--- title: "15 Way Quotes By Jonathan Franzen" description: "15 Way quotes by Jonathan Franzen. Plus more from Jonathan Franzen and more Way sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/052/jonathan-franzen-801_distance_fiction-is-a-particularly-effective-way_1874919.jpg" --- > [Fiction is a particularly effective way for strangers to connect across time and distance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/fiction-is-a-particularly-effective-way-for-strangers-to-connect/) [Jonathan Franzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-franzen/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/052/jonathan-franzen-801_distance_fiction-is-a-particularly-effective-way_1874919.jpg) > [He had a happy canine way of seeking approval without seeming insecure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/he-had-a-happy-canine-way-of-seeking-approval-without-seeming-insecure/) [Jonathan Franzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-franzen/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ec/jonathan-franzen-801_animal_he-had-a-happy-canine-way-of-seeking-app_568899.jpg) > [It was a way of recognizing places of enchantment: people falling asleep like this.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/it-was-a-way-of-recognizing-places-of-enchantment-people-falling/) [Jonathan Franzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-franzen/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b3b/jonathan-franzen-801_enchantment_it-was-a-way-of-recognizing-places-of-en_2679531.jpg) > [I think the mission for the writer is to tell stories in a compelling way about the stuff that cannot be talked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/i-think-the-mission-for-the-writer-is-to-tell-stories-in-a-compelling/) [Jonathan Franzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-franzen/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/36c/jonathan-franzen-801_compelling_i-think-the-mission-for-the-writer-is-to_3178598.jpg) > [You could slap his wrist for saying it, but then he said it with his face, and you could spank him for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/you-could-slap-his-wrist-for-saying-it-but-then-he-said-it-with-his/) [Jonathan Franzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-franzen/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/969/jonathan-franzen-801_behinds_you-could-slap-his-wrist-for-saying-it-b_2168353.jpg) > [A big part of me would be very proud never having anything of mine adapted, because if you want the real experience,…](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/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/92b/jonathan-franzen-801_books_a-big-part-of-me-would-be-very-proud-nev_79428.jpg) > [When I finally gave up any hope of doing anything representative of the American family, I actually seemed to have tapped into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/when-i-finally-gave-up-any-hope-of-doing-anything-representative-of/) [Jonathan Franzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-franzen/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/62a/jonathan-franzen-801_american-family_when-i-finally-gave-up-any-hope-of-doing_798052.jpg) > [Readers and writers are united in their need for solitude, in their pursuit of substance in a time of ever-increasing evanescence: in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/readers-and-writers-are-united-in-their-need-for-solitude-in-their/) [Jonathan Franzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-franzen/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d9b/jonathan-franzen-801_books_readers-and-writers-are-united-in-their_1950601.jpg) > [Then she waited, with parted lips and a saucy challenge in her eyes, to see how her presence -- the drama of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/then-she-waited-with-parted-lips-and-a-saucy-challenge-in-her-eyes-to/) [Jonathan Franzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-franzen/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b5/jonathan-franzen-801_challenges_then-she-waited-with-parted-lips-and-a-s_1825824.jpg) > [If you're interested in how people behave, if you're interested in the way they talk about themselves, the way the conceive of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/if-you-re-interested-in-how-people-behave-if-you-re-interested-in-the/) [Jonathan Franzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-franzen/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/977/jonathan-franzen-801_behave_if-you-re-interested-in-how-people-behav_1842463.jpg) > [I wrote two plotted books, got some of the fundamentals of storytelling down, then... it's sort of like taking the training wheels…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/i-wrote-two-plotted-books-got-some-of-the-fundamentals-of/) [Jonathan Franzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-franzen/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d9e/jonathan-franzen-801_beats_i-wrote-two-plotted-books-got-some-of-th_871953.jpg) > [Love is about bottomless empathy, born out of the heart’s revelation that another person is every bit as real as you are.