For most of my life, I didn't pay attention to birds. Jonathan Franzen More Quotes by Jonathan Franzen More Quotes From Jonathan Franzen Our lives look a lot more interesting when they’re filtered through the sexy Facebook interface. We star in our own movies, we photograph ourselves incessantly, we click the mouse and a machine confirms our sense of mastery. Jonathan Franzen sexy stars interesting Sounded to me like he had a pretty good idea what he was saying," Van replied, with surprisingly little anger. "It's a pity he had to overintellectualize like that. He did such good work, and then he had to go and intellectualize it. Jonathan Franzen pity littles ideas He couldn't figure out if she was immensely well adjusted or seriously messed up. Jonathan Franzen messed-up wells figures I voluntarily inflicted a certain level of insanity on myself. Jonathan Franzen certain levels insanity You encountered a misery near the end of the day and it took a while to gauge its full extent. Some miseries had sharp curvature and could be negotiated readily. Others had almost no curvature and you knew you'd be spending hours turning the corner. Great whopping-big planet-sized miseries. Jonathan Franzen gauges misery the-end-of-the-day Everything he did was at least partial and often total bullshit” (402). Jonathan Franzen bullshit He wanted this someone to see how much he hurt. Jonathan Franzen hurt wanted It offended his sense of himself, because he was an individual from an age of individuals, and a string of lights was, like him, an individual thing. No matter how little the thing had cost, to throw it away was to deny its value. Jonathan Franzen cost light age The reason this system can’t be overthrown in this country,” Walter said, “is all about freedom. The reason the free market in Europe is tempered by socialism is that they’re not so hung up on personal liberties there. They also have lower population growth rates, despite comparable income levels. The Europans are all-around more rational, basically. And the conversation about rights in this country isn’t rational. It’s taking place on the level of emotion, and class resentments, which is why the right is so good at exploiting it. Jonathan Franzen rights europe country I had a Viking sense of entitlement to whatever provisions I could plunder. Jonathan Franzen vikings provision entitlement Mr. Franzen said he and Mr. Wallace, over years of letters and conversations about the ethical role of the novelist, had come to the joint conclusion that the purpose of writing fiction was “a way out of loneliness.” (NY Times article on the memorial service of David Foster Wallace.) Jonathan Franzen loneliness writing years For every reader who dies today, a viewer is born, and we seem to be witnessing . . . the final tipping balance. Jonathan Franzen tipping finals balance What you discovered about yourself in raising children wasn't always agreeable or attractive. Jonathan Franzen attractive about-yourself children Here was a torture that Greek inventors of the Feast and the Stone had omitted from their Hades: the Blanket of Self-Deception. A lovely warm blanket as far as it covered the soul in torment, but it never quite covered everything. Jonathan Franzen greek soul self It's healthy to say uncle when your bone's about to break. Jonathan Franzen bones uncles healthy Depression, when it's clinical, is not a metaphor. It runs in families, and it's known to respond to medication and to counseling. However truly you believe there's a sickness to existence that can never be cured, if you're depressed you will sooner or later surrender and say: I just don't want to feel bad anymore. The shift from depressive realism to tragic realism, from being immobilized by darkness to being sustained by it, thus strangely seems to require believing in the possibility of a cure. Jonathan Franzen depressing running believe Interesting verbs are seldom very interesting. Jonathan Franzen verbs writing interesting So, what, you got cigarette burns, too?" Gitanes said. Chip showed his palm, "It's nothing." "Self-inflicted. You pathetic American." "Different kind of prison" Chip said. Jonathan Franzen different kind self And meanwhile the sad truth was that not everyone could be extraordinary, not everyone could be extremely cool; because whom would this leave to be ordinary? Jonathan Franzen sad-truth extraordinary ordinary Robin turned and looked straight into her. "What's life for?" "I don't know." "I don't either. But I don't think it's about winning. Jonathan Franzen winning robins thinking