Do you know what the definition of insane is? Yes. It’s the inability to relate to another human being. It’s the inability to love.

- Richard Yates

if you wanted to do something absolutely honest, something true, it always turned out to be a thing that had to be done alone.

- Richard Yates

No one forgets the truth; they just get better at lying.

- Richard Yates

if you don’t try at anything, you can’t fail… it takes back bone to lead the life you want

- Richard Yates

If my work has a theme, I suspect it is a simple one: that most human beings are inescapably alone, and therein lies their tragedy.

- Richard Yates

Being alone has nothing to do with how many people are around.

- Richard Yates

And do you know a funny thing? I'm almost fifty years old and I've never understood anything in my whole life.

- Richard Yates

Can you really think artists and writers are the only people entitled to lives of their own?

- Richard Yates

He knew it was possible for shame to be nursed and doctored like an illness, if you wanted to keep it separate from the rest of your life, but that d…

- Richard Yates