Writing is a necessity and often a pleasure, but at the same time, it can be a great burden and a terrible struggle. Jonathan Lethem More Quotes by Jonathan Lethem More Quotes From Jonathan Lethem Tourette's is just one big lifetime of tag, really. The world (or my brain---same thing) appoints me it, again and again. So I tag back. Can it do otherwise? If you've ever been it you know the answer. Jonathan Lethem answersbrainworld Discomfort is very much part of my master plan. Jonathan Lethem discomfortplansmasters My heart, to put it more simply, got nostalgic for the present. Always a bad sign. Jonathan Lethem nostalgicmy-heartheart There were days when no kid came out of his house without looking around. The week after Halloween had a quality both hungover and ominous, the light pitched, the sky smashed against the rooftops. Jonathan Lethem halloweenlightkids You can't be deep without a surface Jonathan Lethem surface As I get older I find that the friendships that are the most certain, ultimately, are the ones where you and the other person have made substantial amounts of money for one another. Jonathan Lethem certainpersonsmade It was often this way, life consisted of a series of false beginnings, bluff declarations of arrival to destinations not even glimpsed. Jonathan Lethem bluffsdestinationway I've had the odd good luck of starting slowly and building gradually, something few writers are allowed anymore. As a result I've seen each of my books called the breakthrough. And each was, in its way. Jonathan Lethem good-luckbookway The world's large enough and interesting enough to take a different approach each time you sit down to write about it. Jonathan Lethem differentwritinginteresting You don’t have the slightest idea of what it means to write a scene and a character in the English language, with images and words chock full of received meaning. Jonathan Lethem writingcharactermean Those promises we make to ourselves when we are younger, about how we mean to conduct our adult lives, can it be true we break every last one of them? All except for one, I suppose: the promise to judge ourselves by those standards, the promise to remember the child who would be so appalled by compromise, the child who would find jadedness wicked. Jonathan Lethem judgingmeanchildren You could grow up in the city where history was made and still miss it all. Jonathan Lethem growing-upcitiesmissing I definitely care about how the concept of New York punk was constructed, and why it mattered. But I wasn't gonna do that. Partly because I'm not a great journalist... Jonathan Lethem punkcarenew-york When the civil rights battle was won, all the Jews and hippies and artists were middle class white people and all the blacks were still poor. Materially, not much changed. Jonathan Lethem artisthippierights Anyone could see it all coming and no one could possibly stop it and that was the beautiful thing. Friday night was open wide and writ in stone Jonathan Lethem fridaybeautifulnight My heart and the elevator, a plummet inside a plummet. Jonathan Lethem elevatorsmy-heartheart But the day I can't shrug off a twinge of self-pity, is the day I'm washed up for keeps. Jonathan Lethem self-pitypityself what exactly is postmodernism, except modernism without the anxiety? Jonathan Lethem modernismexactly-isanxiety Teenage life - possibly adult life too is all about what you want and can’t have. And then about what you receive and misuse. Jonathan Lethem teenageadultswant I don't know why the world has changed so much that writers are now expected to appear in public and talk about their work. It's something I find very difficult. And yet, one does have some sense of responsibility towards one's publishers, to the people trying to sell the book. Jonathan Lethem responsibilitybookpeople
