When I see an actress or actor drag deeply in a movie, I…

“The fundamental fact about all of us is that we’re alive for a while but will die before long. This fact is the real…

— Jonathan Franzen

“Imagine that human existence is defined by an Ache: the Ache of our not being, each of us, the center of the universe; of…

— Jonathan Franzen

“Alfred believed that the real and the true were a minority that the world was bent on exterminating.”

— Jonathan Franzen

“It was this motley band of modest peeps and plovers on the beach who reminded me of the human beings I loved best -…

— Jonathan Franzen

He became another data point in the American experiment of self-government, an experiment statistically skewed from the outset, because it wasn't the people with…

— Jonathan Franzen

“An odd thing about beauty, however, is that it's absence tends not to arouse our sympathy as much as other forms of privation do.”

— Jonathan Franzen

Integrity's a neutral value. Hyenas have integrity, too. They're pure hyena.

— Jonathan Franzen

“I'm saying the structure and f the entire culture is flawed, chip said. I'm saying the bureaucracy has arrogated the right to define certain…

— Jonathan Franzen

Seriously, the world is changing so quickly that if you had any more than 80 years of change I dont see how you could…

— Jonathan Franzen

A big part of me would be very proud never having anything of mine adapted, because if you want the real experience, there's only…

— Jonathan Franzen

“Can a better kind of fiction save the world? There’s always some tiny hope (strange things do happen), but the answer is almost certainly…

— Jonathan Franzen

“Birds were what became of dinosaurs. Those mountains of flesh whose petrified bones were on display at the Museum of Natural History had done…

— Jonathan Franzen

“Parents are programmed to want the best for their kids, regardless of what they get in return. That's what love is supposed to be…

— Jonathan Franzen

Fiction that isn't an author's personal adventure into the frightening or the unknown isn't worth writing for anything but money.

— Jonathan Franzen

The problem was money and the indignities of life without it. Every stroller, cell phone, Yankees cap, and SUV he saw was a torment.…

— Jonathan Franzen