--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I like California because it still has…" description: "\"I like California because it still has the glamour and romanticism and exoticism of a very foreign place. It was the place that when I was young, I was..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/10e/pico-iyer-1252_california_i-like-california-because-it-still-has-t_2094341.jpg" --- # I like California because it still has the glamour and… ![“I like California because it still has the glamour and romanticism and exoticism of a very foreign place. It was the place that when I was young, I was raised on "I Love Lucy" and listening to the Grateful Dead and reading Jack Kerouac. They, to me, were all symbols of this very foreign sense of…” quote by Pico Iyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/10e/pico-iyer-1252_california_i-like-california-because-it-still-has-t_2094341.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/10e/pico-iyer-1252_california_i-like-california-because-it-still-has-t_2094341.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/10e/pico-iyer-1252_california_i-like-california-because-it-still-has-t_2094341.jpg) > “I like California because it still has the glamour and romanticism and exoticism of a very foreign place. It was the place that when I was young, I was raised on "I Love Lucy" and listening to the Grateful Dead and reading Jack Kerouac. They, to me, were all symbols of this very foreign sense of promise and movement. After all this time here I'm glad I still have it.” [Pico Iyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pico-iyer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. California represents a timeless, exotic promise shaped by media and literature, preserving a sense of wonder despite familiarity. **In simple terms:** California feels exotic and hopeful because of cultural symbols. Key Takeaway Cherish and seek the foreign allure in familiar places. Themes nostalgia place identity culture media Mood reflective hopeful nostalgic Type observational personal When to use this quote - travel writing - personal reflection - cultural analysis - urban exploration Key Concepts romanticism exoticism symbolism promise movement Questions to Reflect On - How do media images shape our perception of place? - What aspects of California still feel foreign to you? A Different Perspective The allure may be nostalgic idealization rather than current reality. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [California](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/california/) [Foreign places](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/foreign-places/) [Glamour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/glamour/) [Grateful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grateful/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Movement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/movement/) [Promise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/promise/) [Reading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading/) [Romanticism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/romanticism/) [Symbols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/symbols/) ## Related quotes > [Being in a foreign place, preferably for the first time, having seen many things and collected new impressions, and returning to an empty hotel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-sagmeister/being-in-a-foreign-place-preferably-for-the-first-time-having-seen/) [Stefan Sagmeister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-sagmeister/) > [Every time I'm in a foreign place and a different city, I'm always asking around to say, OK, well, what's special here in this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dj-rupture/every-time-i-m-in-a-foreign-place-and-a-different-city-i-m-always/) [DJ /rupture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dj-rupture/) > [I think that so many people don't understand how easy it is to be broke, how easy it is to find yourself in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/regina-spektor/i-think-that-so-many-people-don-t-understand-how-easy-it-is-to-be/) [Regina Spektor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/regina-spektor/) > [I think people like me are in a relatively privileged position because we have to some extent chosen to live in foreign places. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pico-iyer/i-think-people-like-me-are-in-a-relatively-privileged-position/) [Pico Iyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pico-iyer/) > [“Nothing changed the fact that she was a lost, skinny child in another foreign place, with more foreign people. Alone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-zusak/nothing-changed-the-fact-that-she-was-a-lost-skinny-child-in-another/) [Markus Zusak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/markus-zusak/) > [Now on a personal level with things like the California Tax Commission... I really think if people started banding together and saying no to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-eszterhas/now-on-a-personal-level-with-things-like-the-california-tax/) [Joe Eszterhas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-eszterhas/) > [But indeed a market like California is not good for Enron.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-lay/but-indeed-a-market-like-california-is-not-good-for-enron/) [Kenneth Lay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-lay/) > [I like California a lot. There's a lot of space, but it's actually the most populated place in the nation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/devendra-banhart/i-like-california-a-lot-there-s-a-lot-of-space-but-it-s-actually-the/) [Devendra Banhart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/devendra-banhart/) > [I don't want to look like Connecticut, no offense, I don't want to look like Oklahoma, I don't want to look like California. