--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I work on a laptop specifically so I can…" description: "\"I work on a laptop specifically so I can work in cafes and pretend I'm part of the human world.\" — Jonathan Lethem" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5af/jonathan-lethem-1403_i-can_i-work-on-a-laptop-specifically-so-i-can_1172993.png" --- # I work on a laptop specifically so I can work in cafes and… ![“I work on a laptop specifically so I can work in cafes and pretend I'm part of the human world.” quote by Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5af/jonathan-lethem-1403_i-can_i-work-on-a-laptop-specifically-so-i-can_1172993.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5af/jonathan-lethem-1403_i-can_i-work-on-a-laptop-specifically-so-i-can_1172993.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5af/jonathan-lethem-1403_i-can_i-work-on-a-laptop-specifically-so-i-can_1172993.png) > “I work on a laptop specifically so I can work in cafes and pretend I'm part of the human world.” [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He uses a laptop to blend work with café culture, feeling part of everyday life. **In simple terms:** Works in cafés to feel connected. Key Takeaway Embrace work environments that inspire you. Themes creativity social integration work habits Mood reflective playful Type personal observational When to use this quote - freelance writing - remote work - coffee shop meetings - creative brainstorming Key Concepts digital nomadism urban sociology Questions to Reflect On - How does environment affect your productivity? - Do you feel more creative in public spaces? A Different Perspective May distract from deep focus. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cafes Pretend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cafes-pretend-3407831/) [I can](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/i-can/) [Laptop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/laptop/) [Laptop Specifically](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/laptop-specifically-3407832/) [Pretend Human](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pretend-human-332262/) [Technology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/technology/) [Work Laptop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/work-laptop-3407830/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [“Why don't we have a little game? Let's pretend that we're human beings, and that we're actually alive.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-osborne/why-don-t-we-have-a-little-game-let-s-pretend-that-we-re-human-beings/) [John Osborne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-osborne/) > [“If I were a monster, I'd pretend to be human.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-miranda/if-i-were-a-monster-i-d-pretend-to-be-human/) [Megan Miranda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-miranda/) > [“ How I long for a little ordinary human enthusiasm. Just enthusiasm- that's all. I want to hear a warm, thrilling voice cry out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-osborne/how-i-long-for-a-little-ordinary-human-enthusiasm-just-enthusiasm/) [John Osborne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-osborne/) > [Let's pretend that we're human beings and that we're actually alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-osborne/let-s-pretend-that-we-re-human-beings-and-that-we-re-actually-alive/) [John Osborne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-osborne/) > [I use a laptop more as a tool, as sort of the central artery. Everything goes through the digital audio card of my computer,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-fullerton-whitman/i-use-a-laptop-more-as-a-tool-as-sort-of-the-central-artery/) [Keith Fullerton Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-fullerton-whitman/) > [I take my laptop with me on the road. When I come home, I log onto AOL, go to the Web site, and answer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/butch-trucks/i-take-my-laptop-with-me-on-the-road-when-i-come-home-i-log-onto-aol/) [Butch Trucks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/butch-trucks/) > [“If the pen is mightier than the sword, then what is the laptop? A light saber or a life saver?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-the-pen-is-mightier-than-the-sword-then-what-is-the-laptop-a-light/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Not every pupil has a laptop and not every family has Internet access.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gavin-williamson/not-every-pupil-has-a-laptop-and-not-every-family-has-internet-access/) [Gavin Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gavin-williamson/) > [I'm portable. I carry a laptop and a little recording studio on my back.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abbie-cornish/i-m-portable-i-carry-a-laptop-and-a-little-recording-studio-on-my-back/) [Abbie Cornish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abbie-cornish/) > [I'm just a Bolshevik with a laptop.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-perlstein/i-m-just-a-bolshevik-with-a-laptop/) [Rick Perlstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-perlstein/) > [It's really hard to use a laptop when you only have half a lap.