Zadie Smith Quotes

Quotes about:

• I am the sole author of the dictionary that defines me.

  Zadie Smith

  Sole, Dictionary

  Zadie Smith (2001). “White Teeth”, p.551, Penguin UK

  42 Copy quote

• It was a kiss from the past.

  Zadie Smith

  Kissing, Past

  Zadie Smith (2006). “On Beauty”, p.431, Penguin UK

  4 Copy quote

• ... don't ever underestimate people, don't ever underestimate the pleasure they receive from viewing pain that is not their own... Pain by itself is just Pain. But Pain + Distance can = entertainment, voyeurism, human interest, cinéma vérité, a good belly chuckle, a sympathetic smile, a raised eyebrow, disguised contempt.

  Zadie Smith

  Pain, Distance, Eyebrows

  Zadie Smith (2003). “White Teeth”, p.177, Vintage

  4 Copy quote

• Every moment happens twice: inside and outside, and they are two different histories.

  Zadie Smith

  Life, Two, Different

  Zadie Smith (2003). “White Teeth”, p.299, Vintage

  54 Copy quote

• Without the balancing context of everyday life, all you have is the news, and news by its nature is generally bad.

  Zadie Smith

  Everyday, News, Everyday Life

  4 Copy quote

• The past is always tense, the future perfect.

  Zadie Smith

  Future, Past, Perfect

  57 Copy quote

• Don't live in a way that makes you feel dead.

  Zadie Smith

  Way, Feels

  8 Copy quote

• The end is simply the beginning of an even longer story.

  Zadie Smith

  Stories, Ends

  Zadie Smith (2001). “White Teeth”, p.545, Penguin UK

  21 Copy quote

• Time is how you spend your love.

  Zadie Smith

  50 Copy quote

• You must live life with the full knowledge that your actions will remain. We are creatures of consequence.

  Zadie Smith

  Live Life, Action, Creatures

  Zadie Smith (2003). “White Teeth”, p.86, Vintage

  5 Copy quote

• Don’t romanticise your ‘vocation’. You can either write good sentences or you can’t. There is no ‘writer’s lifestyle’. All that matters is what you leave on the page.

  Zadie Smith

  Writing, Pages, Matter

  "Zadie Smith's rules for writers", www.theguardian.com. February 22, 2010.

  54 Copy quote

• It's gotten to a point where everybody is concerned about their rights and nobody is concerned about their duties.

  Zadie Smith

  Rights, Duty, Concerned

  19 Copy quote

• Those beliefs about the essential goodness or beauty of the world are fundamentally paper-thin bullshit. There's not an essential belief that isn't a contingent belief. It could all be destroyed in a second, at any second. And I have an issue with that.

  Zadie Smith

  Issues, Bullshit, Essentials

  Source: www.interviewmagazine.com

  5 Copy quote

• In the end, your past is not my past and your truth is not my truth and your solution - is not my solution.

  Zadie Smith

  Past, Truth Is, Ends

  Zadie Smith (2003). “White Teeth”, p.150, Vintage

  6 Copy quote

• He had her in his heart, but not always in his mind.

  Zadie Smith

  Heart, Mind

  Zadie Smith (2003). “The Autograph Man: A Novel”, p.86, Vintage

  5 Copy quote

• The secret to editing your work is simple: you need to become its reader instead of its writer.

  Zadie Smith

  Simple, Editing, Secret

  29 Copy quote

• Protect the time and space in which you write. Keep everybody away from it, even the people who are most important to you.

  Zadie Smith

  Writing, Space, People

  "Zadie Smith's rules for writers". www.theguardian.com. February 22, 2010.

  57 Copy quote

• Anyone over the age of thirty catching a bus can consider himself a failure.

  Zadie Smith

  Age, Thirty, Catching

  4 Copy quote

• Don't confuse honours with achievement.

  Zadie Smith

  Achievement, Honour

  "Zadie Smith's rules for writers" by Zadie Smith, www.theguardian.com. February 22, 2010.

  39 Copy quote

• I don't ask myself what did I live for, said Carlene strongly. That is a man's question. I ask whom did I live for.

  Zadie Smith

  Men, Said, Asks

  Zadie Smith (2006). “On Beauty”, p.193, Penguin UK

  5 Copy quote

• The world is now multicultural the same way the world is round. It's not a selling point, it's not a 'quirky' feature, it's not a cynical marketing ploy, it's not an artistic statement, it's not even a plot device. It's a fact, like seedless grapes.

  Zadie Smith

  Cynical, Marketing, Quirky

  10 Copy quote

• Most of the cruelty in the world is just misplaced energy.

  Zadie Smith

  Energy, World, Cruelty

  5 Copy quote

• You are never stronger...than when you land on the other side of despair.

  Zadie Smith

  Land, Empowering, Despair

  "White Teeth: A Novel". Book by Zadie Smith, June 12, 2001.

  10 Copy quote

• (and Catholics give out forgiveness at about the same rate as politicians give out promises and whores give out)

  Zadie Smith

  Giving, Catholic, Promise

  Zadie Smith (2003). “White Teeth”, p.25, Vintage

  5 Copy quote

• But it makes an immigrant laugh to hear the fears of the nationalist, scared of infection, penetration, miscegenation, when this is small fry, peanuts, compared to what the immigrant fears - dissolution, disappearance.

  Zadie Smith

  Laughing, Scared, Peanuts

  Zadie Smith (2003). “White Teeth”, p.272, Vintage

  8 Copy quote

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