Jane Smiley quotes

A child who is protected from all controversial ideas is as vulnerable as a child who is protected from every germ. The infection, when it comes- and it will come- may overwhelm the system, be it the immune system or the belief system. (Jane Smiley)
Like most of the educated, I do harbor a fondness for the sins of my ignorant past. View quote
Jane Smiley
But what truly horsey girls discover in the end is that boyfriends, husbands, children, and careers are the substitute-for horses. View quote
Jane Smiley
Sometimes, a novel is like a train: the first chapter is a comfortable seat in an attractive carriage, and the narrative speeds up. But there are other sorts of trains, and other sorts of novels. They rush by in the dark; passengers framed in the lighted windows are smiling and enjoying themselves. View quote
Jane Smiley
Fascination with horses predated every other single thing I knew. Before I was a mother, before I was a writer, before I knew the facts of life, before I was a schoolgirl, before I learned to read, I wanted a horse. View quote
Jane Smiley
A novelist has two lives-- a reading and writing life, and a lived life. he or she cannot be understood at all apart from this. View quote
Jane Smiley
I discovered that the horse is life itself, a metaphor but also an example of life's mystery and unpredictability, of life's generosity and beauty, a worthy object of repeated and ever changing contemplation. View quote
Jane Smiley
Gossip. The more you talk about why people do things, the more ideas you have about how the world works. View quote
Jane Smiley
Many people, myself among them, feel better at the mere sight of a book. View quote
Jane Smiley
Every first draft is perfect, because all a first draft has to do is exist. View quote
Jane Smiley
Write every day, just to keep in the habit, and remember that whatever you have written is neither as good nor as bad as you think it is. Just keep going, and tell yourself that you will fix it later. (Jane Smiley)
Take naps. Often new ideas come together when you are half asleep, but you have to train yourself to remember them. View quote
Jane Smiley
People are quite frequently eccentric. View quote
Jane Smiley
The only siblings I have are half-siblings. My nuclear family would have been an extra-suffocating threesome. Instead, I have an interesting brother and sister, in-laws, and darling nephews. View quote
Jane Smiley
Not every novel that wants to be a tragedy gets to be one. View quote
Jane Smiley
When a novel has 200,000 words, then it is possible for the reader to experience 200,000 delights, and to turn back to the first page of the book and experience them all over again, perhaps more intensely. View quote
Jane Smiley
If to live is to progress, if you are lucky, from foolishness to wisdom, then to write novels is to broadcast the various stages of your foolishness. View quote
Jane Smiley
I thought I might write mysteries for the rest of my life. View quote
Jane Smiley
A love story, at least a convincing one, requires three elements - the lover, the beloved, and the adventures they have together. View quote
Jane Smiley
With any novel that you begin, you can't foresee how difficult or easy it's going to be, and you can't really prepare yourself. You just have a take it one step at a time and know that it's all right to keep going - you can always fix it. View quote
Jane Smiley
Before I write a novel, images float around in my head that work like icons - they are meaningless in themselves, but serve as reminders. (Jane Smiley)
There is a sociology of horses, as well as a psychology. It is most evident in the world of horse racing, where many horses are gathered together, where year after year, decade after decade, they do the same, rather simple thing - run in races and try to win. View quote
Jane Smiley
My mom was paranoid about my safety. View quote
Jane Smiley
The brave view is that talking it out helps work it out. Maybe the realistic view is that talking it out inflames the issues further. But that is America, especially these days. View quote
Jane Smiley
I learned why 'out riding alone' is an oxymoron: An equestrian is never alone, is always sensing the other being, the mysterious but also understandable living being that is the horse. View quote
Jane Smiley