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tammy-duckworth/it-s-really-hard-to-use-a-laptop-when-you-only-have-half-a-lap/) [Tammy Duckworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tammy-duckworth/) > [It's flattering that there are lots of Internet fan sites about me. I'm a bit of a technophobe and I don't even own a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonas-armstrong/it-s-flattering-that-there-are-lots-of-internet-fan-sites-about-me-i/) [Jonas Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonas-armstrong/) > [I dropped my laptop off a boat. It's A dell...rolling in the deep :)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daley/i-dropped-my-laptop-off-a-boat-it-s-a-dell-rolling-in-the-deep/) [Daley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daley/) > [I do indeed write on the road. My laptop goes with me everywhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nora-roberts/i-do-indeed-write-on-the-road-my-laptop-goes-with-me-everywhere/) [Nora Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nora-roberts/) > [The correct form factor for a laptop is obviously 12" and 2 lbs, and I don't understand why everybody gets that wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linus-torvalds/the-correct-form-factor-for-a-laptop-is-obviously-12-and-2-lbs-and-i/) [Linus Torvalds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linus-torvalds/) ## More by Jonathan Lethem > [It was often this way, life consisted of a series of false beginnings, bluff declarations of arrival to destinations not even glimpsed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/it-was-often-this-way-life-consisted-of-a-series-of-false-beginnings/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [I've been an advocate against the view of the writer as a partitioned genius hanging in conceptual space, or up on a mountain, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/i-ve-been-an-advocate-against-the-view-of-the-writer-as-a-partitioned/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [“I suppose there was never a reason for tearing down a cabin or scrapping a stopped automobile, if you had all those acres.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/i-suppose-there-was-never-a-reason-for-tearing-down-a-cabin-or/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [Life is fundamentally up for grabs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/life-is-fundamentally-up-for-grabs/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [My heart, to put it more simply, got nostalgic for the present. Always a bad sign.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/my-heart-to-put-it-more-simply-got-nostalgic-for-the-present-always-a/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [It's impossible to overstate how my relationship to music forms a preserve for the esoteric or even spiritual aspect of my relationship to cultural…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/it-s-impossible-to-overstate-how-my-relationship-to-music-forms-a/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [“If. If Mingus Rude could be kept in this place, kept somehow in Dylan's pocket, in his stinging, smudgy hands, then summer wouldn't give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/if-if-mingus-rude-could-be-kept-in-this-place-kept-somehow-in-dylan-s/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [I had always wanted to be a writer who confused genre boundaries and who was read in multiple contexts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/i-had-always-wanted-to-be-a-writer-who-confused-genre-boundaries-and/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [“Memory is a rehearsal for a show that never goes on.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/memory-is-a-rehearsal-for-a-show-that-never-goes-on/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [“There is nothing Tourettic about the New York City subways.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/there-is-nothing-tourettic-about-the-new-york-city-subways/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [“Mingus Rude, Arthur Lomb, Gabriel Stern and Tim Vandertooth, even Aaron K. Doily: Dylan never met anyone who wasn't about to change immediately into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/mingus-rude-arthur-lomb-gabriel-stern-and-tim-vandertooth-even-aaron/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [I try to write every day. I don't beat myself up about word counts, or how many hours are ticking by on the clock…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/i-try-to-write-every-day-i-don-t-beat-myself-up-about-word-counts-or/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [“Enough of this. Does every conversation with you have to be the director's cut? Get out of the car.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/enough-of-this-does-every-conversation-with-you-have-to-be-the/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [“The stumbling block will turn out to be the traditional one for students of consciousness: the flashlight is incapable of shining on itself, so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/the-stumbling-block-will-turn-out-to-be-the-traditional-one-for/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [“May one plead, Your Honor, postmodernism as an involuntary condition?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/may-one-plead-your-honor-postmodernism-as-an-involuntary-condition/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) [Explore all 241 Jonathan Lethem quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) ## More I can quotes > [Only within yourself exists the other reality for which you long. I can give you nothing that has not already its being within yourself.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/only-within-yourself-exists-the-other-reality-for-which-you-long-i/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [My team mates are fundamental for my characteristics, if they send in crosses I can play inside the area.