“Roger was not personally ambitious; he mainly wanted life not to make too many demands on him.” — John Lanchester Ambition Copy Share Image
There's an awful lot of us who don't quite speak finance, speak money. — John Lanchester Finance Copy Share Image
Germany has to put the broader European interest on the same level as its own national interest, or the euro is toast. — John Lanchester Copy Share Image
In the U.S., it is a crime to lie to a federal agent, and it's often this that sends people to jail… — John Lanchester Jail Copy Share Image
We wouldn't care so much what people thought of us if we knew how seldom they did. — John Lanchester Care Copy Share Image
Dad was a very, very principled man, and he hated any kind of story where the baddies get away with it. — John Lanchester Dad Copy Share Image
“It’s that great British middle-class battle cry: “Something must be done!” — John Lanchester Battle Copy Share Image
“As Confucius says, under some circumstances murder can be forgiven; but unreasonableness never is.” — John Lanchester Confucius Copy Share Image
'Community,' that loaded word so beloved of politicians, is simply not a reality in most people's lives. It's normal for us to… — John Lanchester Community Copy Share Image
We don't want to think about money in an ideal life; in a well-lived life, money wouldn't be one of our primary… — John Lanchester Copy Share Image
The slogans of globalisation are 'Get on your bike' and 'The world is flat.' People who want to get on have to… — John Lanchester Globalisation Copy Share Image
I write non-fiction quicker, and I write it on a computer. Fiction I write longhand, and that helps make it clear that… — John Lanchester Brain Copy Share Image
One of the main reasons that the landscape of financial stuff in America is different is that gambling is illegal there. So… — John Lanchester America Copy Share Image
In an ideal world, one populated by vegetarians and Esperanto speakers, derivatives would be used for one thing only: reducing levels of… — John Lanchester Betting Copy Share Image
I'm fortunate in having journalism as a sideline to pay the bills, and I essentially do it in order to take as… — John Lanchester Books Copy Share Image
'The Big Short' is, among other things, a blistering, detailed indictment of the way Wall Street does business, and its particular villains… — John Lanchester Business Copy Share Image
Richness, the ideas of having plenty of money, is not ... an absolute state. Richness is about the amount of money you… — John Lanchester Absolutes Copy Share Image
“Petunia only ever went to the doctor reluctantly, and her motive in doing so was always the same: she did it in… — John Lanchester Anxiety Copy Share Image
“The economic metaphor came to be applied to every aspect of modern life, especially the areas where it simply didn't belong. In… — John Lanchester Economics Copy Share Image
It would be too glib, not a hundred per cent true, to say that my father's career as a banker was what… — John Lanchester Banker Copy Share Image
“And now here was Arabella, making him feel worse. Maybe that was what she always did; maybe she always made him feel… — John Lanchester Marriage Copy Share Image
Nobody in the developing world is going to take, as an answer to their aspirations, the developed world's reply: 'Sorry, you can't;… — John Lanchester Aspirations Copy Share Image
When I first travelled to New York in 1982 on a summer holiday as a student, I remember thinking how exciting it… — John Lanchester Copy Share Image
“No, Roger had not seen the funny side. But there had been a moment when, after looking at his watch, he had… — John Lanchester Copy Share Image
Tapas is one of the world's most civilised drinking and eating traditions. — John Lanchester Drinking Copy Share Image
Cheap money feels like the most natural thing in the world - if you don't think about why it's so cheap. — John Lanchester Copy Share Image
I rather envy writers who do variations on a theme. I like reading those books, but in practice, I can't do it. — John Lanchester Book Copy Share Image
I remember, the first few years here, I didn't like London much: too big, too crowded, the physical difficulty of getting around. — John Lanchester Copy Share Image
Why should the idea of Western liberal democracy automatically imply unregulated free-market capitalism? — John Lanchester Capitalism Copy Share Image
By the time I was three years old, I'd lived at 10 different addresses in six different countries. — John Lanchester Different countries Copy Share Image
Economics as a discipline has in effect become the study of capitalism. The two are taken as the same subject. — John Lanchester Capitalism Copy Share Image
The Internet makes writing about restaurants easier and more interesting in quite a few ways, one of the main ones being to… — John Lanchester Being Copy Share Image
Money isn't automatically freedom. You need to look carefully at what you're doing to earn the money before you can conclude that… — John Lanchester Copy Share Image
If we are going to remake society in the image of the fight against terrorism and put that secret fight at the… — John Lanchester Fight Copy Share Image
A preoccupation with money and, especially, with what money meant was, in our family, an inherited thing. My father's father, Jack, who… — John Lanchester Copy Share Image
I have sane friends, solvent friends, foodie friends, and friends who can take time off in the week, but I don't know… — John Lanchester Copy Share Image
“Although he too was heading to work, Shahid was glad he wasn't dragging himself off to some office job. Shahid's view: anybody… — John Lanchester Copy Share Image
The deconstructed, postmodern pizza has been with us for ages, and the fact is that pretty much every ingredient in the world… — John Lanchester Food Copy Share Image
I think the Internet was invented specifically to stop people finishing their books. And it does quite a good job. I don't… — John Lanchester Books Copy Share Image
I grew up mainly in the Far East, where my father worked for the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank, which was then… — John Lanchester Copy Share Image
