I think when you get to export your creative impulse into something, it kind of lessens that busy energy that can be… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
In the absolute sense - kind of from the God's-eye view - God might feel like, "I made this thing that has… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
I know that my only chance at any kind of depth or profundity is to linger within the story, trying to make… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
The internet kind of feels like happiness sometimes, however. It feels like stimulation. — George Saunders Copy Share Image
It is very easy for us to go, you know, "I am being cruel to be kind," when really we are just… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
Even when the faith goes away, there's that space where you crave something bigger than yourself. For me, that's kind of where… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
The idea of inclusion has become kind of a stone that we've passed our hand over so many times that it doesn't… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
So many people mentioned this at these rallies. You go to these things and it's kind of like an oldies concert. I… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
If you think of a work of fiction as a kind of scale model of the world, then the positive valences -… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
Ralph Kramden, as played by Jackie Gleason, was this big bumbling New York City bus driver who was kind of mean and… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
When you're out there in America, meeting with regular people, it's a pretty mellow, relaxed, kind-hearted country. The direction from the top,… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
What really interests me, on a deeper level, is how our information is coming to us in some kind of messed up… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
I came away believing and really deeply troubled by is the extent to which you can have two well-intentioned people talking in… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
All storytelling is kind of that - there's a bit of text that you put pressure on that spits out some desire… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
I don't like that new age posture where you kind of tilt your head. I don't like that posture right now. I… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
I would kind of, you know, go stand next to some unlucky guy and say eventually, Hi, I'm George. You know, I'm… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
If you really think back to the great writers, there's a lot of happiness in Tolstoy; there's a lot of love, there's… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
One of the things I noticed about the Trump supporters was a lot of projected fear. I can't tell you how many… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
Vonnegut's war was necessary. And yet it was massacre and screaming and confusion and blood and death. It was the mammoth projection… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
All I really know in nonfiction is that when I come home, I've got all these notes and I'm trying to figure… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
My theory for nonfiction is that nobody can be free of some kind of conceptions about whatever story they're writing. But if… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
If you understand writing as primarily engaging an imaginary reader, well, you've kind of been doing that your whole life. You walk… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
One lesson I learned the hard way, early in my career, was that if I tried to write to be smart or… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
I always cheerfully say, "Well, you know, the species is adapting, and whatever it needs to do, it'll do," but I do… — 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,… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
I understand what something short should be like. I understand beauty in that form. If I start extending, somehow I kind of… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
You know, you can talk about race, you can talk about sex, you can talk about your biopsy. But when you get… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
I think something that I can't name about our media has made us move away from that kind of specificity and that… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
As a kid, I had a real fascination with perverse, off-color, and kind of risky things, and I also had a very… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
I think when you see [Donald] Trump in person, my reaction is you kind of enjoy it. It's kind of an enjoyable… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
I watched a bunch of kids movies on Christmas. I was kind of joking with our family by asking, "Is anyone allowed… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
The generalizing writer is like the passionate drunk, stumbling into your house mumbling: I know I'm not being clear, exactly, but don't… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
I came to writing kind of late. I was an engineer, and the one thing I've learned is that you have to… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
Whatever happens when we die, it would be really weird if it was what we had expected. Even if you were a… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
That's one of the reasons I take a lot of consolation in fiction. You have years to work on it. I think… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
There were several points where I would kind of turn to the book and say, "Get thee behind me." I don't think… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
I still believe that capitalism is too harsh and I believe that, even within that, there is a lot of satisfaction and… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
I'm turning 58, and you get that kind of weird, old-guy feeling of you don't have an infinite number of years left… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
From the beginning [of the Lincoln in the Bardo], I actually had it in mind not to write a novel. I'd kind… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
The book says [Lincoln in the Bardo],"I really need this sci-fi device of a ghost inhabiting another person." You say okay kind… — 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
“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
“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
“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
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
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
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
“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
We try, we fail, we posture, we aspire, we pontificate - and then we age, shrink, die, and vanish. — George Saunders Copy Share
“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
“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
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
What good the prophet in the wilderness may do is incremental and personal. It's good for us to hear someone speak the irrational truth.… — George Saunders Copy Share
We're in the transition between birth and death. But the one that people often know about is the transition between the moment of death… — George Saunders Copy Share
You don't want to be that parent - the one who dresses his kid in a cloth sack when all the other kids are… — George Saunders Copy Share
![“I think when you see [Donald] Trump in person, my reaction is you kind of enjoy it. It's kind of an enjoyable night out.” quote by George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ac/george-saunders-317_enjoy_i-think-when-you-see-donald-trump-in-per_879744.jpg)
![“From the beginning [of the Lincoln in the Bardo], I actually had it in mind not to write a novel. I'd kind of gotten past that point where I felt bad for never having written a novel, even to where I felt really good about it, like I was a real purist.” quote by George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/843/george-saunders-317_books_from-the-beginning-of-the-lincoln-in-the_3136511.jpg)
![“The book says [Lincoln in the Bardo],"I really need this sci-fi device of a ghost inhabiting another person." You say okay kind of begrudgingly. So the structure seemed informed by need and efficiency.” quote by George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/336/george-saunders-317_book_the-book-says-lincoln-in-the-bardo-i-rea_759066.jpg)