--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I hadn’t seen any novel make the…" description: "\"I hadn’t seen any novel make the statement that entering the workforce was like entering the grave. That from then on, nothing happens and you have to ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc0/michel-houellebecq-1497_acknowledge_i-hadn-t-seen-any-novel-make-the-stateme_1676218.jpg" --- # I hadn’t seen any novel make the statement that entering… ![“I hadn’t seen any novel make the statement that entering the workforce was like entering the grave. That from then on, nothing happens and you have to pretend to be interested in your work. And, furthermore, that some people have a sex life and others don’t just because some are more attractive…” quote by Michel Houellebecq](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc0/michel-houellebecq-1497_acknowledge_i-hadn-t-seen-any-novel-make-the-stateme_1676218.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc0/michel-houellebecq-1497_acknowledge_i-hadn-t-seen-any-novel-make-the-stateme_1676218.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc0/michel-houellebecq-1497_acknowledge_i-hadn-t-seen-any-novel-make-the-stateme_1676218.jpg) > “I hadn’t seen any novel make the statement that entering the workforce was like entering the grave. That from then on, nothing happens and you have to pretend to be interested in your work. And, furthermore, that some people have a sex life and others don’t just because some are more attractive than others. I wanted to acknowledge that if people don’t have a sex life, it’s not for some moral reason, it’s just because they’re ugly. Once you’ve said it, it sounds obvious, but I wanted to say it.” [Michel Houellebecq](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-houellebecq/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Work feels like a dead end where enthusiasm is feigned, and attractiveness unfairly dictates sexual activity. **In simple terms:** Jobs can feel dead, and looks affect love life. Key Takeaway Challenge unfair expectations. Themes work sex attractiveness Mood skeptical critical Type philosophical social commentary When to use this quote - career dissatisfaction - dating - self‑esteem - social hierarchy Key Concepts existentialism social critique Questions to Reflect On - Why do we link beauty to desirability? - How can we value people beyond looks? A Different Perspective Attractiveness is not a moral measure. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Moral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moral/) [Novel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novel/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/) [Sex](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sex/) [Sex life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sex-life/) [Sound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sound/) [Things happen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/things-happen/) [Workforce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/workforce/) ## Related quotes > [We have an opportunity, but we have an obligation to senior citizens and to the younger people who are entering the workforce today to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thad-cochran/we-have-an-opportunity-but-we-have-an-obligation-to-senior-citizens/) [Thad Cochran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thad-cochran/) > [If you want to draw people into the story, you really have to write as if you're writing a novel and make these actually-existing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/if-you-want-to-draw-people-into-the-story-you-really-have-to-write-as/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [“I'm sorry I don't have brilliant reasons for beginning a novel. As you go along, you make up reasons to do what you want.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/i-m-sorry-i-don-t-have-brilliant-reasons-for-beginning-a-novel-as-you/) [Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/) > [The thing I have learned through the years is that one idea 'doth' not a novel make. A novel must be several seemingly unrelated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-paterson/the-thing-i-have-learned-through-the-years-is-that-one-idea-doth-not/) [Katherine Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-paterson/) > [You can't take a story and just stretch it out - that does not a novel make.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-means/you-can-t-take-a-story-and-just-stretch-it-out-that-does-not-a-novel/) [David Means](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-means/) > [ What was fun for me with this book \[Lincoln in the Bardo\] was to start out with the principle that went, "We're going to… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/what-was-fun-for-me-with-this-book-lincoln-in-the-bardo-was-to-start/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [If there's one thing that can save the novel, it is to make it independent of cinema, to narrate in a way that cinema…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agustin-fernandez-mallo/if-there-s-one-thing-that-can-save-the-novel-it-is-to-make-it/) [Agustin Fernandez Mallo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agustin-fernandez-mallo/) > [“To write an excellent novel, make the outcome of the story matter to the reader through the evolving relationships between well-designed characters.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-sandforth/to-write-an-excellent-novel-make-the-outcome-of-the-story-matter-to/) Martin Sandforth > [I often use nameless places in my work as a way of allowing the readers to create more of the novel and to make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/i-often-use-nameless-places-in-my-work-as-a-way-of-allowing-the/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [When you write a novel, you make other people see your imaginary friends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tayari-jones/when-you-write-a-novel-you-make-other-people-see-your-imaginary/) [Tayari Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tayari-jones/) > [ \[The movies\] make the sort of comment only a novel can make, an allusion to the world in which people live, the psychological and… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-welles/the-movies-make-the-sort-of-comment-only-a-novel-can-make-an-allusion/) [Orson Welles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-welles/) > [One novel in five hundred or a thousand has the quality a novel should have to make it a novel -- the quality of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/one-novel-in-five-hundred-or-a-thousand-has-the-quality-a-novel/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [The process of writing a novel is getting to know more about the novel until you know everything about it. And it's been described…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/the-process-of-writing-a-novel-is-getting-to-know-more-about-the/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [In a novel, you can always go back and make it look like you knew what you were doing all along before the thing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/in-a-novel-you-can-always-go-back-and-make-it-look-like-you-knew-what/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [Nothing induces me to read a novel except when I have to make money by writing about it. I detest them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/nothing-induces-me-to-read-a-novel-except-when-i-have-to-make-money/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) ## More by Michel Houellebecq > [I think it's more difficult to live without a religion, definitely.