George Saunders Quotes About Giving

Quotes about: Giving

• I have a sense that God is unfair and preferentially punishes his weak, his dumb, his fat, his lazy. I believe he takes more pleasure in his perfect creatures, and cheers them on like a brainless dad as they run roughshod over the rest of us. He gives us a need for love, and no way to get any. He gives us a desire to be liked, and personal attributes that make us utterly unlikable. Having placed his flawed and needy children in a world of exacting specifications, he deducts the difference between what we have and what we need from our hearts and our self-esteem and our mental health.

  George Saunders

  Running, Cheer, Children

  "George Saunders's funny, sad stories from a divided nation" by Chris Power, www.theguardian.com. October 13, 2016.

• I've had that situation where I start writing somebody really miserable, and in order to make the story come alive, I have to give them a vote of confidence, make him vulnerable or wounded. But in real life, you often meet people who, in that particular moment, actually shouldn't get a vote of confidence.

  George Saunders

  Real, Writing, Order

  Interview with George Saunders, www.interviewmagazine.com. March 27, 2016.

• It's on us to investigate ourselves for any lingering sense that we are 'giving' equality. We are not. It is already given. And not by us.

  George Saunders

  Giving, Given, Lingering

  "George Saunders on Trump, Mystery, and Why He Rejects Social Media". Interview with Catherine Woodiwiss, sojo.net. August 30, 2016.

• All of this strife on the political front might just be the death throes of another set of [less-honorable] American beliefs, that have, at their core, the notion that equality is something the privileged group "gives" to those not so privileged - a reaching down, as it were.

  George Saunders

  Giving, Political, Might

  "George Saunders on Trump, Mystery, and Why He Rejects Social Media". Interview with Catherine Woodiwiss, sojo.net. August 30, 2016.

• I do find the values in A Christmas Carol significant. It is important not to be mean and stingy and not to give up love for money.

  George Saunders

  Giving Up, Mean, Important

  Source: www.interviewmagazine.com

• This whole literary game of trying to put yourself in the shoes of your opponent is good for everybody. It leaves you more open-hearted, it gives you a more accurate vision of the other person, because it's more based on curiosity than projection. In the end if you do have to fight, you're better equipped to fight. Also it doesn't leave you damaged at the end, it doesn't leave you hateful or malformed by your own anger.

  George Saunders

  Fighting, Games, Shoes

  Source: www.macleans.ca

• I was trained in seismic prospecting. We'd drill a deep hole and put dynamite in the bottom and blow it up remotely, which would give you a cross-sectional picture of the subsurface, which tells you where to drill.

  George Saunders

  Blow, Giving, Holes

  George Saunders (2013). “Tenth of December”, p.23, A&C Black

• There's also a way that you have of being precise but also allusive, that works well for me - it's something about the open-hearted way you frame your queries. Instead of feeling daunted or discouraged, I feel excited to give whatever it is a try. This takes a lot of editorial wisdom and confidence - to know just how to get the writer to take that extra chance.

  George Saunders

  Giving, Feelings, Trying

  Interview with Andy Ward, www.slate.com. January 7, 2013.

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