John Lanchester Quotes

John Lanchester
John Lanchester
British Journalist
Born: Feb 25, 1962
Money People Think Work World You
Related authors: Alastair Campbell Caitlin Moran David Attenborough Malcolm Muggeridge Martin Bashir Nigella Lawson Rose George Tony Wilson
Hospitality is central to the restaurant business, yet it's a hard idea to define precisely. Mostly, it involves being nice to people and making them feel welcome. You notice it when it's there, and you particularly notice it when it isn't. A single significant lapse in this area can be your dominant impression of an entire meal. John Lanchester
You Business Welcome People Single Meal Nice Define Significant Restaurant Restaurant Business Entire Area Hospitality Idea Feel Particularly Involves Mostly Making Impression Dominant Precisely Being Central Them Being Nice Notice Your Hard Lapse
In a democracy, people tend to get the kind of government they deserve. John Lanchester
Government Democracy People Kind Tend Get Deserve
I don't think quantitative easing is deliberately misleading, but I do think it's suspiciously bland and reassuring. It doesn't sound like anything big, experimental, scary and strange - which is what many economists think it is. John Lanchester
Strange Big Think Easing Scary Deliberately Bland Misleading Economists Like Quantitative Sound Anything Experimental Which Many Reassuring
Inequality in the developed world fell for most of the 20th century; we can make it fall for most of the 21st century, too. But it won't happen without sustained pressure on politicians from electorates. John Lanchester
World Pressure Fall Politicians Too Developed Developed World Most Fell Make Without Inequality Happen Sustained Century
If we are going to remake society in the image of the fight against terrorism and put that secret fight at the heart of our democratic order - which is the way we're heading - we need to discuss it, and in public. John Lanchester
Terrorism Heart Fight Society Secret Our Way Remake Put Heading Democratic Discuss Going Order Which Against Public Image Need
Photography brought a lot to painting because it forced artists to think about what painting could do that photography couldn't. John Lanchester
Photography Painting Think Brought About Could Forced Because Lot Artists
In the world where people with money overlap with restaurants and try to work out how to make more money, one of the things they talk about is the desire to find 'the new pizza.' This means a new mass-market product that can be made quickly and eaten both on the premises and as a takeaway. John Lanchester
Work People World Money Try Made Out One Of The Things Find Restaurants Eaten About More Both New Talk Make How Overlap Quickly Where Pizza Work Out Means Product Premises Things Desire
We can all instinctively understand the idea of life insurance; most of us will feel an instinctive repugnance at the thought of the viatical industry, or 'dead peasants insurance.' As market thinking penetrated the life insurance industry, a moral line was crossed, and the application of market ideas was taken too far. John Lanchester
Life Will Thought Thinking Too Market Moral Life Insurance Crossed Taken Idea Feel Instinctive Instinctively Ideas Most Dead Industry Understand Insurance Insurance Industry Line Far Us Application Peasants
I write non-fiction quicker, and I write it on a computer. Fiction I write longhand, and that helps make it clear that it comes from a slightly different part of the brain, I think. John Lanchester
Think Slightly Computer Write Part Clear Longhand Make Non-Fiction Brain Quicker Different Fiction Helps
Once I've properly finished a book, my ideal state of being would be to never think about it again. But with 'Capital,' I felt I'd spent so much time with the characters that they were very, very real, and I definitely had a sense of loss about leaving them behind in a way I've not quite had before. John Lanchester
Time Book Finished Before Sense Think State Once Way Spent Definitely Characters Would Would-Be About Properly Never Had Ideal Felt Real Leaving Were Loss Very Quite Behind Being So Much Time Again Them Capital Much
We don't want to think about money in an ideal life; in a well-lived life, money wouldn't be one of our primary concerns, and we prefer to adopt the ostrich position. John Lanchester
