A Quote by John Updike

Being a famous writer is a little like being a tall dwarf. You're on the edge of normality.

John Updike

Quote Topics

Being Dwarf Edge Famous Like Little Normality Tall Writer

Quote Author

John Updike
American - Novelist
March 18, 1932 - January 27, 2009

The fame thing is interesting because I never wanted to be famous, and I never dreamt I would be famous. You know, my fantasy of being a famous writer, and again there's a slight disconnect with reality which happens a lot with me. I imagined being a famous writer would be like being like Jane Austen.

J. K. Rowling

Being famous as a writer is like being famous in a village. It's not really any very heady fame.

Peter Carey

The healthy being craves an occasional wildness, a jolt from normality, a sharpening of the edge of appetite, his own little festival of Saturnalia, a brief excursion from his way of life.

Robert Morrison MacIver

In the realm of pop celebrity, the bar has been lowered so far that there is no bar. People can be famous for being famous, famous for being infamous, famous for having once been famous and, thanks largely to the Internet, famous for not being famous at all.

Tom Shales

I imagined being a famous writer would be like being like Jane Austen.

J. K. Rowling

I had a fear of being too tall because my dad is very tall, and both my sisters are very tall. And they're drop-dead gorgeous, but I just didn't know if I, as Storm, wanted to be 6 feet tall, 'cause I feel like that's pretty tall.

Storm Reid

I seem to be able to go from part to part without being recognised, which I like. When I was little, I resented it with every fibre of my being when Ma was recognised. Another way of looking at celebrity, though, is it's being famous for being brilliant at something.

Rachael Stirling

I was beginning to understand something about normality. Normality wasn't normal. It couldn't be. If normality were normal, everybody could leave it alone. They could sit back and let normality manifest itself. But people-and especially doctors- had doubts about normality. They weren't sure normality was up the job. And so they felt inclined to give it a boost.

Jeffrey Eugenides

Some people can't sing - like honestly - but they're famous anyway, and they might be famous for being an artist, which is completely different from being a singer.

Zara Larsson

If it looks like a Dwarf, and it smells like a Dwarf, then it's probably a Dwarf or a latrine wearing dungerees.

Eoin Colfer

I was always told to avoid being famous just for being famous. That's something that has always stuck in my mind. I like to work. It helps if you like what you do.

Naomi Campbell

We reward people a lot for being rich, for being famous, for being cute, for being thin... one of the values I think we need to instill in our country, in our children, is a sense of 'usefulness', in other words, are we useful, are we making other peoples' lives a little bit better?

Barack Obama

Starting off in music, the purpose of it was not to become like well known on the street and be famous. You know, I didn't even think about that part of being famous. Famous for making records, yes, but famous face in a woman's magazine, I never thought of that. I didn't want that.

Mick Jagger

I don't think about being famous, really. Being an author, I don't generally get stopped as I walk down the street. It's not like being a movie star.

Rick Riordan

I was in this hamster wheel of being famous for being famous, much like a reality star. You would put me on a talkshow, I would say outrageous things. I was just perpetuating myself as a celebrity, and I found that really empty.