacDonald

I am not suited to the role of going around selling the life-can-be-beautiful idea. It can be, indeed. But you don't buy the concept from your friendly door-to-door lecture salesman. — John D. MacDonald

You have to start knowing yourself so well that you begin to know other people. A piece of us is in every person we can ever meet. — John D. MacDonald

I want story, wit, music, wryness, color, and a sense of reality in what I read, and I try to get it in what I write. — John D. MacDonald

You return and again take the proper course, guided by what? -- By the picture in mind of the place you are headed for... — John D. MacDonald

If you would be thrilled by watching the galloping advance of a major glacier, you'd be ecstatic watching changes in publishing. — John D. MacDonald

Life Lessons by John D. MacDonald

1. John D. MacDonald's novels emphasize the importance of personal integrity and the consequences of making poor decisions.
2. He also stresses the importance of loyalty and friendship, and the need to take responsibility for one's actions.
3. Through his stories, MacDonald encourages readers to think critically and to make ethical choices that will lead to a better future.