The Catcher in the Rye Quotes

“I don't exactly know what I mean by that, but I mean it.”

― J. D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye

topic:meaning

“Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody's around—nobody big, I mean—except me. And I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to...”

― J. D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye

topic:children

“lots of time you don't know what interests you most till you start talking about something that doesn't interest you most.”

― J. D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye

topic:talkinginterest

“You don't have to think too hard when you talk to a teacher.”

― J. D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye

topic:talkingthinking

“He hated it when you called a moron. All morons hate it when you call them a moron.”

― J. D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye

topic:hate

“You can't ever find a place that's nice and peaceful, because there isn't any. You may think there is, but once you get there, when you're not looking, somebody'll sneak up and write 'Fuck you' right under your nose. Try it sometime.”

― J. D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye

topic:peace

“I don't even know what I was running for—I guess I just felt like it.”

― J. D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye

topic:feeling

“I knew it wasn't too important, but it made me sad anyway.”

― J. D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye

topic:sadnessimportance

“I don't care if it's a sad good-by or a bad good-by, but when I leave a place I like to know I'm leaving it. If you don't, you feel even worse.”

― J. D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye

topic:sadness

“Almost every time somebody gives me a present, it ends up making me sad.”

― J. D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye

topic:sadness