“I began to understand art as a kind of black box the reader enters. He enters in one state of mind and… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
If I'm writing a story and you're reading it, or vice versa, you took time out of your day to pick up… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
I think the trick of being a writer is to basically put your cards out there all the time and be willing… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
“Fiction is a kind of compassion-generating machine that saves us from sloth. Is life kind or cruel? Yes, Literature answers. Are people… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
I'm not thinking in any big thematic or conceptual terms - especially in this book [Lincoln in the Bardo] when I was… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
Whole swaths of the book [Lincoln in the Bardo] are made up of verbatim quotes from various historical sources, which I cut… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
I don't know about transformation. But scientifically you can say: Well, it doesn't seem to hurt anybody. Personally I've been cheered by… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
“But hereby resolve to write in this book at least twenty minutes a night. (If discouraged, just think of how much will… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
“A house on the park. He'd seen it a million times. And now was in it. It smelled of man sweat and… — george saunders Copy Share Image
“A novel is just a story that hasn't yet discovered a way to be brief.” — George Saunders Copy Share Image
That underscored this idea that when we're reading a book or writing a book, you're in an act of co-creation. The reader… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
In the moment of reading, the writer comes up to the surface and the reader comes up to the surface and they… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
There are some things fundamentally off about the stance of the book. And maybe that's okay; maybe every book is flawed, and… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
I would say one thing writing this book [Lincoln in the Bardo] did for me was underscore the fact that this issue… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
I'm not a big fan of my books going on cross-country road trips. They get arrogant and, next thing, start aspiring to… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
As far as which writers embody this form of gentle power - Tobias Wolff, for sure. His persona and his writing both… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
[In the moment of reading writer and reader] are both briefly their best selves, or at least better selves. A flawed human… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
The switch that I'd like to throw on is the one that says, "Look, you're a human being whose mind is every… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
One of the revelations in that book [Lincoln in the Bardo] for me was this idea about citizenship. Even that word -… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
That seems to be the definition of 'novel' for me: a story that hasn't yet discovered a way to be brief. — George Saunders Copy Share Image
If I'm writing a story and you're reading it, or vice versa, you took time out of your day to pick up… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
What was fun for me with this book [Lincoln in the Bardo] was to start out with the principle that went, "We're… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
While writing this book [Lincoln in the Bardo], [idea of inclusion] occurred to me, you either believe in the Constitution or you… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
And I have finally realized that, you know, it's not a given that my lifespan will accommodate my writing aspirations. It could… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
I wasted a lot of years working on my writing and very grandly saying, 'And now... My Novel!,' which would soon be… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
Success is like a mountain in front of you that keeps growing. If you're not careful, it will take up your whole life. — George Saunders Copy Share Image
“Wow wow wow is all I can say! Remember how I always buy lunchtime Scratch-Off ticket? Have I said? Maybe did not say? Well,… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
“None of it was real; nothing was real. Everything was real; inconceivably real, infinitely dear. These and all things started as nothing, latent within… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
“We must see God not as a Him (some linear rewarding fellow) but an IT, a great beast beyond our understanding, who wants something… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
America, to me, should be shouting all the time, a bunch of shouting voices, most of them wrong, some of them nuts, but please,… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
In my case, when I am trying to be "kind" I often default in a sort of toothless loving-all stance that is, actually, not… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
Whatever your supposed politics are - left, right - if you put it in a human connection, most people will rise to the occasion… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
“A Clinton staffer tells me his theory. Think about Frank Sinatra, he says: born to sing. Think about Willie Mays: born to play ball.… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
We try, we fail, we posture, we aspire, we pontificate - and then we age, shrink, die, and vanish. — George Saunders Copy Share Image
“You were torturing a cat," she says. "With a freaking prod." "A prod I built myself in metal shop," he says. "But of course… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
“Rachel got up and did this happy little shuffle, like she was some cheerful farmer chick who'd just stepped outside to find the hick… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
What America is, to me, is a guy doesn't want to buy, you let him not buy, you respect his not buying. A guy… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
![“Whole swaths of the book [Lincoln in the Bardo] are…” quote by George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/f08/george-saunders-317_book_whole-swaths-of-the-book-lincoln-in-the_1268701.jpg)
![“[In the moment of reading writer and reader] are both…” quote by George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/538/george-saunders-317_best-self_in-the-moment-of-reading-writer-and-read_1635082.jpg)
![“While writing this book [Lincoln in the Bardo], [idea of…” quote by George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/367/george-saunders-317_believe_while-writing-this-book-lincoln-in-the-b_2048122.jpg)