Life Money Think Our About Adopt Primary Ideal Concerns Want Prefer Ostrich Position
My mum had this amazing ability to deflect things, and from an early age, I knew what I was not supposed to talk about. John Lanchester
Age Amazing Deflect Ability About Had Knew Supposed Talk Mum Things Early Early Age
I rather envy writers who do variations on a theme. I like reading those books, but in practice, I can't do it. John Lanchester
Envy Practice Reading Books Those Variations Rather Writers Like Theme Who
I do believe in that thing about the reading audience being very important to the formation of the novel at its birth. John Lanchester
Important Reading Believe Birth About Audience Very Being Formation Novel Thing
Once you learn to 'speak' money - which is what I felt I did through the research that led me to write 'Whoops!' - you start to see it at work all around you. It's like a language, a code written on the surface of things; it's in flow all around us, all the time. John Lanchester
Work Time Me You Speak Money Language Research Once See All-Around Through Write Written Like Learn Around Felt Surface Led Did Which Us Code Things Start Flow
A lot of the time in modern Britain, certainly in urban life, we barely have any contact at all with the people around us. John Lanchester
Life Time People Contact Around Lot Modern Any Urban Us Barely Certainly Britain
I think smartphones are one of humanity's most remarkable creations: computers are amazing enough, but a supercomputer you can carry in your pocket and communicate instantly with anyone, anywhere... it's no wonder they're troublingly addictive. John Lanchester
You Humanity Communicate Amazing Think Enough Addictive Carry Pocket Remarkable No Wonder Computers Instantly Most Wonder Anyone Anywhere Creations Your
I'd like to pretend to be all Olympian and above it, as if this is a phenomenon I'm observing from a great height, nothing to do with my own behavior at all - but the fact is I'm absolutely one of those people in the cafe staring at my phone. John Lanchester
Great People Cafe Phone Behavior Own Nothing Those Pretend Above My Own Fact Absolutely Observing Like Height Staring Olympian Phenomenon
For a while, I had a rule of no smartphone in bed, but now I've upgraded to no smartphone in the bedroom. The fact that we need rules shows how much these things have invaded our lives. John Lanchester
Our Rule Our Lives Rules Invaded Fact Had Bed How Bedroom How Much While Much Shows Now Lives Things Need
I'm an omniviorous reader, but I don't read what could overlap with my own work. It's like tuning a radio frequency - it's much harder to pick up if there's something else there. John Lanchester
Work Own Else Something Something Else My Own Could Pick Like Read Reader Frequency Overlap Up Tuning Much Radio Harder
In sport, the money goes to the talent; it goes directly to the worker - unlike a bank, which sits in the middle of transactions and whose income bears no relation to any of the services it provides. John Lanchester
Money Relation Unlike Directly Bears Talent Sport Provides Goes Any Bank Transactions Middle Which Worker Income Whose Services
Why should the idea of Western liberal democracy automatically imply unregulated free-market capitalism? John Lanchester
Democracy Capitalism Liberal Liberal Democracy Idea Imply Western Automatically Should Why
There's an awful lot of us who don't quite speak finance, speak money. John Lanchester
Finance Speak Money Lot Quite Us Who Awful Awful Lot
Money is like poetry because both involve learning to communicate in a compressed language that packs a lot of meaning and consequence into the minimum semantic space. John Lanchester
Learning Communicate Money Space Language Minimum Both Poetry Like Involve Because Lot Meaning Packs Consequence
The 'stuff' in novels touches on every aspect of the world and people's lives. That's what makes it so remarkable just how little there is in the novel about the world of money. John Lanchester
People World Money Every About Remarkable Stuff Makes How Just Little Aspect Novel Novels Lives
I'm a huge fan of Peter Jackson's 'Lord of the Rings' movies - I went to all three of them on the day they opened and have seen all of them several times since. John Lanchester
Day Three Seen Several Rings Opened Since Lord Lord Of The Rings Huge Huge Fan Times Jackson Fan Movies Them Peter
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