I cannot believe homosexuality is that much fun. Heterosexuality certainly is not. Zadie Smith More Quotes by Zadie Smith More Quotes From Zadie Smith And now the moment. Such a moment has a peculiar character. It is brief and temporal indeed, like every moment; it is transient as all moments are; it is past, like every moment in the next moment. And yet it is decisive, and filled with the eternal. Such a moment ought to have a distinctive name; let us call it the Fullness of Time. Zadie Smith names character past I never bought the idea of individual genius from which the novel spews forth. It's always an act of curation. Zadie Smith individual genius ideas For me, [deep structures] might be something very simply to do with the split in my family. That's why I'm always thinking about opposites. It's so childish, really, but that might be simply what it is. Zadie Smith splits opposites thinking It seems to me now that the deep structures [in writing] are often subconscious and set in childhood. Zadie Smith childhood structure writing The novel leads you places that you never could have gotten to otherwise. Zadie Smith novel Surely there is something to be said for drawing a circle around our attention and remaining within that circle. But how large should this circle be? Zadie Smith drawing circles attention I know a lot of people who read and think: "George [Saunders] is so much fun." There's no denying you're fun to read, but as a writer I think of [George Saunders] as, in fact, not a fun and freewheeling type but really an obsessive control artist. Zadie Smith artist fun thinking Those beliefs about the essential goodness or beauty of the world are fundamentally paper-thin bullshit. There's not an essential belief that isn't a contingent belief. It could all be destroyed in a second, at any second. And I have an issue with that. Zadie Smith bullshit issues essentials I don't actually believe in the extension of consciousness after death. Zadie Smith after-death consciousness believe I guess I've always written more from the opposite perspective, that kind of existentialist perspective which argues that existence precedes essence. And there really isn't anything essential in there - you're the product of your actions, which can always change. And they retrospectively make you one way or another. Zadie Smith perspective essence opposites When I was 13, I really used to skip down the street, happy in thinking, "Oh, well, someone's suffering pain in order for me to feel this pleasure." Zadie Smith pain order thinking The greatest lie ever told about love is that it sets you free. Zadie Smith african-american love lying An essential part of power is the freedom not to think too deeply Zadie Smith essentials thinking Tell the truth through whichever veil comes to hand - but tell it. Zadie Smith veils telling-the-truth hands But it makes an immigrant laugh to hear the fears of the nationalist, scared of infection, penetration, miscegenation, when this is small fry, peanuts, compared to what the immigrant fears - dissolution, disappearance. Zadie Smith peanuts scared laughing He traced the genealogy of the feeling. Zadie Smith genealogy feelings English, as a subject, never really got over its upstart nature. It tries to bulk itself up with hopeless jargon and specious complexity, tries to imitate subjects it can never be. Zadie Smith jargon hopeless trying He had her in his heart, but not always in his mind. Zadie Smith mind heart I am very selfish, really. I lived for love. Zadie Smith selfish The idea that motherhood is inherently somehow a threat to creativity is just absurd. Zadie Smith creativity motherhood ideas
