--- title: "6 Contemporary Quotes By John Green" description: "6 Contemporary quotes by John Green. Plus more from John Green and more Contemporary sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/11c/john-green-12_art_i-don-t-decide-where-i-live-my-wife-deci_751755.jpg" --- > [I don't decide where I live. My wife decides. She's a curator of contemporary art, and she works at an art museum,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/i-don-t-decide-where-i-live-my-wife-decides-she-s-a-curator-of/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/11c/john-green-12_art_i-don-t-decide-where-i-live-my-wife-deci_751755.jpg) > [In the contemporary world where things fall apart, and the centre cannot hold, you have to imagine a community where there is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/in-the-contemporary-world-where-things-fall-apart-and-the-centre-2/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c3/john-green-12_centre_in-the-contemporary-world-where-things-f_1108214.jpg) > [There's not a lot of room for un-ironic emotion in contemporary culture. I think that irony is an important tool in dealing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/there-s-not-a-lot-of-room-for-un-ironic-emotion-in-contemporary/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eb9/john-green-12_contemporary_there-s-not-a-lot-of-room-for-un-ironic_2044365.jpg) > [I'm a big believer in pairing classics with contemporary literature, so students have the opportunity to see that literature is not a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/i-m-a-big-believer-in-pairing-classics-with-contemporary-literature/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/481/john-green-12_been_i-m-a-big-believer-in-pairing-classics-w_2577796.jpg) > [Nothing ever happens like you imagine it will," she says. The sky is like a monochromatic contemporary painting, drawing me in with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/nothing-ever-happens-like-you-imagine-it-will-she-says-the-sky-is/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/580/john-green-12_add_nothing-ever-happens-like-you-imagine-it_2648761.jpg) > [Saying 'I notice you're a nerd' is like saying, 'Hey, I notice that you'd rather be intelligent than be stupid, that you'd…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/saying-i-notice-you-re-a-nerd-is-like-saying-hey-i-notice-that-you-d-2/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/82f/john-green-12_believe_saying-i-notice-you-re-a-nerd-is-like-sa_2818451.jpg) ## Other authors on Contemporary ## More by John Green > [Issac:"I dislike living in a world without Augustus Waters." Computer: "I don't understand-" Issac: "Me neither. Pause](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/issac-i-dislike-living-in-a-world-without-augustus-waters-computer-i/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [“I just want to stay away from people and read books and think”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/i-just-want-to-stay-away-from-people-and-read-books-and-think/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [She smiled with all the delight of a kid on Christmas morning and said, "Y'all smoke to enjoy it. I smoke to die." -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/she-smiled-with-all-the-delight-of-a-kid-on-christmas-morning-and/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [A Margo for each of us--and each more mirror than window.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/a-margo-for-each-of-us-and-each-more-mirror-than-window/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [“No one ever says good-bye unless they want to see you again.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/no-one-ever-says-good-bye-unless-they-want-to-see-you-again/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [Neither novels or their readers benefit from any attempts to divine whether any facts hide inside a story. Such efforts attack the very idea…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/neither-novels-or-their-readers-benefit-from-any-attempts-to-divine/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [“Traffic's not too bad on Sheridan, and I'm cornering the car like it's the Indy 500, and we're listening to my favorite NMH song,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/traffic-s-not-too-bad-on-sheridan-and-i-m-cornering-the-car-like-it-s/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [“Praise God for good nurses.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/praise-god-for-good-nurses/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [So I was ugly. I was never fat, really, and I never wore headgear or had zits or anything. But I was ugly. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/so-i-was-ugly-i-was-never-fat-really-and-i-never-wore-headgear-or-had/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [Nothing has ever looked like that ever in all of human history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/nothing-has-ever-looked-like-that-ever-in-all-of-human-history/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [“said to him quietly, as if I couldn’t hear or something. Dad was about to respond but I interrupted.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/said-to-him-quietly-as-if-i-couldn-t-hear-or-something-dad-was-about/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [I believe humans have souls, and I believe in the conservation of souls.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/i-believe-humans-have-souls-and-i-believe-in-the-conservation-of-souls/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [“He was hot. A nonhotboy stares at you relentlessly and it is, at best, awkward and, at worst, a form of assault. But a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/he-was-hot-a-nonhotboy-stares-at-you-relentlessly-and-it-is-at-best/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [I think if you keep the box closed long enough you do kill the cat, actually.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/i-think-if-you-keep-the-box-closed-long-enough-you-do-kill-the-cat/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [Imagining the future is a kind of nostalgia. (...) You spend your whole life stuck in the labyrinth, thinking about how you'll escape it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/imagining-the-future-is-a-kind-of-nostalgia-you-spend-your-whole-life/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contemporary/john-green/#itemlist", "name": "6 Contemporary Quotes By John Green", "numberOfItems": 6, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I don't decide where I live. My wife decides. She's a curator of contemporary art, and she works at an art museum, so we go wherever she has a job. 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Hank, at the end of this year I started thinking that a lot of life is about doing things that don’t suck with people who don’t suck.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Green" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/in-the-contemporary-world-where-things-fall-apart-and-the-centre-2/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c3/john-green-12_centre_in-the-contemporary-world-where-things-f_1108214.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c3/john-green-12_centre_in-the-contemporary-world-where-things-f_1108214.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c3/john-green-12_centre_in-the-contemporary-world-where-things-f_1108214.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“In the contemporary world where things fall apart, and the centre cannot hold, you have to imagine a…” — John Green", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There's not a lot of room for un-ironic emotion in contemporary culture. I think that irony is an important tool in dealing with the world as we find it. It's a tool of protection, but it can also be a tool of incision to get to some truth. But along the way maybe we've lost some of what I think of as the power of straightforward emotion and earnestness and seriousness.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Green" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/there-s-not-a-lot-of-room-for-un-ironic-emotion-in-contemporary/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eb9/john-green-12_contemporary_there-s-not-a-lot-of-room-for-un-ironic_2044365.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eb9/john-green-12_contemporary_there-s-not-a-lot-of-room-for-un-ironic_2044365.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eb9/john-green-12_contemporary_there-s-not-a-lot-of-room-for-un-ironic_2044365.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There's not a lot of room for un-ironic emotion in contemporary culture. 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The sky is like a monochromatic contemporary painting, drawing me in with its illusion of depth, pulling me up. \"Yeah, that's true,\" I say. But then after I think about it for a second, I add, \"But then again, if you don't imagine, nothing ever happens at all.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Green" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/nothing-ever-happens-like-you-imagine-it-will-she-says-the-sky-is/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/580/john-green-12_add_nothing-ever-happens-like-you-imagine-it_2648761.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/580/john-green-12_add_nothing-ever-happens-like-you-imagine-it_2648761.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/580/john-green-12_add_nothing-ever-happens-like-you-imagine-it_2648761.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Nothing ever happens like you imagine it will,\" she says. 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