Jane Smiley quotes - page 2

Is human nature basically good or evil? No economist can embark upon his profession without considering this question, and yet they all seem to. And they all seem to think human nature is basically good, or they wouldn't be surprised by the effects of deregulation. (Jane Smiley)
A theory of creativity is actually just a metaphor. A pool of ideas, a well of memories, a voice. View quote
Jane Smiley
I had spent years thinking about one thing while I was doing another. I had, in fact, prided myself on being able to do two things at once. View quote
Jane Smiley
Your sons weren't made to like you. That's what grandchildren are for. View quote
Jane Smiley
In December 1998, I considered myself an expert on love. I was almost a year into a relationship, one that had grown more slowly than I had wished, but once it flowered it was much more stimulating than any marriage or relationship I had known. View quote
Jane Smiley
Vets do what doctors used to - diagnose the injury or the condition, patch it up as best they can and remind you that these things happen and that in life we are also in the midst of death. View quote
Jane Smiley
English majors understand human nature better than economists do. View quote
Jane Smiley
Another thing I learned is that novels, even those from apparently distant times and places, remain current and enlightening, and also comforting. View quote
Jane Smiley
Candy is my fuel. Ice cream, too. View quote
Jane Smiley
Respect and fear are two different things. View quote
Jane Smiley
I think that the Cold War was an exceptional and unnecessary piece of cruelty. (Jane Smiley)
In my experience, there is only one motivation, and that is desire. No reasons or principle contain it or stand against it. View quote
Jane Smiley
The thing about Republicans is that they don't care so much about respect, but they love fear, at least in others. View quote
Jane Smiley
Ignorance and bloodlust have a long tradition in the United States, especially in the red states. View quote
Jane Smiley
There are several methods for introducing your children to driving, and all of them are bad. Probably the worst is to put it off. View quote
Jane Smiley
Novelists of a conservative or more purely aesthetic bent hold up better on the surface, but their novels go in and out of fashion according to relevance or irrelevance. View quote
Jane Smiley
Well, in fact everybody - everybody - in the entire nation has enough stuff in their life to write about that's interesting that they could write their autobiography. And in the end that's why I find people interesting. View quote
Jane Smiley
Americans took a great deal too much credit for creating wealth, when most of the time they had really just been living off natural bounty unprecedented in the history of the world. View quote
Jane Smiley
We sort of read two or three big newspapers but we don't get the flavor of the local events, the local news as much. View quote
Jane Smiley
Somehow, knowing that Alzheimer's is coming mocks all one's aspirations - to tell stories, to think through certain issues as only a novel can do, to be recognised for one's accomplishments and hard work - in a way that old familiar death does not. View quote
Jane Smiley
The fundamental condition of childhood is powerlessness. (Jane Smiley)
I was asked by an editor to consider writing something about an American inventor. I asked him if he knew who invented the computer. He said he didn't. In that case, I told him, I should write a book about John Vincent Atanasoff. View quote
Jane Smiley
Why are we reading a Shakespeare play or 'Huckleberry Finn?' Well, because these works are great, but they also tell us something about the times in which they were created. Unfortunately, previous eras and dead authors often used language or accepted as normal sentiments that we now find unacceptable. View quote
Jane Smiley
Most of my childhood revolved around wondering when we would be blown up by the Russians. I couldn't stand the news, I knew that if the missile were launched, mortality would arrive in half an hour, so I spent a lot of my childhood feeling that I was 30 minutes from being dead. View quote
Jane Smiley
I suspected that there were things he knew that I had been waiting all my life to learn. View quote
Jane Smiley