Author of quotes: Elif Batuman. Page 1

You can't just not drink - so that it does not look demonstrative.

It's terribly hard to speak sincerely, and to sound like it's not a scree...

You say you are not in the mood for insignificant wisdom. But insignificant wisdom is the only thing that makes the difference between something special and a huge pile of rubbish floating through the universe.

If my mother says not to do something, I don't. All mothers forbid something to their children, but I obey - only me.

Fate presents gifts without looking at its book.

There was anxiety in my soul: is this why women will never achieve anything, that we constantly upset ourselves in one way or another.

... It is wrong to do some things just because another person is doing them. The “other person” should not serve as a motive.

Sometimes you wonder how a mere trifle can cheer you up or upset you, all other things being equal.

The feeling that you have betrayed someone is no better than the feeling that you have betrayed you. On the contrary, it is even worse.

It's hard to stay alert when you're constantly told that you're a small fish in the big sea.