--- title: "10 You Quotes By Teju Cole" description: "10 You quotes by Teju Cole. Plus more from Teju Cole and more You sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/775/teju-cole-2851_everything_old-school-hip-hop-i-e-whatever-was-popu_2302372.png" --- > [Old-school hip hop, i.e., whatever was popular when you were nineteen, is great. Everything since then is intolerable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teju-cole/old-school-hip-hop-i-e-whatever-was-popular-when-you-were-nineteen-is/) [Teju Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teju-cole/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/775/teju-cole-2851_everything_old-school-hip-hop-i-e-whatever-was-popu_2302372.png) > [Swear you'd rather die than use 'literally' as an intensifier.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teju-cole/swear-you-d-rather-die-than-use-literally-as-an-intensifier/) [Teju Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teju-cole/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed4/teju-cole-2851_die_swear-you-d-rather-die-than-use-literall_1862215.png) > [In a Transtromer poem, you inhabit space differently; a body becomes a thing, a mind floats, things have lives, and even non-things,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teju-cole/in-a-transtromer-poem-you-inhabit-space-differently-a-body-becomes-a/) [Teju Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teju-cole/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ccb/teju-cole-2851_alive_in-a-transtromer-poem-you-inhabit-space_486620.jpg) > [Because I'm an art historian, I have some experience of writing that comes out of close attention. That's what really art history…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teju-cole/because-i-m-an-art-historian-i-have-some-experience-of-writing-that/) [Teju Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teju-cole/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/485/teju-cole-2851_about_because-i-m-an-art-historian-i-have-some_61287.png) > [We don't experience our lives as plots. If I asked you to tell me what your last week was like, you're not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teju-cole/we-don-t-experience-our-lives-as-plots-if-i-asked-you-to-tell-me-what/) [Teju Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teju-cole/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/04a/teju-cole-2851_asked_we-don-t-experience-our-lives-as-plots-i_1155852.jpg) > [The content of Saul Leiter's photographs arrives on a sort of delay: it takes a moment after the first glance to know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teju-cole/the-content-of-saul-leiter-s-photographs-arrives-on-a-sort-of-delay/) [Teju Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teju-cole/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/060/teju-cole-2851_about_the-content-of-saul-leiter-s-photographs_2570741.jpg) > [Breughel is an example of an artist - I mean, this is true about artists and painters in general, but he is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teju-cole/breughel-is-an-example-of-an-artist-i-mean-this-is-true-about-artists/) [Teju Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teju-cole/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/463/teju-cole-2851_about_breughel-is-an-example-of-an-artist-i-me_2027887.png) > [Probably the biggest temptation that young writers face is to be entertaining, to show your bag of tricks and do a bit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teju-cole/probably-the-biggest-temptation-that-young-writers-face-is-to-be/) [Teju Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teju-cole/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/708/teju-cole-2851_bag_probably-the-biggest-temptation-that-you_2794623.png) > [The most common thing I find is very brilliant, acute, young people who want to become writers but they are not writing.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teju-cole/the-most-common-thing-i-find-is-very-brilliant-acute-young-people-who/) [Teju Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teju-cole/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/44b/teju-cole-2851_acute_the-most-common-thing-i-find-is-very-bri_2771857.png) > [I'm not trying to be a poet on Twitter; I'm trying to be aware of the fact that a very simple sentence,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teju-cole/i-m-not-trying-to-be-a-poet-on-twitter-i-m-trying-to-be-aware-of-the/) [Teju Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teju-cole/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a2e/teju-cole-2851_aware_i-m-not-trying-to-be-a-poet-on-twitter-i_1166399.jpg) ## Other authors on You ## More by Teju Cole > [One of the difficulties of photography is that it is much better at being explicit than at being reticent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teju-cole/one-of-the-difficulties-of-photography-is-that-it-is-much-better-at/) [Teju Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teju-cole/) > [Note-taking is important to me: a week's worth of reading notes (or "thoughts I had in the shower" notes) is cumulatively more interesting than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teju-cole/note-taking-is-important-to-me-a-week-s-worth-of-reading-notes-or/) [Teju Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teju-cole/) > [It's an Obama book, certainly. I was delighted, and astonished, to hear recently that he was reading it. It's a book about a new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teju-cole/it-s-an-obama-book-certainly-i-was-delighted-and-astonished-to-hear/) [Teju Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teju-cole/) > [Because I'm an art historian, I have some experience of writing that comes out of close attention. That's what really art history is. You're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teju-cole/because-i-m-an-art-historian-i-have-some-experience-of-writing-that/) [Teju Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teju-cole/) > [For purposes of marketing, writers are designated as poets, novelists, or something else. But writing is about matchmaking, an attempt to marry sensations with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teju-cole/for-purposes-of-marketing-writers-are-designated-as-poets-novelists/) [Teju Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teju-cole/) > [“Most of the people around me yesterday were middle-aged or old. I am used to it, but it never ceases to surprise me how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teju-cole/most-of-the-people-around-me-yesterday-were-middle-aged-or-old-i-am/) [Teju Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teju-cole/) > [“I look at his hands. In those hands is new knowledge.