Art is about eliminating almost everything in order to focus on the thing that you need to talk about.

- Jonathan Lethem

When people call something "original," 9 out of 10 times they just don't know the references or original sources involved.

- Jonathan Lethem

Discomfort is very much part of my master plan.

- Jonathan Lethem

All paths lead nowhere; choose one with heart...

- Jonathan Lethem

Life is fundamentally up for grabs

- Jonathan Lethem

Reading and writing are the same thing; it's just one's the more active and the other's the more passive. They flow into each other.

- Jonathan Lethem

There's something about the rhythms of language that correspond to the rhythms of our own bodies.

- Jonathan Lethem

Someday I would change my name to Shut Up and save everybody a lot of time.

- Jonathan Lethem

I want what we all want," said Carl. "To move certain parts of the interior of myself into the exterior world, to see if they can be embraced.

- Jonathan Lethem