What's the point of being young if you're not going to make new things, I wonder? Fran Lebowitz More Quotes by Fran Lebowitz More Quotes From Fran Lebowitz I've always been old at heart. Fran Lebowitz heart In New York we have zillions of different kinds of people, many of them hate each other, but violence based on that hatred is really uncommon here. Fran Lebowitz hate new-york people I drove a cab. But all the girls I knew when I was young who had to work - there were rich girls - but the ones who had to work were waitresses. Because you could always get shifts in a restaurant. Fran Lebowitz waitress rich girl New Yorkers, we've seen Donald Trump for, like, 30 years; we know who he is. So he wasn't a surprise to me. Fran Lebowitz trump surprise years I'm very lazy, I hate to work. Fran Lebowitz i-hate lazy hate The great thing about New Jersey is that it's close to New York. Fran Lebowitz jersey great-things new-york I could not possibly be in a relationship now for more than six days. When I was younger, I might have said six months, although I think the longest relationship I was ever in was three years. Fran Lebowitz three years thinking Most writers write too much. I have the exact opposite problem. I feel I could write almost anything in a paragraph. I have a natural ability to condense, and so I often think, "Are you kidding me? Five thousand words? How am I gonna make 5,000 words out of that?" Fran Lebowitz opposites writing thinking When I was young, I liked romance. But to me, romance is the opposite of domestic life. I just don't want anyone in the apartment, not for longer than a few hours. Fran Lebowitz romance opposites want I used to rent a house in Princeton, New Jersey, and whenever people came to visit me, I would drive them past Albert Einstein's house, which is the most ordinary house in Princeton - a house, let me assure you, that now a salesman wouldn't live in. I'd always say, "That was Albert Einstein's house." And they'd say, "What do you mean? Why would Albert Einstein live in a little house like that?" And I'd always say to people, "Because he didn't care!" Fran Lebowitz mean people past Nothing lasts. So it's my belief, yes, I know a lot of the things that we liked didn't last, but maybe things we don't like, they're also not going to last. There has been progress in my lifetime. There are certainly things that are better than when I was young, and there are things that are worse. New York City, it's worse. There's no question. Fran Lebowitz progress cities new-york New York was always more expensive than the other places, even when it was going bankrupt. In other words, in 1971, New York was expensive for someone with no money. For anyone. Fran Lebowitz no-money expensive new-york There are some short essays that are very grave, and most contemporary novels are lighter than air. Fran Lebowitz graves novel air This idea that people have to love and understand each other is absurd. It's not human nature. Fran Lebowitz human-nature people ideas Whenever someone accuses someone of being a racist - which is rare, you have to admit, considering how much racism there is - there is an incredible outrage. I realized that we live in an environment that it seems to be worse to call someone a racist than to be one. Fran Lebowitz racist environment racism New York's not exactly antiseptic. It could be clean and less dangerous, and not horrible, not under a tidal wave of tourists. Fran Lebowitz tourists wave new-york I have a double policy, which would also solve immigration: I would stand at the border of New York City and I would say, "You can come here to live, but you can't come here to visit." Fran Lebowitz immigration cities new-york Without these tourists, New York would be fantastic. I don't want them to come. Stay home! Fran Lebowitz tourists new-york home The other day I read that last year 58 million tourists came to New York ... where a puny eight million people are trying to live. Unless they own a hotel chain, I don't think a single one of these eight million people are happy about this. Fran Lebowitz eight new-york thinking If people don't hold grudges, it means they just don't care what people do. Fran Lebowitz care mean people
