That's the only way that I can figure out how to live, is to say, "Well, I don't know what this adds up to, but I can do the best I can."
George SaundersFor me, the fiction writer's job is to take the small, stupid process of learning to use an iPhone - and suddenly you're the guy who's asking your daughter, "When I go on Facebook, can it see me?"
George SaundersIf you think of a work of fiction as a kind of scale model of the world, then the positive valences - where things turn out better than you thought they would - ought to be in there somewhere, too.
George SaundersAll 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 SaundersI've found that my first drafts are not so special. But the more I work on them, the better they get. They are more unique and defensible.
George SaundersThat luminous part of you that exists beyond personality - your soul, if you will - is as bright and shining as any that has ever been. Bright as Shakespeareโs, bright as Gandhiโs, bright as Mother Theresaโs. Clear away everything that keeps you separate from this secret luminous place. Believe it exists, come to know it better, nurture it, share its fruits tirelessly.
George Saunders