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 goodleavelifestyle Change image and share on social
I read Carver. Julio Cortazar. Amis's essays. Baldwin. Lorrie Moore. Capote. Saramago. Larkin. Wodehouse. Anything, anything at all, that doesn't sound like me. Zadie Smith amisbaldwincapote Change image and share on social
Young people understand the world. They should be listened to on matters of politics and world organization. But they know nothing of their own lives. Zadie Smith listenlivematter Change image and share on social
When I think of the books I love, there's always a little laughter in the dark. Zadie Smith bookdarklaughter Change image and share on social
Your mid-thirties is a good time because you know a fair amount, you have some self-control. Zadie Smith amountcontrolfair Change image and share on social
It seems that if you put people on paper and move them through time, you cannot help but talk about ethics, because the ethical realm exists nowhere if not here: in the consequences of human actions as they unfold in time, and the multiple interpretive possibility of those actions. Zadie Smith actionconsequenceethic share on social
English, as a subject, never really got over its upstart nature. It tries to bulk itself up with hopeless jargon and specious complexity, tries to imitate subjects it can never be. Zadie Smith bulkcomplexityenglish Change image and share on social
Can't a rapper insist, like other artists, on a fictional reality, in which he is somehow still on the corner, despite occupying the penthouse suite? Zadie Smith artistcornerfictional Change image and share on social
I think I know a thing or two about the way people love, but I don't know anything about hatred, psychosis, cruelty. Or maybe I don't have the guts to admit that I do. Zadie Smith admitcrueltygut Change image and share on social
Novels are not about expressing yourself, they're about something beautiful, funny, clever and organic. Self-expression? Go and ring a bell in a yard if you want to express yourself. Zadie Smith beautifulbellclever Change image and share on social
