Larry McMurtry Quotes
Born: June 3, 1936
Larry McMurtry, the Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and screenwriter, crafted stories that pulse with gritty determination and the raw poetry of the American West. Though known for epics like *Lonesome Dove*, his true philosophy lies in the relentless pursuit of action against all odds. McMurtry understood that motivation isn’t a fleeting spark but a stubborn, quiet endurance—the will to keep moving when the trail turns to dust. His quotes resonate because they strip away pretense, revealing the hard-won wisdom of men and women who act despite exhaustion and heartbreak. He teaches us that greatness is forged not in grand plans, but in the daily choice to saddle up and ride.
Larry McMurtry Quotes (11)
"A man that ain't willin' to cheat for a poke don't want it bad enough."
— Larry Mcmurtry"Incompetents invariably make trouble for people other than themselves."
— Larry Mcmurtry"True maturity is only reached when a man realizes he has become a father figure to his girlfriends' boyfriends - and he accepts it."
— Larry Mcmurtry"You expect far too much of a first sentence. Think of it as analogous to a good country breakfast: what we want is something simple, but nourishing to the imagination."
— Larry Mcmurtry"No illusion is more crucial than the illusion that great success and huge money buy you immunity from the common ills of mankind, such as cars that won't start."
— Larry Mcmurtry"Self-parody is the first portent of age."
— Larry Mcmurtry"Americans don't want cowboys to be gay."
— Larry Mcmurtry"Backward is just not a natural direction for Americans to look - historical ignorance remains a national characteristic."
— Larry Mcmurtry"If we know anything about man, it's that he's not pacific. The temptation to butcher anyone considered undesirable seems to be a common temptation, not always resisted."
— Larry Mcmurtry"Members of the Academy are mostly urban people. We are an urban nation. We are not a rural nation. It's not easy even to get a rural story made."
— Larry Mcmurtry"One of the things that Ang brings to all of his projects is his deep sense of being a double exile, an outsider's outsider."
— Larry Mcmurtry