Quote

I don't really know the person who wrote the things I wrote. I kind of know him, but I change so much all the time that it's like I start fresh over and over and over and over. Writing-wise and life-wise.

Jonathan Ames

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

Jonathan Ames
Age: 60
Born: 1964
Born: March 23
Author
Essayist
Novelist
Screenwriter
Writer
New York City
New York
Life
Persons
Like
Person
Writing
Much
Fresh
Kind
Wrote
Really
Wise
Things
Start
Time
Change

More quotes by Jonathan Ames

Image
I've always been inspired by Don Quixote as a role model of sorts, of the power of books to sort of make you insane in maybe a beautiful way.
Jonathan Ames
Image
I've always been intrigued by Stockholm Syndrome. Reminds me of my childhood.
Jonathan Ames
Image
As a child, I wanted to be an athlete, a professional tennis player or something like that.
Jonathan Ames
Image
I wish we had a dog in the show so that I could get to be a dog for a day.
Jonathan Ames
Image
I'm on the verge of a total breakdown. Sciatica. Taxes. Cars. Fleas, possibly. It's an absurd existence.
Jonathan Ames
Image
I enjoy both TV writing and novel writing, and they are very similar. The goal is to entertain and amuse the audience, and I subscribe to this P.G. Wodehouse piece of advice: Try to give pleasure with every sentence.
Jonathan Ames
Image
There's no shortage of material in life.
Jonathan Ames
Image
I'm actually much more shy and self-conscious than people's perception of me.
Jonathan Ames
Image
Whether I'm writing scripts or prose, the goal is identical. To give pleasure. Now whether I succeed or not is up for debate, and, mostly, I fail. But I try. I like to make things. It's a way to stay busy during one's ephemeral and confusing life.
Jonathan Ames
Image
My sophomore English teacher encouraged me to write for the school paper, and that's what got me started. Suddenly it struck me that being a writer could be a romantic and adventurous position. Previously, I had thought I would be a tennis pro, giving lessons at a local club. I thought that would be a good life, and it might have been.
Jonathan Ames
Image
Oh, God, I don't know what's more difficult, life or the English language.
Jonathan Ames
Image
To write about a place, you have to live there.
Jonathan Ames
Image
For me, books have always been a way to feel less alone while being alone. Perhaps if I was depressed and isolated, just communicating with these authors through their sentences helped me.
Jonathan Ames
Image
Mostly I have to try to censor myself so as not to write things that will hurt other people, or that will go too far.
Jonathan Ames
Image
I don't like to publicly acknowledge being a Jew.
Jonathan Ames
Image
I live for coincidences. They briefly give to me the illusion or the hope that there's a pattern to my life, and if there's a pattern, then maybe I'm moving toward some kind of destiny where it's all explained.
Jonathan Ames
Image
It's hard for me to think of writing a novel, because it takes so long.
Jonathan Ames
Image
Personally, I've never had it as a goal in life to be happy. Seems impossible to achieve. Even the Declaration of Independence seems to acknowledge this. They talk about the pursuit of happiness, not happiness itself.
Jonathan Ames
Image
It was one of those days when every time I went to go out the door, something grabbed me in the back of the brain and said, lie down and masturbate one more time.
Jonathan Ames
Image
It seems like the original 'Star Trek' could have gone on longer.
Jonathan Ames