Latest Susan Orlean Quotes from Interviews

Quotes about:

• I've definitely taken a lot of consolation from animals in my life. There have been times when I've been really sad, and they gave solace and comfort and companionability more than a person.

  Susan Orlean

  Taken, Animal, Comfort

  Source: www.interviewmagazine.com

• I didn't want to talk, and I didn't think dogs could solve my problems. But they were so uncritical and un-judgmental. Sometimes when you're really blue, you don't want to talk, but you want that sense of companionship. I certainly enjoy that with my beasts.

  Susan Orlean

  Dog, Thinking, Blue

  Source: www.interviewmagazine.com

• The fact that dogs are not people means you don't have as much response to the particulars.

  Susan Orlean

  Dog, Mean, People

  Source: www.interviewmagazine.com

• Animals can seem more pure. Without complication, I mean, animals are selfless. What animals do for us, they do out of instinct.

  Susan Orlean

  Mean, Animal, Selfless

  Source: www.interviewmagazine.com

• Among all life forms, there are creatures with charisma and creatures without. It's one of those ineffable qualities we can't quite define, but we all seem to respond similarly to.

  Susan Orlean

  Quality, Ineffable, Form

  Source: www.interviewmagazine.com

• I think part of a hero construct is overcoming loss, or being abandoned, or having to make your own way in the world.

  Susan Orlean

  Hero, Loss, Thinking

  Source: www.interviewmagazine.com

• I think on a day-to-day basis, what attracts us in coexisting with another living, evolving thing, is that you have a relationship that's different than with a piece of furniture. We experience the cycle of life through these other beings.

  Susan Orlean

  Thinking, Cycle Of Life, Different

  Source: www.interviewmagazine.com

• I think coexisting with another life form is a very rich experience. It's why people keep plants and animals.

  Susan Orlean

  Animal, Thinking, People

  Source: www.interviewmagazine.com

• We're fascinated by animals because it's almost like having Martians living among us. We can see some familiarity in them, but they're entirely different creatures.

  Susan Orlean

  Animal, Different, Creatures

  Source: www.interviewmagazine.com

• I think the responsibility of running a huge business, which happens if you become a successful designer, probably makes you more careful.

  Susan Orlean

  Running, Responsibility, Successful

  "Ask the Author Live: Susan Orlean on Jean Paul Gaultier". Live chat, www.newyorker.com. September 16, 2011.

• Being a good designer certainly doesn't guarantee that you're good at business. It's probably more surprising when the two talents coexist in one person.

  Susan Orlean

  Guarantees That, Two, Talent

  "Ask the Author Live: Susan Orlean on Jean Paul Gaultier". Live chat, www.newyorker.com. September 16, 2011.

• I love Japanese design and fabrics. I also love people who make clothes for mass consumption but do it well and cleverly.

  Susan Orlean

  Clothes, People, Design

  Source: www.newyorker.com

• I like the idea that people get engaged thinking about design, about creativity. I don't see how it could possibly be bad.

  Susan Orlean

  Creativity, Thinking, Ideas

  "Ask the Author Live: Susan Orlean on Jean Paul Gaultier". Live chat, www.newyorker.com. September 16, 2011.

• Writing about unknown people means I spend a lot of time arguing to the reader about why it's worth knowing about them. That's challenging, but then the piece is pure discovery.

  Susan Orlean

  Writing, Mean, Discovery

  "Ask the Author Live: Susan Orlean on Jean Paul Gaultier". Live chat, www.newyorker.com. September 16, 2011.

• Writing about someone well known removes that obligation of defending it as a subject, but it also means that some of the surprise and freshness is already gone. It's so different - in some ways much harder for me.

  Susan Orlean

  Writing, Mean, Different

  "Ask the Author Live: Susan Orlean on Jean Paul Gaultier". Live chat, www.newyorker.com. September 16, 2011.

• I love convincing a reader that an unusual or seemingly ordinary subject is worth his or her time - it's part of the fun for me as a writer.

  Susan Orlean

  Fun, Ordinary, Unusual

  "Ask the Author Live: Susan Orlean on Jean Paul Gaultier". Live chat, www.newyorker.com. September 16, 2011.

• I've used Twitter now and again to try to figure something out; it's an amazing resource. But I think you have to use it judiciously: it's a self-selected group, so it's important not to start thinking of it as the whole world.

  Susan Orlean

  Thinking, Self, Important

  "Ask the Author Live: Susan Orlean on Jean Paul Gaultier". Live chat, www.newyorker.com. September 16, 2011.

• I approach stories as a private educational enterprise: I want to learn about something. I teach myself through research, reporting, and thinking, and then, when I feel like I know the story, I tell it to readers.

  Susan Orlean

  Educational, Thinking, Stories

  "Ask the Author Live: Susan Orlean on Jean Paul Gaultier". Live chat, www.newyorker.com. September 16, 2011.

• Writing about fashion forces you to overcome the nagging feeling that fashion doesn't "matter", that it's trivial or fleeting. I just look at it anthropologically, which is different from the way I'd write about art.

  Susan Orlean

  Fashion, Art, Writing

  "Ask the Author Live: Susan Orlean on Jean Paul Gaultier". Live chat, www.newyorker.com. September 16, 2011.

• My inspiration is really very simple: I'm struck by things that I want to know more about. I really do react just as a curious person: who is this person? What's the story behind this situation? Why do people like this or dislike this thing?

  Susan Orlean

  Inspiration, Simple, People

  "Ask the Author Live: Susan Orlean on Jean Paul Gaultier". Liva chat, www.newyorker.com. September 16, 2011.