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teju-cole/i-look-at-his-hands-in-those-hands-is-new-knowledge/) [Teju Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teju-cole/) > [“The mind roams more widely in the dark than it does in light. It is no surprise, then, stepping out of the unlit house…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teju-cole/the-mind-roams-more-widely-in-the-dark-than-it-does-in-light-it-is-no/) [Teju Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teju-cole/) > [“Each person must, on some level, take himself as the calibration point for normalcy, must assume that the room of his own mind is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teju-cole/each-person-must-on-some-level-take-himself-as-the-calibration-point/) [Teju Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teju-cole/) > [Writing as writing. Writing as rioting. Writing as righting. On the best days, all three.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teju-cole/writing-as-writing-writing-as-rioting-writing-as-righting-on-the-best/) [Teju Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teju-cole/) > [“The site was a palimpsest, as was all the city, written, erased, rewritten...Generations rushed through the eye of the needle, and I, one of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teju-cole/the-site-was-a-palimpsest-as-was-all-the-city-written-erased/) [Teju Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teju-cole/) > [“As I contemplated the silent world before me, I thought of the many romantic ideas attached to blindness. Ideas of unusual sensitivity and genius…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teju-cole/as-i-contemplated-the-silent-world-before-me-i-thought-of-the-many/) [Teju Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teju-cole/) > [Always say 'no pun intended' to draw attention to the intended pun.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teju-cole/always-say-no-pun-intended-to-draw-attention-to-the-intended-pun/) [Teju Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teju-cole/) > [In a sense, Open City is a kind of Wunderkammer, one of those little rooms assembled with bric-a-brac by Renaissance scholars. I don't mean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teju-cole/in-a-sense-open-city-is-a-kind-of-wunderkammer-one-of-those-little/) [Teju Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teju-cole/) > [One of the chief characteristics of a mob is its quickness. It is sudden. It pounces.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teju-cole/one-of-the-chief-characteristics-of-a-mob-is-its-quickness-it-is/) [Teju Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teju-cole/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/you/teju-cole/#itemlist", "name": "10 You Quotes By Teju Cole", "numberOfItems": 10, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Old-school hip hop, i.e., whatever was popular when you were nineteen, is great. Everything since then is intolerable.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Teju Cole" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teju-cole/old-school-hip-hop-i-e-whatever-was-popular-when-you-were-nineteen-is/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/775/teju-cole-2851_everything_old-school-hip-hop-i-e-whatever-was-popu_2302372.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/775/teju-cole-2851_everything_old-school-hip-hop-i-e-whatever-was-popu_2302372.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/775/teju-cole-2851_everything_old-school-hip-hop-i-e-whatever-was-popu_2302372.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Old-school hip hop, i.e., whatever was popular when you were nineteen, is great. Everything since then is…” — Teju Cole", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Swear you'd rather die than use 'literally' as an intensifier.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Teju Cole" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teju-cole/swear-you-d-rather-die-than-use-literally-as-an-intensifier/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed4/teju-cole-2851_die_swear-you-d-rather-die-than-use-literall_1862215.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed4/teju-cole-2851_die_swear-you-d-rather-die-than-use-literall_1862215.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed4/teju-cole-2851_die_swear-you-d-rather-die-than-use-literall_1862215.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Swear you'd rather die than use 'literally' as an intensifier.” — Teju Cole", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "In a Transtromer poem, you inhabit space differently; a body becomes a thing, a mind floats, things have lives, and even non-things, even concepts, are alive.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Teju Cole" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teju-cole/in-a-transtromer-poem-you-inhabit-space-differently-a-body-becomes-a/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ccb/teju-cole-2851_alive_in-a-transtromer-poem-you-inhabit-space_486620.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ccb/teju-cole-2851_alive_in-a-transtromer-poem-you-inhabit-space_486620.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ccb/teju-cole-2851_alive_in-a-transtromer-poem-you-inhabit-space_486620.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“In a Transtromer poem, you inhabit space differently; a body becomes a thing, a mind floats, things have…” — Teju Cole", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Because I'm an art historian, I have some experience of writing that comes out of close attention. That's what really art history is. You're looking at something very closely, and you try to write in a meticulous way about it.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Teju Cole" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teju-cole/because-i-m-an-art-historian-i-have-some-experience-of-writing-that/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/485/teju-cole-2851_about_because-i-m-an-art-historian-i-have-some_61287.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/485/teju-cole-2851_about_because-i-m-an-art-historian-i-have-some_61287.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/485/teju-cole-2851_about_because-i-m-an-art-historian-i-have-some_61287.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Because I'm an art historian, I have some experience of writing that comes out of close attention. That's…” — Teju Cole", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 5, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We don't experience our lives as plots. If I asked you to tell me what your last week was like, you're not really gonna give me plot. You're gonna give me sort of linked narrative. And I wanted to see how do we bring that into fiction without losing the reader.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Teju Cole" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teju-cole/we-don-t-experience-our-lives-as-plots-if-i-asked-you-to-tell-me-what/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/04a/teju-cole-2851_asked_we-don-t-experience-our-lives-as-plots-i_1155852.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/04a/teju-cole-2851_asked_we-don-t-experience-our-lives-as-plots-i_1155852.