On one level, I am a total softie, sort of depressed and afraid of losing the people I love or failing them. To disguise that, there's all this harsh, poop-centric, external swagger, full of nastiness. I'm a cloaking device. George Saunders More Quotes by George Saunders More Quotes From George Saunders You can say you're a liberal and everybody laughs and it's a good time. George Saunders good-times laughing I'm not a natural criticizer - I prefer to like and praise and so on. George Saunders praise natural Being in church so often, spending those hours sitting in front of a highly symbolic array of objects, hearing those beautiful texts - it teaches a kid that there are important truths beyond the literal ones, and that we have ways to access those truths that are, let's say, super-rational. George Saunders important beautiful kids All traditions are also full of meanness for the sake of meanness. George Saunders meanness tradition sake When I'm not writing, I tend to get depressed and a little bit surly. And then when I'm writing, suddenly I feel enlivened. Now the only thing as I'm getting older that I notice is that it's a pattern. George Saunders getting-older patterns writing Honestly, the choice is: I can be a cheerful person, more awake to correction, more of a force for good ... when I'm writing. Or I can be the opposite of all those things, when I'm not writing. George Saunders choices opposites writing An artist's job is to be interested in things as they are. George Saunders artist jobs I'd just say that truth is power and vice versa. George Saunders vice-versa truth-is vices I might take from the current political chaos a desire to somehow reflect its essential qualities in a story - the blatant lies that get accepted with repetition; the way mass media seems to be agitating people en masse; the way, particularly, that a relatively lucky and affluent and privileged population can be undone by a certain spoiled quality; that feeling when two decent people violently disagree, because they are arguing from two non-intersecting data sets - well, the list goes on. George Saunders data media lying I don't tend to work directly from life, except in trying to mimic or match the outlines of its insanity. In other words, when I live through something, I just try to say to myself, "OK, remember this - life is really this crazy or scary or beautiful or surprising - so try to 'get at' that in your stories. George Saunders crazy scary beautiful My go-to default is to try to be nice, which I feel does less harm in the long run than trying to be, say, assertive. If I am nice and maybe too passive, I find that easier to live with. George Saunders nice running long It is very easy for us to go, you know, "I am being cruel to be kind," when really we are just ... being cruel. Because it makes us feel big, or whatever. George Saunders be-kind just-being easy The idea is that what an artist lives through should broaden his notion of what it is possible for a human being to live through, and that new understanding should then get into and expand the work. George Saunders understanding artist ideas Ralph Kramden, as played by Jackie Gleason, was this big bumbling New York City bus driver who was kind of mean and crass and a little bit egotistical. But underneath it all, he was a big heart looking for a place to land I think. George Saunders new-york heart mean It's one thing to be a perfectionist when you're alone, but when you're trying to make it work in an ensemble that's a whole different deal. George Saunders ensemble different trying I have nothing. My model is I have nothing figured out, and I'm starting with some little nugget and hoping that it will talk back to me enough to let it grow. George Saunders nuggets enough littles When you do something that's going to speak to people, it's going to be because you're really allowing all of yourself to the table in an accepting way. George Saunders tables people way One of the inspiring things about Susan Sarandon career is that there's a quality of real fearlessness in it - you seem to be in it for the challenge and the experience. George Saunders careers real challenges My view is that our minds are incredibly powerful animals that are, during life, kept somewhat in check by the load of our bodies. Once that load is gone (or so some ancient texts teach us) the mind is like a horse off the tether. So the habits we get into here might have something to do with what happens to us afterwards. An exciting but harrowing idea, given the everyday state of my mind. But also hopeful, since that's something a person can work with. George Saunders horse powerful animal A country doesn't need a businessman to run it: it needs a heartful, worldly, compassionate leader. George Saunders leader running country
