---
title: "2 Liking Quotes By Jonathan Franzen"
description: "2 Liking quotes by Jonathan Franzen. Plus more from Jonathan Franzen and more Liking sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/19c/jonathan-franzen-801_actual-life_the-simple-fact-of-the-matter-is-that-tr_803844.jpg"
---

> [“The simple fact of the matter is that trying to be perfectly likable is incompatible with loving relationships. Sooner or later, for example, you’re going to find yourself in a hideous, screaming fight, and you’ll hear coming out of your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/the-simple-fact-of-the-matter-is-that-trying-to-be-perfectly-likable/)

[Jonathan Franzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-franzen/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/19c/jonathan-franzen-801_actual-life_the-simple-fact-of-the-matter-is-that-tr_803844.jpg)

> [“You can all supply your own favorite, most nauseating examples of the commodification of love. Mine include the wedding industry, TV ads that feature cute young children or the giving of automobiles as Christmas presents, and the particularly grotesque equation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/you-can-all-supply-your-own-favorite-most-nauseating-examples-of-the/)

[Jonathan Franzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-franzen/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c41/jonathan-franzen-801_children_you-can-all-supply-your-own-favorite-mos_2051390.jpg)

## More by Jonathan Franzen

> [“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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/the-fundamental-fact-about-all-of-us-is-that-we-re-alive-for-a-while/)

[Jonathan Franzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/fiction-that-isn-t-an-author-s-personal-adventure-into-the/)

[Jonathan Franzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/parents-are-programmed-to-want-the-best-for-their-kids-regardless-of/)

[Jonathan Franzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/birds-were-what-became-of-dinosaurs-those-mountains-of-flesh-whose/)

[Jonathan Franzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/can-a-better-kind-of-fiction-save-the-world-there-s-always-some-tiny/)

[Jonathan Franzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/a-big-part-of-me-would-be-very-proud-never-having-anything-of-mine/)

[Jonathan Franzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/seriously-the-world-is-changing-so-quickly-that-if-you-had-any-more/)

[Jonathan Franzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/i-m-saying-the-structure-and-f-the-entire-culture-is-flawed-chip-said/)

[Jonathan Franzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-franzen/)

> [Integrity's a neutral value. Hyenas have integrity, too. They're pure hyena.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/integrity-s-a-neutral-value-hyenas-have-integrity-too-they-re-pure/)

[Jonathan Franzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/an-odd-thing-about-beauty-however-is-that-it-s-absence-tends-not-to/)

[Jonathan Franzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/he-became-another-data-point-in-the-american-experiment-of-self/)

[Jonathan Franzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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 -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/it-was-this-motley-band-of-modest-peeps-and-plovers-on-the-beach-who/)

[Jonathan Franzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-franzen/)

> [“Alfred believed that the real and the true were a minority that the world was bent on exterminating.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/alfred-believed-that-the-real-and-the-true-were-a-minority-that-the/)

[Jonathan Franzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/imagine-that-human-existence-is-defined-by-an-ache-the-ache-of-our/)

[Jonathan Franzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/the-problem-was-money-and-the-indignities-of-life-without-it-every/)

[Jonathan Franzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-franzen/)

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