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-houellebecq/i-think-it-s-more-difficult-to-live-without-a-religion-definitely/) [Michel Houellebecq](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-houellebecq/) > [I think that if writers don't speak about real life, it's because they don't know it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-houellebecq/i-think-that-if-writers-don-t-speak-about-real-life-it-s-because-they/) [Michel Houellebecq](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-houellebecq/) > [“In my life, I had known suffering, oppression, anxiety; I had never known boredom. I could see no objection to the endless, imbecile repetition…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-houellebecq/in-my-life-i-had-known-suffering-oppression-anxiety-i-had-never-known/) [Michel Houellebecq](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-houellebecq/) > [I admit that invective is one of my pleasures. This only brings me problems in life, but that's it. I attack, I insult. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-houellebecq/i-admit-that-invective-is-one-of-my-pleasures-this-only-brings-me/) [Michel Houellebecq](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-houellebecq/) > [“... I spent whole afternoons at Bon Marché looking at pullovers, there was no sense in going on like that.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-houellebecq/i-spent-whole-afternoons-at-bon-march-looking-at-pullovers-there-was/) [Michel Houellebecq](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-houellebecq/) > [I've lived so little that I tend to imagine I'm not going to die; it seems improbable that human existence can be reduced to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-houellebecq/i-ve-lived-so-little-that-i-tend-to-imagine-i-m-not-going-to-die-it/) [Michel Houellebecq](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-houellebecq/) > [Rumor had it that he was homosexual; in reality, in recent years, he was simply a garden-variety alcoholic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-houellebecq/rumor-had-it-that-he-was-homosexual-in-reality-in-recent-years-he-was/) [Michel Houellebecq](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-houellebecq/) > [“He doesn't know it yet, but the infinity of childhood is brief.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-houellebecq/he-doesn-t-know-it-yet-but-the-infinity-of-childhood-is-brief/) [Michel Houellebecq](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-houellebecq/) > [“Olga was nice, Olga was nice and loving, Olga loved him, he repeated to himself with a growing sadness as he also realised that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-houellebecq/olga-was-nice-olga-was-nice-and-loving-olga-loved-him-he-repeated-to/) [Michel Houellebecq](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-houellebecq/) > [“Regarde, c’est la mort, mon amour.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-houellebecq/regarde-c-est-la-mort-mon-amour/) [Michel Houellebecq](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-houellebecq/) > [“The problem is, it's just not enough to live according to the rules. Sure, you manage to live according to the rules. Sometimes it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-houellebecq/the-problem-is-it-s-just-not-enough-to-live-according-to-the-rules/) [Michel Houellebecq](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-houellebecq/) > [“Life sometimes offers you a chance, he thought, but when you are too cowardly or too indecisive to seize it life takes the cards…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-houellebecq/life-sometimes-offers-you-a-chance-he-thought-but-when-you-are-too/) [Michel Houellebecq](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-houellebecq/) > [“An entire life spent reading would have fulfilled my every desire; I already knew that at the age of seven. The texture of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-houellebecq/an-entire-life-spent-reading-would-have-fulfilled-my-every-desire-i/) [Michel Houellebecq](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-houellebecq/) > [Of course, we can distinguish between males and females; we can also, if we choose, distinguish between different age categories; but any more advanced…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-houellebecq/of-course-we-can-distinguish-between-males-and-females-we-can-also-if/) [Michel Houellebecq](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-houellebecq/) > [A source of permanent, accessible pleasure, our genitals exist. 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You can acknowledge a good team but you can't go in worrying.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reece-james/you-can-t-go-into-games-with-any-fear-you-can-acknowledge-a-good-team/) [Reece James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reece-james/) > [Conservative feminism is such an artificial term that doesn't mean much to me. For me conservatism means accepting reality. I acknowledge that there are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristina-schroder/conservative-feminism-is-such-an-artificial-term-that-doesn-t-mean/) [Kristina Schroder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristina-schroder/) > [We must acknowledge that bearing and raising children is not some pesky, peripheral activity that we engage in, but the whole point.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-maushart/we-must-acknowledge-that-bearing-and-raising-children-is-not-some/) [Susan Maushart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-maushart/) > [When we pray, we must begin by conceiving God in full and vigorous images, but we must go on to acknowledge the inadequacy of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/austin-farrer/when-we-pray-we-must-begin-by-conceiving-god-in-full-and-vigorous/) [Austin Farrer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/austin-farrer/) > [Acknowledging foolishness is a very powerful and important experience. 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That from then on, nothing happens and you have to pretend to be interested in your work. And, furthermore, that some people have a sex life and others don’t just because some are more attractive than others. I wanted to acknowledge that if people don’t have a sex life, it’s not for some moral reason, it’s just because they’re ugly. 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