Geoff Dyer Quotes

Writer

Geoff Dyer is a British writer known for his distinctive travel literature and essays. His works often use travel as a backdrop to explore themes of personal identity, cultural differences, and memory.

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Famous Geoff Dyer Quotes

“I think I do have a sort of terrible propensity for boredom and for being bored, even though I am absolutely of the opinion that one shouldn't be bored and that there is no excuse for it and that it is a personal failing.”

Thinking Opinion Failing Terrible Excuse Bored Boredom No Excuses Propensity Being Bored

Author:Geoff Dyer

“If Donald Trump thinks that just by being unpredictable that somehow he can have an impact, but not necessarily commit himself to certain things, that's not the way it is going to be read in foreign capitals. Foreign governments are going to take these things very literally and very directly.”

Thinking Commit Unpredictable

Author:Geoff Dyer

“I think I can recognize when a piece is at a state of completion. I always say to my wife, "Oh yeah, it's roughly finished." I've got it there. And then there's that whole other phase of moving on to properly amp up the sentences and sometimes to move stuff around as well.”

Thinking Sometimes Moving Wife My Wife Completion

Author:Geoff Dyer

“It's this thing that's going on all the time - aging. Paul Auster quotes the poet George Opren on growing old: "What a strange thing to happen to a little boy." Which I think is so profound.”

Thinking Boys Strange Poet Aging Profound Growing Old Little Boys

Author:Geoff Dyer

“Like most writers I spend a lot of my time sort of thinking, "It's such agony, I can't do it."”

Thinking

Author:Geoff Dyer

“Whatever people may say about my books - and it always amazes me when people don't like them, but sometimes they don't - the epigraphs have always been top-drawer. I think having that at the outset protects me from a lot of potential problems.”

People Thinking Book Sometimes Problem Protect

Author:Geoff Dyer

“I think, about the distinction between fiction and nonfiction. Fiction is not really about anything: it is what it is. But nonfiction - and you see this particularly with something like the BBC Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction - nonfiction we define in relation to what it's about. So, Stalingrad by Antony Beevor. It's "about" Stalingrad. Or, here's a book by Claire Tomalin: it's "about" Charles Dickens.”

Thinking Book Relation Prize

Author:Geoff Dyer

“People say it's not what happens in your life that matters, it's what you think happened. But this qualification, obviously, did not go far enough. It was quite possible that the central event of your life could be something that didn't happen, or something you thought didn't happen. Otherwise there'd be no need for fiction, there'd only be memoirs and histories.”

People Thinking Needs Matter Enough Happens Fiction Happened Events Memoir Qualifications

Book:Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi: A Novel

Source: Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi: A Novel

About the Author

Born: June 5, 1958
Known for: Writer
Quotes: 67

Books & Sources

Another Great Day at Sea: Life Aboard the USS George H. W. BushRelated source material

Out of Sheer Rage: Wrestling With D.H. LawrenceRelated source material

Out of Sheer Rage: In the Shadow of D. H. LawrenceRelated source material

Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi: A NovelRelated source material

Out of Sheer Rage: Wrestling with D. H. LawrenceRelated source material

Paris Trance: A RomanceRelated source material

Selfish, Shallow, and Self-Absorbed: Sixteen Writers on The Decision Not To Have KidsRelated source material

The Ongoing Moment: A Book About PhotographsRelated source material

Yoga for People Who Can't Be Bothered to Do ItRelated source material

Yoga for People Who Can't Be Bothered to Do It: EssaysRelated source material

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