“Why would someone for whom talking was torture want to talk all the time before thousands of Athenians? Because otherwise he’d have drown himself at high tide. My sister- so shy, so sincere- once wanted to be an actress. The… — David Shields Copy Share Image
To be honest, there are parts of 'How Literature Saved My Life' that began as interviews. Someone was telling me that they think the… — David Shields Copy Share Image
I'm very drawn to the way in which a life lived can be an art of sorts or a failed art, and a life-lived-told… — David Shields Copy Share Image
You're one of 6.5 billion people now on the planet, and 99.9 percent of your genes are the same as everyone else's. — David Shields Copy Share Image
We're completely confused about the boundaries between fiction and non-fiction. To me, the moment you compose, you're fictionalising; the moment you remember, you're dreaming.… — David Shields Copy Share Image
Your art is most alive and dangerous when you use it against yourself. That's why I pick at my scabs. — David Shields Copy Share Image
Everything I write, I believe instinctively, is to some extent collage. Meaning, ultimately, is a matter of adjacent data. — David Shields Copy Share Image
Swimming is by far the best tonic I've found for my back. I'm not a good swimmer - I do the breaststroke or elementary… — David Shields Copy Share Image
I've always liked this idea that writing should comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable to create trouble. The value of a work of… — David Shields Copy Share Image
The beauty of reality-based art - art underwritten by reality hunger - is that it's perfectly situated between life itself and (unattainable) "life as… — David Shields Copy Share Image
“A great book allows me to leap over that wall: in a deep, significant conversation with another consciousness, I feel human and unalone.” — David Shields Copy Share Image
