“The funny thing is that I feel close to all my characters. Deep, deep inside them all. I can't describe how deeply I love them all.” FeelsI CanCharacterFunny ThingsDeep Inside Author:Paul Auster
“I do not repeat conversations that I can't remember. And it's something that irritates me a great deal, because I think most memoirs are false novels.” ThinkingI CanRememberDealsNovelConversationMemoirRepeats Author:Paul Auster
“A canteen I remember vividly, and maybe one other thing, I can't remember. And I knew then that he had bought them in an army surplus store that day and he wanted to maybe enhance himself in my eyes, and say, "Well, yes, I have been in the army." Or [he] simply just didn't want to disappoint me. It could have been one or the other. But I knew that he had lied to me. And this filled me with a tremendous sort of anger towards him. At the same time, knowing he was trying to please me, so feeling good about him.” WantTryingWellsHas BeensI CanFeelingsEyeWantedRememberKnowingPleaseArmyFilledStoresFeel GoodCould Have BeenLiedDisappointSurplusPlease MeLied To MeCanteen Author:Paul Auster
“When I look back at experience [with my father], all I can do is feel pity. You know, how torn he was about how to act, what to say. And it seems an important story to me.” KnowsFeelsLooksI CanImportantStoriesSeemsFatherCan DoKnow HowPityTorn Author:Paul Auster
“I've been very lucky in this second marriage. It's just luck. It's absolute luck. And I can only marvel at it. So many other things could have happened that didn't, so overall I feel blessed.” FeelsI CanHappenedLuckyAbsolutesBlessedLuckSecond Marriage Author:Paul Auster
“I can remember saying again and again and again, "A terrible thing has happened, but this should be a kind of wake-up call for our country, and we have a great opportunity now to reinvent ourselves. To rethink our position about oil and energy, to rethink our relationship with other cultures and other countries, and why other people want to attack us."” PeopleWantShouldKindI CanCountryRememberCultureOpportunityEnergyHappenedPositionTerribleWake UpOilOur CountryOur RelationshipOther CountriesAgain And AgainTerrible ThingsGreat OpportunityOther CulturesRelationships With OthersWake Up Call Author:Paul Auster
“Chance is an element of life. What I try to do is study what I call the mechanics of reality as carefully as I can.” TryingI CanRealityChanceStudyElementsMechanicChances AreElements Of Life Author:Paul Auster
“I can never say 'why' about anything I do. I suppose I can say 'how' and 'when' and 'what.' But 'why' is impenetrable to me.” I Can Author:Paul Auster
“Some things get written more quickly than others, but I can't really measure degrees of difficulty.” I CanWrittenDegreesDifficulty Author:Paul Auster
“What used to keep me up at night was the fact that I didn't know how I was going to pay the rent. Now that I can pay the rent, I'm worrying about people I care about, you know, the people I love. The little aches and pains of my children that I, my family. That's always first.” PeopleKnowsFirstsChildrenLittlesI CanFactsCarePainUsedNightPayWorryKnow HowMy FamilyMy ChildrenI CareAcheAches And Pains Author:Paul Auster
“Even when I'm just sitting at my desk, I have to get up every twenty minutes or so and walk around, walk around, walk around, and then I can go back to the page. I can't just sit there for hours at a time. Language comes out of the body as much as the mind.” MindI CanBodyLanguageHoursWalksMinutesPagesSittingTwentiesGet UpDesks Author:Paul Auster
“It's an ethical pact I've made with myself and with the reader - not to invent. And when I can't remember, I say I can't remember. I'm just appalled by the memoirs published by people who regurgitate dialogue, conversations from when they were small children, and they go on for three or four pages. I can't even remember what we said to each other ten minutes ago! How can I remember what was said sixty years ago? It's not possible.” PeopleYearsChildrenMadeSaidI CanRememberThreeFourMinutesGoes OnReaderTenConversationPagesYears AgoMemoirDialogueEthicalSixtySmall ChildPact Author:Paul Auster
“I'm not a boy-writer, I've never been. I wanted to be a boy-writer when I was young, and I think that held me back. I wanted to be very clever, and funny, but I'm not very clever and not terribly funny. I've finally accepted my limits, and I do what I can do.” ThinkingI CanWantedYoungCan DoBoysLimitsAcceptedCleverVery Clever Author:Paul Auster
“I don't even own a computer. I write by hand then I type it up on an old manual typewriter. But I cross out a lot - I'm not writing in stone tablets, it's just ink on paper. I don't feel comfortable without a pen or a pencil in my hand. I can't think with my fingers on the keyboard. Words are generated for me by gripping the pen, and pressing the point on the paper.” ThinkingFeelsWritingI CanHandsTypePaperComfortableComputerStonesCrossesFingersPensOld ManPencilsInkTypewritersManualsKeyboardsGrippingTablets Author:Paul Auster
“After something crystallizes, I can write ferociously and write novels in six months, which in the past would have taken me two years.” WritingYearsI CanTwoPastNovelTakenMonthsSixTwo YearsSix Months Book:Conversations with Paul Auster Source: Conversations with Paul Auster
“Libraries aren't in the real world, after all. They're places apart, sanctuaries of pure thought. In this way I can go on living on the moon for the rest of my life.” WorldWayI CanRealGoes OnPureMoonLibraryReal WorldSanctuaryLiving On Book:Moon Palace: A Novel (Penguin Ink) Source: Moon Palace: A Novel (Penguin Ink)
