All the best essays are epistemological journeys from ignorance or curiosity to knowledge. Geoff Dyer More Quotes by Geoff Dyer More Quotes From Geoff Dyer Quite often, ambition operates on a level of irritation. Not even jealousy, just irritation. Geoff Dyer irritation levels ambition I guess that as life is speeded up and our capacity for concentration is being nibbled away at by all the obvious things, that leads us actually to be more susceptible to boredom. Geoff Dyer obvious-things boredom life-is In my 30s I used to go to the gym even though I hated it. The purpose of going to the gym was to postpone the day when I would stop going. That's what writing is to me: a way of postponing the day when I won't do it any more, the day when I will sink into a depression so profound it will be indistinguishable from perfect bliss. Geoff Dyer perfect writing profound Never ride a bike with the brakes on. If something is proving too difficult, give up and do something else. Try to live without resort to perseverance. Geoff Dyer persevere giving-up trying [William] Eggleston's photographs look like they were taken by a Martian who lost the ticket for his flight home and ended up working at a gun shop in a small town near Memphis. On the weekend he searches for the ticket - it must be somewhere - with a haphazard thoroughness that confounds established methods of investigation. Geoff Dyer weekend taken home I’m so revolted by writers taking themselves seriously that, as a kind of protest, I’ve deprioritized the role of writing in my life. I do it when I’ve not got anything better to do – and even then I often do nothing instead. Geoff Dyer roles kind writing Each of my book arrives at a form and a style that is appropriate to the subject. Geoff Dyer style form book In the '80s, the world I was living in wasn't this world of consumption. There wasn't that much to buy, really. Actually I'm still struck by that. There's not an awful lot of stuff I want. Somebody quotes Diogenes, who's walking around saying, "How many things there are in the marketplace of which Diogenes has no need." I always feel that. Except of course when you're living in Venice, California and you see all these lovely houses! Geoff Dyer lovely house world People say it's not what happens in your life that matters, it's what you think happened. But this qualification, obviously, did not go far enough. It was quite possible that the central event of your life could be something that didn't happen, or something you thought didn't happen. Otherwise there'd be no need for fiction, there'd only be memoirs and histories. Geoff Dyer events people thinking I always like to be in the presence of people who are good at and love their jobs, Irrespective of their jobs. Geoff Dyer and-love jobs people The process of book writing for me is entirely one of trial and error. Geoff Dyer errors writing book I've never really liked L.A., because of its sprawl. Geoff Dyer These days any self-respecting exhibition of nude photos has to have pornographically explicit images to prove that they are works of art. Geoff Dyer exhibitions self art If the regular length of a shot is increased, one becomes bored, but if you keep on making it longer, a new quality emerges, a special intensity of attention.' At first there can be a friction between our expectations of time and Tarkovsky-time and this friction is increasing in the twenty-first century as we move further and further away from Tarkovsky-time towards moron-time in which nothing can last—and no one can concentrate on anything—for longer than about two seconds. Geoff Dyer bored two moving I think I do have a sort of terrible propensity for boredom and for being bored, even though I am absolutely of the opinion that one shouldn't be bored and that there is no excuse for it and that it is a personal failing. Geoff Dyer boredom opinion thinking There's something about New York. You can get a nice feeling of belonging as a writer here. It's probably the best city on Earth like that. I miss the wisecracking of New York. Geoff Dyer nice missing feelings I published so many books, which, for years, didn't get published here in America, at all - and which barely got any attention in England. So it wasn't going to take much to make me feel suddenly famous. So - yeah - after 20 years, I'm an overnight success. Geoff Dyer attention book The only distinction I'd make is between film and telly, I guess. "Film," "movies," and "cinema" are all synonyms as far as I'm concerned; but telly is different. It's just a plodding we've-done-this-scene, we've-done-that-scene and it never becomes this new other thing. Geoff Dyer synonym film different Like most writers I spend a lot of my time sort of thinking, "It's such agony, I can't do it." Geoff Dyer thinking Whatever people may say about my books - and it always amazes me when people don't like them, but sometimes they don't - the epigraphs have always been top-drawer. I think having that at the outset protects me from a lot of potential problems. Geoff Dyer book people thinking
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