David Lodge quotes

David Lodge is a British novelist, literary critic, and academic, widely recognized for his humorous and insightful campus novels. His works often explore the complexities of academic life and the interplay between literature and society. He is celebrated for his wit, keen observations, and contributions to both fiction and literary theory. Here are 10 of his quotes:

I'm a bit of a deconstructionist myself. It's kind of exciting - the last intellectual thrill left. Like sawing through the branch you're sitting on.

David Lodge

I respect a man who can recognize a quotation. It's a dying art.

David Lodge

Language is the net that holds thought trapped within a particular culture. But if one could only strike the ball with sufficient force, with perfect timing, it would perhaps break through the netting, continue on its course, never fall to earth, but go into orbit around the world.

David Lodge

That's the attraction of the conference circuit: it's a way of converting work into play, combining professionalism with tourism, and all at someone else's expense. Write a paper and see the world! I'm Jane Austen - fly me!

David Lodge

Four times, under our educational rules, the human pack is shuffled and cut – at eleven-plus, sixteen-plus, eighteen-plus and twenty-plus – and happy is he who comes top of the deck on each occasion, but especially the last. This is called Finals, the very name of which implies that nothing of importance can happen after it.

David Lodge

Universities are the cathedrals of the modern age. They shouldn't have to justify their existence by utilitarian criteria.

David Lodge

Looking around at the faces of his colleagues in the Senior Common Room he felt reassured: not a Lineament of Gratified Desire to be seen.

David Lodge

Walt Whitman, he who laid end to end words never seen in each other's company before outside of a dictionary.

David Lodge

Life, after all, should go forwards, not backwards.

David Lodge