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Jonathan Franzen Quotes

The pain was quite extraordinary. And yet also weirdly welcome and restorative, bringing him news of his aliveness and his caughtness in a story larger than himself Picture Quote #1

Birds were like dinosaurs’ better selves. They had short lives and long summers. We all should be so lucky as to leave behind such heirs Picture Quote #1

It seems to me self-evident that if you have a life, things happen in it, and certain things do change; certain things end. People you know die Picture Quote #1

We may freak out globally, but we suffer locally Picture Quote #1

I was a late child from my parents, so I grew up surrounded by people a lot older than me. I think even when I was 21, I felt like I was a 70-year-old man Picture Quote #1

If you want to have friends, you have to remember that nobody’s perfect Picture Quote #1

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Fiction is a particularly effective way for strangers to connect across time and distance Picture Quote #1

Fiction is a solution, the best solution, to the problem of existential solitude Picture Quote #1

The reader is a friend, not an adversary, not a spectator Picture Quote #1

The real pleasure in writing this, for me, was discovering how little you need Picture Quote #1

It was a way of recognizing places of enchantment: people falling asleep like this Picture Quote #1

What you discovered about yourself in raising children wasn’t always agreeable or attractive Picture Quote #1

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I wanted all of her and resented other boys for wanting any part of her Picture Quote #1

An ink bottle, which now seems impossibly quaint, was still thinkable as a symbol in 1970 Picture Quote #1

When you stay in your room and rage or sneer or shrug your shoulders, as I did for many years, the world and its problems are impossibly daunting. But when you go out and put yourself in real relation to real people, or even just real animals, there’s a very real danger that you might end up loving some of them. And who knows what might happen to you then? Picture Quote #1

What he’d never understood about men in his position, in all the books he’d read and movies he’d seen about them, was clearer to him now: you couldn’t keep expecting wholehearted love without, at some point, requiting it. There was no credit to be earned for simply being good Picture Quote #1

I was unwise enough to actually mention this in public a few times, and in fact to point out that there were two versions of the book now. One of them had somebody else’s name on the cover, one had my name on the cover Picture Quote #1

How wrong to have been so negative, how wrong to have been so gloomy, how wrong to have run away from life, how wrong to have said no, again and again, instead of yes Picture Quote #1

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I find it a huge strain to be responsible for my tastes and be known and defined by them Picture Quote #1

The world was ending then, it’s ending still, and I’m happy to belong to it again Picture Quote #1

For every reader who dies today, a viewer is born, and we seem to be witnessing... the final tipping balance Picture Quote #1

Life, in her experience, had a kind of velvet luster. You looked at yourself from one perspective and all you saw was weirdness. Move your head a little bit, though, and everything looked reasonably normal Picture Quote #1

It’s not surprising to see in my own work, looking back, and in the work of some of my peers, an attention to family. It’s nice to write a book that does tend toward significance and meaning, and where else are you sure of finding it? Picture Quote #1

It’s just a matter of writing the kind of book I enjoy reading. Something better be happening at the beginning, and then on every page after, or I get irritated Picture Quote #1

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If you’re interested in how people behave, if you’re interested in the way they talk about themselves, the way the conceive of themselves, it’s very hard to ignore drugs nowadays, because that is so much part of the conversation Picture Quote #1

I wrote two plotted books, got some of the fundamentals of storytelling down, then... it’s sort of like taking the training wheels off, trying to write a book that’s fun in the same way without relying on quite such mechanical or external beats Picture Quote #1

I was about 13, in some ways, when I wrote the first book. Approximately 18 when I wrote the second Picture Quote #1

I used to think it was hard to write, and I still find the process more or less unpleasant, but if I know what I’m doing it rattles along, then the rewrite whips it into shape rather quickly Picture Quote #1

I look at my father, who was in many ways an unhappy person, but who, not long before he got sick, said that the greatest source of satisfaction in his life had been going to work in the company of other workers Picture Quote #1

As with all forms of liberation, of which the liberation of women is only one example, it is easy to suppose in a time of freedom that the darker days of repression can never come again Picture Quote #1