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/filippo-inzaghi/my-team-mates-are-fundamental-for-my-characteristics-if-they-send-in/) [Filippo Inzaghi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/filippo-inzaghi/) > [I can skate beautifully. While performing on ice I always try to please the audience and to win as well. Being artistic is very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evgeni-plushenko/i-can-skate-beautifully-while-performing-on-ice-i-always-try-to/) [Evgeni Plushenko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evgeni-plushenko/) > [I love playing for my country, getting the support. Especially for the kids and everybody, showing my example of what I can achieve so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-sharapova/i-love-playing-for-my-country-getting-the-support-especially-for-the/) [Maria Sharapova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-sharapova/) > [I always step on the plane with my right foot and touch the outside of the plane with my left hand. Sometimes you know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hope-davis/i-always-step-on-the-plane-with-my-right-foot-and-touch-the-outside/) [Hope Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hope-davis/) > [From as long as I can remember, I was always fond of drawing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-lucia/from-as-long-as-i-can-remember-i-was-always-fond-of-drawing/) [St. Lucia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-lucia/) > [I don't want to be famous famous. I'm happy on the second tier, where I have autonomy on a professional level but I can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-reece/i-don-t-want-to-be-famous-famous-i-m-happy-on-the-second-tier-where-i/) [Gabrielle Reece](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-reece/) > [It's very easy to fool yourself that you're working, you know, when you're really not working very hard. I mean, I'm very lazy. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-caro/it-s-very-easy-to-fool-yourself-that-you-re-working-you-know-when-you/) [Robert Caro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-caro/) > [From my experience of having served for 3000 days, I can say that anything can be achieved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/narendra-modi/from-my-experience-of-having-served-for-3000-days-i-can-say-that/) [Narendra Modi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/narendra-modi/) > [I can still function when I don't have that balance I crave. I had a tendency to be precious about acting, thinking of it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-regan/i-can-still-function-when-i-don-t-have-that-balance-i-crave-i-had-a/) [Laura Regan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-regan/) > [I take the responsibility of playing another ethnicity very, very seriously, and I promise myself and those people that I will represent them with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cliff-curtis/i-take-the-responsibility-of-playing-another-ethnicity-very-very/) [Cliff Curtis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cliff-curtis/) > [I can't say that there are 'things' that make me come alive. There are thoughts that make me come alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/i-can-t-say-that-there-are-things-that-make-me-come-alive-there-are/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [I'm Catholic and I can't commit suicide, but I plan to drink myself to death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/i-m-catholic-and-i-can-t-commit-suicide-but-i-plan-to-drink-myself-to/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [I remember my friend Johnny von Neumann used to say, 'with four parameters I can fit an elephant and with five I can make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/enrico-fermi/i-remember-my-friend-johnny-von-neumann-used-to-say-with-four/) [Enrico Fermi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/enrico-fermi/) > [I recognize I am essentially a failed human being in the sense that I can't possibly live up to the expectations of an Almighty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/i-recognize-i-am-essentially-a-failed-human-being-in-the-sense-that-i/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) [Browse all 24,836 I can quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/i-can/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I work on a laptop specifically so I can work in cafes and pretend I'm part of the human world.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jonathan Lethem" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/i-work-on-a-laptop-specifically-so-i-can-work-in-cafes-and-pretend-i/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "I can" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/i-work-on-a-laptop-specifically-so-i-can-work-in-cafes-and-pretend-i/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5af/jonathan-lethem-1403_i-can_i-work-on-a-laptop-specifically-so-i-can_1172993.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5af/jonathan-lethem-1403_i-can_i-work-on-a-laptop-specifically-so-i-can_1172993.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5af/jonathan-lethem-1403_i-can_i-work-on-a-laptop-specifically-so-i-can_1172993.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I work on a laptop specifically so I can work in cafes and pretend I'm part of the human world.” — Jonathan Lethem", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "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": "Jonathan Lethem", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I work on a laptop specifically...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/i-work-on-a-laptop-specifically-so-i-can-work-in-cafes-and-pretend-i/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/i-work-on-a-laptop-specifically-so-i-can-work-in-cafes-and-pretend-i/#breadcrumb" }, { "@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 } } ] } ```