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/love-is-about-bottomless-empathy-born-out-of-the-heart-s-revelation/) [Jonathan Franzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-franzen/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f21/jonathan-franzen-801_born_love-is-about-bottomless-empathy-born-ou_1648963.jpg) > [Walter had never liked cats. They'd seemed to him the sociopaths of the pet world, a species domesticated as an evil necessary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/walter-had-never-liked-cats-they-d-seemed-to-him-the-sociopaths-of/) [Jonathan Franzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-franzen/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b26/jonathan-franzen-801_animal_walter-had-never-liked-cats-they-d-seeme_1383420.jpg) > [Mr. Franzen said he and Mr. Wallace, over years of letters and conversations about the ethical role of the novelist, had come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/mr-franzen-said-he-and-mr-wallace-over-years-of-letters-and/) [Jonathan Franzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-franzen/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/abd/jonathan-franzen-801_articles_mr-franzen-said-he-and-mr-wallace-over-y_2316516.jpg) > [Since our technology is really just an extension of ourselves, we don’t have to have contempt for its manipulability in the way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/since-our-technology-is-really-just-an-extension-of-ourselves-we-don/) [Jonathan Franzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-franzen/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/886/jonathan-franzen-801_bigs_since-our-technology-is-really-just-an-e_816217.jpg) ## Other authors on Way ## 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/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/jonathan-franzen/#itemlist", "name": "15 Way Quotes By Jonathan Franzen", "numberOfItems": 15, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Fiction is a particularly effective way for strangers to connect across time and distance", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jonathan Franzen" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/fiction-is-a-particularly-effective-way-for-strangers-to-connect/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": 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could spank him for making faces, but then he said it with his eyes, and there were limits to correction-no way, in the end, to penetrate behind the blue irises and eradicate a boy's disgust.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jonathan Franzen" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/you-could-slap-his-wrist-for-saying-it-but-then-he-said-it-with-his/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/969/jonathan-franzen-801_behinds_you-could-slap-his-wrist-for-saying-it-b_2168353.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/969/jonathan-franzen-801_behinds_you-could-slap-his-wrist-for-saying-it-b_2168353.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/969/jonathan-franzen-801_behinds_you-could-slap-his-wrist-for-saying-it-b_2168353.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“You could slap his wrist for saying it, but then he said it with his face, and you could spank him for…” — Jonathan Franzen", "creditText": "SMS4Smile 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You're going to actually have to be a reader.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jonathan Franzen" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/a-big-part-of-me-would-be-very-proud-never-having-anything-of-mine/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/92b/jonathan-franzen-801_books_a-big-part-of-me-would-be-very-proud-nev_79428.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/92b/jonathan-franzen-801_books_a-big-part-of-me-would-be-very-proud-nev_79428.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/92b/jonathan-franzen-801_books_a-big-part-of-me-would-be-very-proud-nev_79428.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A big part of me would be very proud never having anything of mine adapted, because if you want the real…” — Jonathan Franzen", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 7, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "When I finally gave up any hope of doing anything representative of the American family, I actually seemed to have tapped into other people's weirdness in that way.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jonathan Franzen" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/when-i-finally-gave-up-any-hope-of-doing-anything-representative-of/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/62a/jonathan-franzen-801_american-family_when-i-finally-gave-up-any-hope-of-doing_798052.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/62a/jonathan-franzen-801_american-family_when-i-finally-gave-up-any-hope-of-doing_798052.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/62a/jonathan-franzen-801_american-family_when-i-finally-gave-up-any-hope-of-doing_798052.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“When I finally gave up any hope of doing anything representative of the American family, I actually seemed…” — Jonathan Franzen", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 8, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Readers and writers are united in their need for solitude, in their pursuit of substance in a time of ever-increasing evanescence: in their reach inward, via print, for a way out of loneliness.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jonathan Franzen" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/readers-and-writers-are-united-in-their-need-for-solitude-in-their/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d9b/jonathan-franzen-801_books_readers-and-writers-are-united-in-their_1950601.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d9b/jonathan-franzen-801_books_readers-and-writers-are-united-in-their_1950601.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d9b/jonathan-franzen-801_books_readers-and-writers-are-united-in-their_1950601.