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/04a/teju-cole-2851_asked_we-don-t-experience-our-lives-as-plots-i_1155852.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We don't experience our lives as plots. If I asked you to tell me what your last week was like, you're not…” — Teju Cole", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 6, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The content of Saul Leiter's photographs arrives on a sort of delay: it takes a moment after the first glance to know what the picture is about. You don't so much see the image as let it dissolve into your consciousness, like a tablet in a glass of water.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Teju Cole" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teju-cole/the-content-of-saul-leiter-s-photographs-arrives-on-a-sort-of-delay/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/060/teju-cole-2851_about_the-content-of-saul-leiter-s-photographs_2570741.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/060/teju-cole-2851_about_the-content-of-saul-leiter-s-photographs_2570741.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/060/teju-cole-2851_about_the-content-of-saul-leiter-s-photographs_2570741.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The content of Saul Leiter's photographs arrives on a sort of delay: it takes a moment after the first…” — Teju Cole", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 7, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Breughel is an example of an artist - I mean, this is true about artists and painters in general, but he is a specific example of an artist whose work contains more than you think it does at first glance. Whose work rewards, sustains attention and looking.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Teju Cole" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teju-cole/breughel-is-an-example-of-an-artist-i-mean-this-is-true-about-artists/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/463/teju-cole-2851_about_breughel-is-an-example-of-an-artist-i-me_2027887.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/463/teju-cole-2851_about_breughel-is-an-example-of-an-artist-i-me_2027887.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/463/teju-cole-2851_about_breughel-is-an-example-of-an-artist-i-me_2027887.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Breughel is an example of an artist - I mean, this is true about artists and painters in general, but he is…” — Teju Cole", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 8, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Probably the biggest temptation that young writers face is to be entertaining, to show your bag of tricks and do a bit of tap dancing. I read a lot of things, and I keep seeing this brocade of voice where someone is trying to be too pally with you or ingratiating on the page.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Teju Cole" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teju-cole/probably-the-biggest-temptation-that-young-writers-face-is-to-be/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/708/teju-cole-2851_bag_probably-the-biggest-temptation-that-you_2794623.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/708/teju-cole-2851_bag_probably-the-biggest-temptation-that-you_2794623.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/708/teju-cole-2851_bag_probably-the-biggest-temptation-that-you_2794623.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Probably the biggest temptation that young writers face is to be entertaining, to show your bag of tricks…” — Teju Cole", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 9, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The most common thing I find is very brilliant, acute, young people who want to become writers but they are not writing. You know, they really badly want to write a book but they are not writing it. The only advice I can give them is to just write it, get to the end of it. And, you know, if it's not good enough, write another one.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Teju Cole" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teju-cole/the-most-common-thing-i-find-is-very-brilliant-acute-young-people-who/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/44b/teju-cole-2851_acute_the-most-common-thing-i-find-is-very-bri_2771857.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/44b/teju-cole-2851_acute_the-most-common-thing-i-find-is-very-bri_2771857.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/44b/teju-cole-2851_acute_the-most-common-thing-i-find-is-very-bri_2771857.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The most common thing I find is very brilliant, acute, young people who want to become writers but they are…” — Teju Cole", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 10, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I'm not trying to be a poet on Twitter; I'm trying to be aware of the fact that a very simple sentence, well written, can have a very moving effect without that person knowing why. There's a deep genetic part of you that somehow, even without your permission, recognizes good language when it arrives.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Teju Cole" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teju-cole/i-m-not-trying-to-be-a-poet-on-twitter-i-m-trying-to-be-aware-of-the/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a2e/teju-cole-2851_aware_i-m-not-trying-to-be-a-poet-on-twitter-i_1166399.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a2e/teju-cole-2851_aware_i-m-not-trying-to-be-a-poet-on-twitter-i_1166399.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a2e/teju-cole-2851_aware_i-m-not-trying-to-be-a-poet-on-twitter-i_1166399.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I'm not trying to be a poet on Twitter; I'm trying to be aware of the fact that a very simple sentence, well…” — Teju Cole", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } } ] }, { "@type": "CollectionPage", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/you/teju-cole/#webpage", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/you/teju-cole/", "name": "You Quotes by Teju Cole", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/you/teju-cole/#itemlist" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/775/teju-cole-2851_everything_old-school-hip-hop-i-e-whatever-was-popu_2302372.png" }, "description": "10 You quotes by Teju Cole. Plus more from Teju Cole and more You sayings from other authors.", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/you/teju-cole/#breadcrumb" } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/you/teju-cole/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Topics", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/categories/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "You", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/you/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 5, "name": "Teju Cole", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/you/teju-cole/" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```