What really knocks me out is a book that, when you’re all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours…
J. D. Salinger – The Catcher in the Rye
Books Impact on Holden
B
Maturity in Holden’s Eyes
M
The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of the mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one.
J. D. Salinger – The Catcher in the Rye
Holden’s Self-Perception
H
I’m quite illiterate, but I read a lot.
J. D. Salinger – The Catcher in the Rye
Museum’s Unchanging Nature
M
The best thing, though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was.
J. D. Salinger – The Catcher in the Rye
Life as a Game
L
Life is a game, boy. Life is a game that one plays according to the rules.
J. D. Salinger – The Catcher in the Rye
Power of Confusion
P
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 – The Catcher in the Rye
Holden’s Cynicism
H
People are always ruining things for you.
J. D. Salinger – The Catcher in the Rye
Money’s Emotional Cost
M
Goddamn money. It always ends up making you blue as hell.
J. D. Salinger – The Catcher in the Rye
Holden’s Social Facade
H
I am always saying ‘Glad to’ve met you’ to somebody I’m not at all glad I met.
J. D. Salinger – The Catcher in the Rye
The Lure of Bad Choices
T
It’s really too bad that so much crumby stuff is a lot of fun sometimes.
J. D. Salinger – The Catcher in the Rye