1. “He was going to live forever, or die in the attempt.”
2. “The enemy is anybody who’s going to get you killed, no matter which side he’s on.”
3. “There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one’s own safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind.”
4. “Insanity is contagious.”
5. “The important thing was to keep from being bored with oneself.”
6. “Yossarian was a lead bombardier who had been demoted because he no longer gave a damn whether he missed or not.”
7. “He knew everything there was to know about literature, except how to enjoy it.”
8. “You have a morbid aversion to dying. You probably resent the fact that you’re at war and might get your head blown off any second.”
9. “Some men are born mediocre, some men achieve mediocrity, and some men have mediocrity thrust upon them.”
10. “Catch-22 did not exist, he was positive of that, but it made no difference. What did matter was that everyone thought it existed, and that was much worse.”
11. “I’m not afraid of death. It’s the stake one puts up in order to play the game of life.”
12. “The chaplain had mastered, in a moment of divine intuition, the handy technique of protective rationalization and he was exhilarated by his discovery.”
13. “The Texan turned out to be good-natured, generous and likeable. In three days no one could stand him.”
14. “I’m a paranoiac in reverse. I suspect people of plotting to make me happy.”
15. “That’s some catch, that Catch-22,” he observed. “It’s the best there is,” Doc Daneeka agreed.
16. “He felt goose pimples clacking all over him as he gazed down despondently at the grim secret Snowden had spilled all over the messy floor. It was easy to read the message in his entrails. Man was matter, that was Snowden’s secret. Drop him out a window and he’ll fall. Set fire to him and he’ll burn. Bury him and he’ll rot, like other kinds of garbage. That was Snowden’s secret.”
17. “You mean there’s a catch?” “Sure there’s a catch,” Doc Daneeka replied. “Catch-22. Anyone who wants to get out of combat duty isn’t really crazy.”
18. “They’re trying to kill me,” Yossarian told him calmly. “No one’s trying to kill you,” Clevinger cried. “Then why are they shooting at me?” Yossarian asked. “They’re shooting at everyone,” Clevinger answered. “They’re trying to kill everyone.” “And what difference does that make?”
19. “The only reason he had going for him was a peculiar kind of integrity that a few other men in the squadron also possessed. It was not the normal integrity that comes from refusing to lie, steal, or cheat, but an extraordinary, innate integrity that came from his being, as he was, himself and no one else.”
20. “I’m not censoring myself to comfort your ignorance.”
21. “What a lousy earth! He wondered how many people were destitute that same night even in his own prosperous country, how many homes were shanties, how many husbands were drunk and wives socked, and how many children were bullied, abused, or abandoned. How many families hungered for food they could not afford to buy? How many hearts ached with a secret pain? How many were poor and how many were rich and unhappy? He had no way of knowing. But he knew one thing: there was never a shortage of things to worry about.”
Summary of Catch-22:
Catch-22 is a satirical novel written by Joseph Heller and published in 1961. It follows the experiences of Captain John Yossarian, a U.S. Army Air Force B-25 bombardier, and other members of his squadron stationed on the fictional island of Pianosa during World War II. Yossarian is desperate to get out of the war, but his efforts are continually thwarted by the “catch-22” clause in the military bureaucracy, which dictates that anyone who is insane can be excused from flying missions, but anyone who requests to be excused from flying missions on the grounds of insanity is deemed sane and therefore must continue to fly.
The novel explores themes such as the absurdity of war, the corruption of power, the dehumanizing effects of bureaucracy, and the struggle for individual freedom in a society that values conformity above all else. Through its complex, non-linear narrative and its use of surreal humor and irony, Catch-22 offers a scathing critique of war and the military establishment, and has become one of the most influential and celebrated works of American literature.
