Quotes by : Elif Batuman

I didn't care about truth I cared about beauty. It took me many years--it took the experience of lived....

What does literature do better than anything else? It provides a detailed representation of the inner....

When you think about all the infinitely many galaxies and combinations of DNA, and against all those....

It was hard to decide on a literature course. Everything the professors said seemed to be somehow beside....

If I could start over today, I would choose literature again. If the answers exist in the world or in....

Most people, the minute they meet you, were sizing you up for some competition for resources. It was....

Why was "plain" a euphemism for "ugly," when the very hallmark of human beauty was its plainness, the....

You just go around getting hung up on all the least convenient things--and if the only obstacle in your....