It's fun to give pleasure to people. Sheila Heti More Quotes by Sheila Heti More Quotes From Sheila Heti When I'm editing, I try to bring out some dramatic structure. I think it is about theater in some way; it is a little play. Sheila Heti editingplaythinking I do feel it. And I've felt it my whole life, that the supernatural has a role in the world. Sheila Heti whole-liferolesworld My parents are both scientists, and I was raised without god. Sheila Heti scientistraisedparent It's so hard to live that one needs a support around life. We can't live without some supernatural support. Sheila Heti hardsupportneeds Writing fiction is a good way to inhabit other minds, if not other lives. Sheila Heti mindwritingfiction It has long been known to me that certain objects want you as much as you want them. These are the ones that become important, the objects that you hold dear. The others fade from your life entirely. You wanted them, but they did not want you in return. Sheila Heti importantwantlong Somehow I had turned myself into the worst thing in the world: I was just another man who wanted to teach me something! Sheila Heti worstmenworld I always had a fantasy of meeting a girl who was as serious as I was. Sheila Heti fantasygirlserious I hadn't realized until this week that in [Moses'] youth he killed a man, an Egyptian, and buried him under some sandI used to worry that I wasn't enough like Jesus, but yesterday I remembered who was my king; a man who, when God addressed him and told him to lead the people out of Egypt, said, 'But I'm not a good talker! Couldn't you ask my brother instead?' So it should not be so hard to come at this life with a bit of honesty. I don't need to be great like the leader of the Christian people. I can be a bumbling, murderous coward like the King of the Jews. Sheila Heti brotherchristianjesus Then if he's sore with me, let him dump my ass. That will just give me more time to be a genius. Sheila Heti womengeniusgiving He’s just another man who wants to teach me something. Sheila Heti teachwantmen There are certain people who do not feel like they were raised by wolves, and they are the ones who make the world tick. They are the ones who keep everything functioning so the rest of us can worry about what sort of person we should be. Sheila Heti worrypeopleworld You have to know where the funny is, and if you know where the funny is, you know everything. Sheila Heti ifsknows I think that part of the reason I like collaboration so much is because it's something unexpected coming in, and you have to stretch yourself to absorb it. Sheila Heti yourselfthinkyouunexpected I believe there's a platonic ideal for every book that is written, like there's the perfect version of the book somewhere in the ether, and my job is to find what that book is through my editing. Sheila Heti jobeditingbelievebook I saw what was wonderful about human companionship. Before that, I was quite content to be alone, to be a solitary wandering person, and I thought I always would be. Love changed that. Sheila Heti personalonethoughtlove For me, a memoir is supposed to be understood as a representation of your life, whereas a novel is self-consciously symbolic. Sheila Heti yourmeunderstoodlife Trying to live the image of the life which you have in your head... it's really hard not to do that, but I do think maybe it's cheating. Sheila Heti thinkyoulifecheating I don't know what that line is between fiction and non-fiction that other people have in their minds, but to me, when I'm writing, it's just like whatever the next sentence should be is the next sentence. It's not this artificial division. Sheila Heti knowmewritingpeople I find that when I'm in a relationship, I'm just so 'in it,' you couldn't even call it an art; it's such embroilment. With a friendship, you can choose a little bit more how to behave. You can be guided more. Sheila Heti yourelationshipfriendshipart
