An ordinary life examined closely reveals itself to be exquisite and complicated and exceptional, somehow managing to be both heroic and plain. Susan Orlean More Quotes by Susan Orlean More Quotes From Susan Orlean One of the very best reasons for having children is to be reminded of the incomparable joys of a snow day. Susan Orlean joy snow children Living in a rural setting exposes you to so many marvelous things - the natural world and the particular texture of small-town life, and the exhilarating experience of open space. Susan Orlean texture space world The old orchid hunter lay back on his pillow, his body limp... 'You'll curse the insects,' he said at least, 'and you'll curse the natives... The sun will burn you by day and the cold will shrivel you by night. You'll be racked by fever and tormented by a hundred discomforts, but you'll go on. For when a man falls in love with orchids, he'll do anything to possess the one he wants. It's like chasing a green-eyed woman or taking cocaine... it's a sort of madness. Susan Orlean falling-in-love men night I love Japanese design and fabrics. I also love people who make clothes for mass consumption but do it well and cleverly. Susan Orlean clothes design people The world is so huge that people are always getting lost in it. There are too many ideas and things and people too many directions to go. I was starting to believe that the reason it matters to care passionately about something is that it whittles the world down to a more manageable size. It makes the world seem not huge and empty but full of possibility. Susan Orlean believe people ideas Even after I'd published three books and had been writing full-time for twenty years, my father continued to urge me to go to law school. Susan Orlean writing father book Everything rational and sensible abandons me when I try to throw out photographs. Time and time again, I hold one over a wastebasket, and then find it impossible to release my fingers and let the picture drop and disappear. Susan Orlean photograph impossible trying I think the responsibility of running a huge business, which happens if you become a successful designer, probably makes you more careful. Susan Orlean successful responsibility running You have to simply love writing, and you have to remind yourself often that you love it. Susan Orlean simply-love writing I remember, when I was a kid, watching my mother jam herself into her girdle - a piece of equipment so rigid it could stand up on its own - and I remember her coming home from fancy parties and racing upstairs to extricate herself from its cruel iron grip. Susan Orlean party mother home Libraries are what is best about us as a society: open, exciting, rich, informative, free, inclusive, engaging. Susan Orlean library rich exciting I like the idea that people get engaged thinking about design, about creativity. I don't see how it could possibly be bad. Susan Orlean creativity ideas thinking The first thing I think about when I wake up most mornings is the fact that I’m tired. Susan Orlean tired morning thinking I rarely listen to commercial radio, and when I do, I'm shocked by how many ads there are, and how annoying they are, and how bad the radio station usually is. Susan Orlean ads annoying radio Knowledge is a beautiful thing, but there are a few things I wish I didn't know. Susan Orlean beautiful-things wish beautiful I love convincing a reader that an unusual or seemingly ordinary subject is worth his or her time - it's part of the fun for me as a writer. Susan Orlean unusual ordinary fun Unlimited choice is paralyzing. The Internet has made this form of paralysis due to option overload a standard feature of comfortable modern life. Susan Orlean internet modern-life choices Why, I wonder, should the popularity of a news story matter to me? Does it mean it's a good story or just a seductive one? Susan Orlean news-stories seductive mean Dogs really are perfect soldiers. They are brave and smart; they can smell through walls, see in the dark, and eat Army rations without complaint. Susan Orlean wall smart dog Writing about someone well known removes that obligation of defending it as a subject, but it also means that some of the surprise and freshness is already gone. It's so different - in some ways much harder for me. Susan Orlean different writing mean