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Readers and writers are united in their need for solitude, in their pursuit of substance in a time of…” — Jonathan Franzen", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 9, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Then she waited, with parted lips and a saucy challenge in her eyes, to see how her presence -- the drama of being her -- was registering. In the way of such chicks, she seemed convinced of the originality of her provocation.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jonathan Franzen" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/then-she-waited-with-parted-lips-and-a-saucy-challenge-in-her-eyes-to/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b5/jonathan-franzen-801_challenges_then-she-waited-with-parted-lips-and-a-s_1825824.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b5/jonathan-franzen-801_challenges_then-she-waited-with-parted-lips-and-a-s_1825824.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b5/jonathan-franzen-801_challenges_then-she-waited-with-parted-lips-and-a-s_1825824.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Then she waited, with parted lips and a saucy challenge in her eyes, to see how her presence -- the drama of…” — Jonathan Franzen", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 10, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If you're interested in how people behave, if you're interested in the way they talk about themselves, the way the conceive of themselves, it's very hard to ignore drugs nowadays, because that is so much part of the conversation.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jonathan Franzen" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/if-you-re-interested-in-how-people-behave-if-you-re-interested-in-the/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/977/jonathan-franzen-801_behave_if-you-re-interested-in-how-people-behav_1842463.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/977/jonathan-franzen-801_behave_if-you-re-interested-in-how-people-behav_1842463.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/977/jonathan-franzen-801_behave_if-you-re-interested-in-how-people-behav_1842463.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If you're interested in how people behave, if you're interested in the way they talk about themselves, the…” — Jonathan Franzen", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 11, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I wrote two plotted books, got some of the fundamentals of storytelling down, then... it's sort of like taking the training wheels off, trying to write a book that's fun in the same way without relying on quite such mechanical or external beats.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jonathan Franzen" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/i-wrote-two-plotted-books-got-some-of-the-fundamentals-of/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d9e/jonathan-franzen-801_beats_i-wrote-two-plotted-books-got-some-of-th_871953.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d9e/jonathan-franzen-801_beats_i-wrote-two-plotted-books-got-some-of-th_871953.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d9e/jonathan-franzen-801_beats_i-wrote-two-plotted-books-got-some-of-th_871953.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I wrote two plotted books, got some of the fundamentals of storytelling down, then... it's sort of like…” — Jonathan Franzen", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 12, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Love is about bottomless empathy, born out of the heart’s revelation that another person is every bit as real as you are. And this is why love, as I understand it, is always specific. Trying to love all of humanity may be a worthy endeavor, but, in a funny way, it keeps the focus on the self, on the self’s own moral or spiritual well-being. 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They'd seemed to him the sociopaths of the pet world, a species domesticated as an evil necessary for the control of rodents and subsequently fetishized the way unhappy countries fetishize their militaries, saluting the uniforms of killers as cat owners stroke their animals' lovely fur and forgive their claws and fangs. 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It’s all one big endless loop. We like the mirror and the mirror likes us. To friend a person is merely to include the person in our private hall of flattering mirrors.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jonathan Franzen" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/since-our-technology-is-really-just-an-extension-of-ourselves-we-don/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/886/jonathan-franzen-801_bigs_since-our-technology-is-really-just-an-e_816217.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/886/jonathan-franzen-801_bigs_since-our-technology-is-really-just-an-e_816217.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/886/jonathan-franzen-801_bigs_since-our-technology-is-really-just-an-e_816217.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Since our technology is really just an extension of ourselves, we don’t have to have contempt for its…” — Jonathan Franzen", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } } ] }, { "@type": "CollectionPage", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/jonathan-franzen/#webpage", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/jonathan-franzen/", "name": "Way Quotes by Jonathan Franzen", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/jonathan-franzen/#itemlist" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/052/jonathan-franzen-801_distance_fiction-is-a-particularly-effective-way_1874919.jpg" }, "description": "15 Way quotes by Jonathan Franzen. 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