Degrees Quote by Jane Smiley

Some novelists are luckier than others in the eras of their formative intellectual years, but all Weltanschauungs return, which means that most novelists have…

— Jane Smiley

There can never be such a thing as a free market, because it is human nature to cheat, monopolize, and buy off others so…

— Jane Smiley

The only siblings I have are half-siblings. My nuclear family would have been an extra-suffocating threesome. Instead, I have an interesting brother and sister,…

— Jane Smiley

How will you know a good farmer when you meet him? He will not ask you for any favors.

— Jane Smiley

You know what getting married is? It's agreeing to taking this person who right now is at the top of his form, full of…

— Jane Smiley

Every first draft is perfect, because all a first draft has to do is exist.

— Jane Smiley

“We watched the swimmers and sunbathers and I thought about this. Had I faced all the facts? It seemed like I had, but actually,…

— Jane Smiley

“They throw themselves on the waters of the world, and they know they will be borne up.”

— Jane Smiley

everything is toxic. That's the point. You can't avoid toxins. Thinking you can is just another symptom of the toxic overload stage.

— Jane Smiley

“Shame is a distinct feeling. I couldn’t look at my hands around the coffee cup or hear my own laments without feeling appalled, wanting…

— Jane Smiley

“She could not have created this moment, these lovely faces, these candles flickering, the flash of the silverware, the fragrances of the food hanging…

— Jane Smiley

Horse racing is really much more intimidating than anything having to do with literature. When I had horses at the racetrack, I would wake…

— Jane Smiley