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Friendship Quotes

Motivational Quotes

Inspirational Quotes

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Text Quotes

The pain was quite extraordinary. And yet also weirdly welcome and restorative, bringing him news of his aliveness and his caughtness in a story larger than himself (Jonathan Franzen Quotes) Birds were like dinosaurs’ better selves. They had short lives and long summers. We all should be so lucky as to leave behind such heirs (Jonathan Franzen Quotes) It seems to me self-evident that if you have a life, things happen in it, and certain things do change; certain things end. People you know die (Jonathan Franzen Quotes) We may freak out globally, but we suffer locally (Jonathan Franzen Quotes) I was a late child from my parents, so I grew up surrounded by people a lot older than me. I think even when I was 21, I felt like I was a 70-year-old man (Jonathan Franzen Quotes) If you want to have friends, you have to remember that nobody’s perfect (Jonathan Franzen Quotes) Fiction is a particularly effective way for strangers to connect across time and distance (Jonathan Franzen Quotes) Fiction is a solution, the best solution, to the problem of existential solitude (Jonathan Franzen Quotes) The reader is a friend, not an adversary, not a spectator (Jonathan Franzen Quotes) The real pleasure in writing this, for me, was discovering how little you need (Jonathan Franzen Quotes) It was a way of recognizing places of enchantment: people falling asleep like this (Jonathan Franzen Quotes) What you discovered about yourself in raising children wasn’t always agreeable or attractive (Jonathan Franzen Quotes) I wanted all of her and resented other boys for wanting any part of her (Jonathan Franzen Quotes) An ink bottle, which now seems impossibly quaint, was still thinkable as a symbol in 1970 (Jonathan Franzen Quotes) When you stay in your room and rage or sneer or shrug your shoulders, as I did for many years, the world and its problems are impossibly daunting. But when you go out and put yourself in real relation to real people, or even just real animals, there’s a very real danger that you might end up loving some of them. And who knows what might happen to you then? (Jonathan Franzen Quotes) What he’d never understood about men in his position, in all the books he’d read and movies he’d seen about them, was clearer to him now: you couldn’t keep expecting wholehearted love without, at some point, requiting it. There was no credit to be earned for simply being good (Jonathan Franzen Quotes) I was unwise enough to actually mention this in public a few times, and in fact to point out that there were two versions of the book now. One of them had somebody else’s name on the cover, one had my name on the cover (Jonathan Franzen Quotes) How wrong to have been so negative, how wrong to have been so gloomy, how wrong to have run away from life, how wrong to have said no, again and again, instead of yes (Jonathan Franzen Quotes) I find it a huge strain to be responsible for my tastes and be known and defined by them (Jonathan Franzen Quotes) The world was ending then, it’s ending still, and I’m happy to belong to it again (Jonathan Franzen Quotes) For every reader who dies today, a viewer is born, and we seem to be witnessing... the final tipping balance (Jonathan Franzen Quotes) Life, in her experience, had a kind of velvet luster. You looked at yourself from one perspective and all you saw was weirdness. Move your head a little bit, though, and everything looked reasonably normal (Jonathan Franzen Quotes) It’s not surprising to see in my own work, looking back, and in the work of some of my peers, an attention to family. It’s nice to write a book that does tend toward significance and meaning, and where else are you sure of finding it? (Jonathan Franzen Quotes) It’s just a matter of writing the kind of book I enjoy reading. Something better be happening at the beginning, and then on every page after, or I get irritated (Jonathan Franzen Quotes) If you’re interested in how people behave, if you’re interested in the way they talk about themselves, the way the conceive of themselves, it’s very hard to ignore drugs nowadays, because that is so much part of the conversation (Jonathan Franzen Quotes) I wrote two plotted books, got some of the fundamentals of storytelling down, then... it’s sort of like taking the training wheels off, trying to write a book that’s fun in the same way without relying on quite such mechanical or external beats (Jonathan Franzen Quotes) I was about 13, in some ways, when I wrote the first book. Approximately 18 when I wrote the second (Jonathan Franzen Quotes) I used to think it was hard to write, and I still find the process more or less unpleasant, but if I know what I’m doing it rattles along, then the rewrite whips it into shape rather quickly (Jonathan Franzen Quotes) I look at my father, who was in many ways an unhappy person, but who, not long before he got sick, said that the greatest source of satisfaction in his life had been going to work in the company of other workers (Jonathan Franzen Quotes) As with all forms of liberation, of which the liberation of women is only one example, it is easy to suppose in a time of freedom that the darker days of repression can never come again (Jonathan Franzen Quotes)

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