Quotes From "Little Failure" By Gary Shteyngart

I write because there is nothing as joyful as writing, even when the writing is twisted and full of hate, the self-hate that makes writing not only possible but necessary. I hate myself, I hate the people around me, but what I crave is the fulfillment of some ideal. Gary Shteyngart

My mother is changing history. She is making her balalaika-smashing mother into a heroine. Does she want me to do the same for her? Is that what good children do for their parents? What about good writers? Gary Shteyngart

Every moment I have ever experienced as a child is as important as every moment I am experiencing now, or will experience ever. I guess what I'm saying is that not everybody should have children. Gary Shteyngart

I wonder what children whose parents have money think about in their spare time. Gary Shteyngart

As every so-called creative spirit soon learns, the rest of the world doesn't particularly give a damn. Gary Shteyngart

The truth is this: The rich will rule even at a place like Oberlin, where their kind is technically forbidden. They will simply invert the power structure to suit their needs. They will come out on top no matter what. Stuyvesant was hard but hopeful; Oberlin, on the other hand, reminds me yet again how the world works. I guess that's why they call it an education. Gary Shteyngart

She folds the pages of the books she reads when she wants to remember something important. Her favorite books are accordions, testaments to an endless search for meaning. Gary Shteyngart

I want to be loved so badly, it verges on mild insanity. Gary Shteyngart

In America, the distance between wanting something and having it delivered to your living room is not terribly great. Gary Shteyngart

I am a kind of joke, but the question is: which kind? My job is to keep everyone guessing. Gary Shteyngart

Michigan, with its delicious American name. How lucky one must be to live there. Gary Shteyngart

After all, this is America, and you can swap out the parts of yourself that don't work. You can rebuild yourself piece by piece. Gary Shteyngart

Maybe this is who I really am. Not a loner, exactly. But someone who can be alone. Gary Shteyngart

You are not what you want. You are what wants you back. Gary Shteyngart