Jonathan Lethem

"Feeling unique is what we all have in common, it’s the thing that’s always the same."

"Human lives exist to be experienced, or possibly endured, but not solved. They resemble any other novel more than they do mysteries. Westerns, even. It’s that lie the mystery tells that I detest."

"“Where did you come from?” asked Omidon. “I was exiled to the margin,” said Wendy sourly. “For what reason?” “Why is anyone ever exiled to the margin? For threatening the center.”"

"“Scout, that’s a good one,” said the sergeant. “Danny-boy couldn’t scout the inside of his eyelids.”"

"The way to make a bundle in architecture right now was to devise new ways for people to pretend to gather while actually keeping their distance."

"“Don’t try to figure me out,” I said. “It doesn’t work—I’ve tried it myself.”"

"You remind me of myself, once upon a time. We’re not really that different even now. We chafe at our bits—but you’re stubborn, inflexible. Stupid, finally. I’ve learned to compromise. In negotiation lies power, viability. Your inflexibility has rendered you marginal."

"You consider yourself an outsider, a seeker of truth amidst lies, yet you’ve bought into the biggest lie that can be told. You snort it through your nose and let it run in your bloodstream."

"It was that rarity, an easy decision."

"What better way to keep people under your thumb? Make up some big enemy, justify everything as part of the war effort."

"He allowed himself to feel that his stubbornness was courage. Maybe it was."

"Everett realized what was wrong with the scene. L.A. was built for cars, and without them it was bereft, a body drained of blood. Or a hive itself, only emptied. A husk."