If I still lived in Russia, I'd be dead... or a really effective oligarch. Gary Shteyngart More Quotes by Gary Shteyngart More Quotes From Gary Shteyngart Reading is entering into the consciousness of another human being. Gary Shteyngart entering consciousness reading If you stop thinking, if you stop wondering, you die. Gary Shteyngart wonder life thinking You are not what you want. You are what wants you back. Gary Shteyngart want-you-back what-you-want want I love to act, I've always wanted to be an actor. I think that acting and fiction go nicely together - being able to visualize language as something you perform, not just something that's there on the page. Gary Shteyngart acting together thinking Good fiction makes me turn off all the other parts of my brain, so that I become quiet and submissive, entirely at the mercy of the work at hand. Gary Shteyngart brain hands fiction We are now part of this giant machine where every second we have to take out a device and contribute our thoughts and opinions. Gary Shteyngart machines giants opinion Remember this... develop a sense of nostalgia for something, or you'll never figure out what's important. Gary Shteyngart nostalgia important remember After you publish a book, you become a writer and you're supposed to take it very seriously. You're supposed to show up at your desk - although frankly, I don't have a desk, I write in bed - you're supposed to show up at your bed and produce work. I think it's a little bit like work. I like to have fun with it, do things like make silly book trailers. I don't want to take this too seriously. Gary Shteyngart silly fun book Do not throw away your heart. Keep your heart. Your heart is all that matters ... Throw away your ancestors! ... Throw away your shyness and the anger that lies just a few inches beneath ... Accept the truth! And if there is more than one truth, then learn to do the difficult work -- learn to choose. You are good enough, you are HUMAN ENOUGH, to choose! Gary Shteyngart difficult-work heart lying I read real books. On paper. You know, those printed books? I feel like this is the last thing I do to support my industry. I think they smell great, too. Gary Shteyngart real book thinking In a strange way, I expected Russia to become more like America since the Soviet Union collapsed, but the reverse is true. America has become more like Russia: a kleptocratic society. Gary Shteyngart unions russia america One should learn from a book. Books have a lot to teach us. They have a lot of empathy to impart to us, but they should also be fun. This stuff is fun! You shouldn't pick up a book and say, "Oh my god, I'm gonna better myself by reading this." You may better yourself by reading this, but who cares? Just have fun. Gary Shteyngart reading fun book That's what I always liked about science fiction - you can make the world end. Humour is my multiple warhead delivery system. Gary Shteyngart ends fiction world I write almost entirely in bed or on a couch with my feet up on the coffee table. I feel most creative when Im looking out the window, and my bed and couch have nice views of the New York skyline. Gary Shteyngart coffee nice new-york American fiction is good. It would be nice if somebody read it. Gary Shteyngart nice would-be fiction If my mother hadn't tried to sell me chicken Kiev cutlets for $1.40 after I graduated from college, maybe I would've been the lawyer she wanted me to be. Gary Shteyngart kiev college mother You want to read a book? That requires introspection. It requires time away from people and time away from the constant need to communicate and to connect. Gary Shteyngart book people needs The only way to write about right now is to write about the future. Gary Shteyngart right-now writing way She took my hand and pulled me after her, her shoulders giving off a sweet peppermint concoction that the bodies of young women sometimes produce to make my life more difficult. Gary Shteyngart sweet giving hands One of the goals of analysis is you become your own analyst. You continue the process even if you're not in therapy, whether you continue the process by walking down the street thinking about things or whether you continue the process, as I do, by writing about them. Gary Shteyngart goal writing thinking
