A writer writes what interests him and what he can manage, and what he can make live, as Flannery O'Connor said. So… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
Chekhov - shall I be blunt? - is the greatest short story writer who ever lived. — George Saunders Copy Share Image
“But hereby resolve to write in this book at least twenty minutes a night. (If discouraged, just think of how much will… — 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
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
Whenever you talk about writing I think you have to remember that it all has a big question mark over it -… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
That underscored this idea that when we're reading a book or writing a book, you're in an act of co-creation. The reader… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
That's what a story must feel like to me. It's not, "I want to write about a gravedigger." But you're walking along… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
In the moment of reading, the writer comes up to the surface and the reader comes up to the surface and they… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
I always describe writing a story as throwing bowling pins in the air and then catching them. — George Saunders Copy Share Image
I would say one thing writing this book [Lincoln in the Bardo] did for me was underscore the fact that this issue… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
As far as which writers embody this form of gentle power - Tobias Wolff, for sure. His persona and his writing both… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
It really was something, to see Ram Bahadur Bomjon, apparently living without food or water. Before I went on that trip I'd… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
When I'm not writing, I tend to get depressed and a little bit surly. And then when I'm writing, suddenly I feel… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
[In the moment of reading writer and reader] are both briefly their best selves, or at least better selves. A flawed human… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
When I write I know that I'm going to have to produce 40 percent more than I need. — George Saunders Copy Share Image
My idea about collections is that you write as hard as you can for some period and what you're really doing during… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
I used to joke about this but I've recently realized that I really believe it: I spent many years training myself to… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
I have finally realized that, you know, it's not a given that my lifespan will accommodate my writing aspirations. — George Saunders Copy Share Image
I don't use the word lightly, in fact, I don't use it at all, but Ben Marcus is a genius, one of… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
If I'm writing a story and you're reading it, or vice versa, you took time out of your day to pick up… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
Honestly, the choice is: I can be a cheerful person, more awake to correction, more of a force for good ... when… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
Early on, a story's meaning and rationale seem pretty obvious, but then, as I write it, I realize that I know the… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
I've always wanted to write energetic, atypical sentences, i.e., sentences that were not normal or bland. — 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 Image
“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 Image
“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 Image
“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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
“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 Image
We try, we fail, we posture, we aspire, we pontificate - and then we age, shrink, die, and vanish. — George Saunders Copy Share Image
“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 Image
“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 Image
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 Image
![“[In the moment of reading writer and reader] are both…” quote by George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/538/george-saunders-317_best-self_in-the-moment-of-reading-writer-and-read_1635082.jpg)
