The arts and a belief in the values of the civil rights movement, in the overwhelming virtue of diversity, these were our religion. My parents worshipped those ideals.

Quote by Jonathan Lethem

Topics: Jonathan Lethem Quotes

I'd have been a filmmaker or a cartoonist or something else which extended from the...

I'd have been a filmmaker or a cartoonist or something else which extended from the...

It's now expected of me that I will defy expectation, so I really generally seem...

It's now expected of me that I will defy expectation, so I really generally seem...

I plan less and less. It's a great benefit of writing lots, that you get...

I plan less and less. It's a great benefit of writing lots, that you get...

The past is still visible. The buildings haven't changed, the layout of the streets hasn't...

The past is still visible. The buildings haven't changed, the layout of the streets hasn't...

Nerds are just deep, and neurotic, fans. Needy fans. We're all nerds, on one subject...

Nerds are just deep, and neurotic, fans. Needy fans. We're all nerds, on one subject...

I had always wanted to be a writer who confused genre boundaries and who was...

I had always wanted to be a writer who confused genre boundaries and who was...

I grew up with an artist father, and my parents' friends were also mainly artists...

I grew up with an artist father, and my parents' friends were also mainly artists...

I keep one simple rule that I only move in one direction - I write...

I keep one simple rule that I only move in one direction - I write...

I can't bear the silent ringing in my skull.

I can't bear the silent ringing in my skull.

It was good while it was good.

It was good while it was good.

I don't paint anymore. I haven't since I abandoned it at 19, in order to...

I don't paint anymore. I haven't since I abandoned it at 19, in order to...

My fiction has been influenced by the visual arts, though not in obvious ways, it...

My fiction has been influenced by the visual arts, though not in obvious ways, it...

It was only as I wrote about it that I began to find paths of...

It was only as I wrote about it that I began to find paths of...

I just noticed recently that in one book after another I seem to find an...

I just noticed recently that in one book after another I seem to find an...

What's lucky about my career in general is that I stumbled into what every writer...

What's lucky about my career in general is that I stumbled into what every writer...

Discomfort is very much part of my master plan.

Discomfort is very much part of my master plan.

When the civil rights battle was won, all the Jews and hippies and artists were...

When the civil rights battle was won, all the Jews and hippies and artists were...

There is no such thing as a black middle class.

There is no such thing as a black middle class.

Morality is only for the middle class, sweet. The lower class can't afford it, and...

Morality is only for the middle class, sweet. The lower class can't afford it, and...

No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American middle class.

No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American middle class.