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-perry/i-don-t-want-to-look-like-connecticut-no-offense-i-don-t-want-to-look/) [Rick Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-perry/) > [Many militarists would like to see California's votes vanish from the national electoral system, which would then become more Republican.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-swanson/many-militarists-would-like-to-see-california-s-votes-vanish-from-the/) [David Swanson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-swanson/) > [I like California but I'm dyed-in-the-wool Oklahoma. I see a deer in L.A., and everybody's standing around it taking pictures. Back home, that's the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blake-shelton/i-like-california-but-i-m-dyed-in-the-wool-oklahoma-i-see-a-deer-in-l/) [Blake Shelton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blake-shelton/) > [I like California a lot more than New York these days.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dee-dee-ramone/i-like-california-a-lot-more-than-new-york-these-days/) [Dee Dee Ramone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dee-dee-ramone/) > [When I'm shooting in other cities, I'm just trying to make it look like California.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-prager/when-i-m-shooting-in-other-cities-i-m-just-trying-to-make-it-look/) [Alex Prager](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-prager/) > [It's these parallel universes when someone you love is sick. Your world is this completely foreign place involving radiation and tumor markers. Outside, people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katie-couric/it-s-these-parallel-universes-when-someone-you-love-is-sick-your/) [Katie Couric](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katie-couric/) > [Some travelers think they want to go to foreign places but are dismayed when the places turn out actually to be foreign.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/some-travelers-think-they-want-to-go-to-foreign-places-but-are/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) ## More by Pico Iyer > [ \[The Dalai Lama\] told me some years ago, "I've made every concession to China, and I've been as open and tolerant as I could,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pico-iyer/the-dalai-lama-told-me-some-years-ago-i-ve-made-every-concession-to/) [Pico Iyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pico-iyer/) > [For citizens who think themselves puppets in the hands of their rulers, nothing is more satisfying than having rulers as puppets in their hands.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pico-iyer/for-citizens-who-think-themselves-puppets-in-the-hands-of-their/) [Pico Iyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pico-iyer/) > [The Dalai Lama would say that meditation is something that can help everyone. But he's aware that it can be misused or things can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pico-iyer/the-dalai-lama-would-say-that-meditation-is-something-that-can-help/) [Pico Iyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pico-iyer/) > [Like any traveler, I'm always looking for those experiences that are almost unique to any place, and watching films around Alaska of the skies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pico-iyer/like-any-traveler-i-m-always-looking-for-those-experiences-that-are/) [Pico Iyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pico-iyer/) > [“When you're hurrying around too quickly," he had said, "there's a part of the world you can't see. If, for example, you're taking a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pico-iyer/when-you-re-hurrying-around-too-quickly-he-had-said-there-s-a-part-of/) [Pico Iyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pico-iyer/) > [We travel to open our hearts and eyes and learn more about the world than our newspapers will accommodate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pico-iyer/we-travel-to-open-our-hearts-and-eyes-and-learn-more-about-the-world/) [Pico Iyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pico-iyer/) > [The Dalai Lama, these days, encourages Westerners not to take up Buddhism, partly because he feels that our roots are deep in other traditions,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pico-iyer/the-dalai-lama-these-days-encourages-westerners-not-to-take-up/) [Pico Iyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pico-iyer/) > [And if travel is like love, it is, in the end, mostly because it's a heightened state of awareness, in which we are mindful,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pico-iyer/and-if-travel-is-like-love-it-is-in-the-end-mostly-because-it-s-a/) [Pico Iyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pico-iyer/) > [As soon as I began to talk to Dalai Lama, I realized that Chinese and Tibetans from his point of view are mostly the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pico-iyer/as-soon-as-i-began-to-talk-to-dalai-lama-i-realized-that-chinese-and/) [Pico Iyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pico-iyer/) > [When we are kids, we imagine that to define ourselves or to find ourselves means charting your own individuality, making your own destiny, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pico-iyer/when-we-are-kids-we-imagine-that-to-define-ourselves-or-to-find/) [Pico Iyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pico-iyer/) > [A writer is a palmist, reading the lines of the planet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pico-iyer/a-writer-is-a-palmist-reading-the-lines-of-the-planet/) [Pico Iyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pico-iyer/) > [In barely one generation, we've moved from exulting in the time-saving devices that have so expanded our lives to trying to get away from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pico-iyer/in-barely-one-generation-we-ve-moved-from-exulting-in-the-time-saving/) [Pico Iyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pico-iyer/) > [For centuries, Cubas greatest resource has been its people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pico-iyer/for-centuries-cubas-greatest-resource-has-been-its-people/) [Pico Iyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pico-iyer/) > [Writing is, in the end, that oddest of anomalies: an intimate letter to a stranger.