My first novel didn't sell well. It was really painful and humiliating and shocking to me. Maria Semple More Quotes by Maria Semple More Quotes From Maria Semple The sooner you learn it's on you to make life interesting, the better off you'll be. Maria Semple better-offinteresting That's right,' she told the girls. 'You are bored. And I'm going to let you in on a little secret about life. You think it's boring now? Well, it only gets more boring. The sooner you learn it's on you to make life interesting, the better off you'll be. Maria Semple girllifethinking Being in writers' rooms turns you feral. You are swearing, you are going to very dark, mean places. You start out in the room with all these smart people, and you're all well-read and well-educated and the humor is really erudite. And then over the course of the year, after the production schedule grinds you down, it is just so mean and stupid. Maria Semple smartstupidmean Unfortunately Seattle is my muse, for the better or worse of Seattle - I'm not sure. Maria Semple seattlemusenot-sure I think because I try to keep things as real as I can, or I try to start from a place of reality, I almost don't have the imagination to write a book that's not set where I am. Maria Semple realwritingbook This is why you must love life: one day you're offering up your social security number to the Russian Mafia; two weeks later you're using the word calve as a verb. Maria Semple love-lifeofferingtwo I'm not too good when exposed to people Maria Semple exposedpeople You come out into the world after a season of TV and you're just swearing and saying mean things to people and they're looking at you like, Who are you? And oh yeah, you think, I have to reacclimate to the way people genuinely treat each other. Maria Semple meanpeoplethinking We were like the Beatles, Dad.' 'I know you think that, sweetie' 'Seriously. Mom is John, you're Paul, I'm George, and Ice Cream is Ringo.' 'Ice Cream,' I said. 'Resentful of the past, fearful of the future...everytime we saw Ice Cream sitting there with her mouth open, we'd say, Poor Ice Cream, resentful of the past, fearful of the future. Maria Semple dadmompast Those East Coast rich kids are a different breed, on a fast track to nowhere. Your friends in Seattle are downright Canadian in their niceness. None of you has a cell phone. The girls wear hoodies and big cotton underpants and walk around with tangled hair and smiling, adorned backpacks. Do you know how absolutely exotic it is that you haven’t been corrupted by fashion and pop culture? A month ago I mentioned Ben Stiller, and do you remember how you responded? ‘Who’s that?’ I loved you all over again. Maria Semple fashiongirlkids I felt so full of love for everything. But at the same time, I felt so hung out there to dry, like nobody could ever understand. I felt so alone in this world, and so loved at the same time. Maria Semple drylifeworld My day is not that fun-filled or that filled usually with complications. Maria Semple complicationfilledfun You bet your bindi that’s how big I want it. Maria Semple bigswant After decades spent in rewrite rooms surrounded by other shouting writers, I discovered that I work best alone. I like being in charge of my time, working out the problems according to my own rhythms and being able to nap. That's a big one, the napping on demand! Maria Semple demandwork-outnaps My strength as a TV writer was my total lack of interest in television. Maria Semple interesttvstelevision I'll see something awful on the street and I'll come home and say to my boyfriend, "I just saw the funniest thing on the street." It's a stance. It's the way I was born, or the way I was damaged. Maria Semple my-boyfriendawfulhome Ruthless concern with story is what I learned in television. Maria Semple ruthlessstoriestelevision Can you believe the weather?'...'Actually, I CAN believe the weather. What I can't believe is that I'm actually having a conversation about the weather. Maria Semple conversationweatherbelieve The first stop on this crazy train is Kindergarten Junction, and nobody gets off until it pulls into Harvard Station. Maria Semple kindergartencrazyfirsts My way of looking at the world is that if it is true, it is funny and it is dark. No matter how dark it is, I just think it is funny. I can't help it. Maria Semple darkworldthinking