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pico-iyer/writing-is-in-the-end-that-oddest-of-anomalies-an-intimate-letter-to/) [Pico Iyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pico-iyer/) > [“Was it only through another that I could begin to get at myself?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pico-iyer/was-it-only-through-another-that-i-could-begin-to-get-at-myself/) [Pico Iyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pico-iyer/) [Explore all 266 Pico Iyer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pico-iyer/) ## More California quotes > [Everyone in California is from somewhere else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wright-morris/everyone-in-california-is-from-somewhere-else/) [Wright Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wright-morris/) > [Even with clothing naked animals, there were people who wanted to send in money. A woman in Santa Barbara, California, sent a $40,000 check.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-abel/even-with-clothing-naked-animals-there-were-people-who-wanted-to-send/) [Alan Abel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-abel/) > [We need to incorporate that age-old concept of redemption into the work that we do in the criminal justice system in California.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamala-harris/we-need-to-incorporate-that-age-old-concept-of-redemption-into-the/) [Kamala Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamala-harris/) > [The Urban Literate Southern California Sub-Group of the Early Atomic Period has not yet produced a distinct body of folk music of its own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-hinton/the-urban-literate-southern-california-sub-group-of-the-early-atomic/) Sam Hinton > [California is a place in which a boom mentality and a sense of Chekhovian loss meet in uneasy suspension.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/california-is-a-place-in-which-a-boom-mentality-and-a-sense-of/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [Many militarists would like to see California's votes vanish from the national electoral system, which would then become more Republican.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-swanson/many-militarists-would-like-to-see-california-s-votes-vanish-from-the/) [David Swanson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-swanson/) > [When I started in California, people would say, 'Enterprise who?'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pamela-nicholson/when-i-started-in-california-people-would-say-enterprise-who/) [Pamela Nicholson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pamela-nicholson/) > [Take one round-trip flight between New York and California, and you've generated about 20 percent of the greenhouse gases that your car emits over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tatiana-schlossberg/take-one-round-trip-flight-between-new-york-and-california-and-you-ve/) [Tatiana Schlossberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tatiana-schlossberg/) > [These French-style caramels are handmade in California. It's always hard to give them away!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oprah-winfrey/these-french-style-caramels-are-handmade-in-california-it-s-always/) [Oprah Winfrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oprah-winfrey/) > [The D.C. playbook is obsolete. It's time for the people of California to bring the agenda to Washington, not the other way around.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-de-leon/the-d-c-playbook-is-obsolete-it-s-time-for-the-people-of-california/) [Kevin de Leon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-de-leon/) > [While there is an attempt by the Trump people to say that California isn't really America. California certainly seems like America to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-frum/while-there-is-an-attempt-by-the-trump-people-to-say-that-california/) [David Frum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-frum/) > [I'm from California, but my father, who passed away when I was young, was from Newark. When I was kid, we would go back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-daly/i-m-from-california-but-my-father-who-passed-away-when-i-was-young/) [Carson Daly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carson-daly/) > [“God will break California from the surface of the continent like someone breaking off a piece of chocolate. It will become its own floating…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-ruby/god-will-break-california-from-the-surface-of-the-continent-like/) [Laura Ruby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-ruby/) > [You could have a hit in California that no one had heard of in Oklahoma.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wanda-jackson/you-could-have-a-hit-in-california-that-no-one-had-heard-of-in/) [Wanda Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wanda-jackson/) > [My first encounter with yoga was in 1969 with my older brother Doug. I was thirteen years old, and he was eighteen. He'd learned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-f-swensen/my-first-encounter-with-yoga-was-in-1969-with-my-older-brother-doug-i/) [David F. Swensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-f-swensen/) [Browse all 2,036 California quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/california/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I like California because it still has the glamour and romanticism and exoticism of a very foreign place. It was the place that when I was young, I was raised on \"I Love Lucy\" and listening to the Grateful Dead and reading Jack Kerouac. They, to me, were all symbols of this very foreign sense of promise and movement. 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