Fran Lebowitz
Fran Lebowitz
Frances Ann "Fran" Lebowitzis an American author and public speaker. Lebowitz is known for her sardonic social commentary on American life as filtered through her New York City sensibilities. Some reviewers have called her a modern-day Dorothy Parker...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionEssayist
Date of Birth27 October 1950
CityMorristown, NJ
CountryUnited States of America
hurt lying talking
The French probably invented the very notion of discretion. It's not that they feel that what you don't know won't hurt you; they feel that what you don't know won't hurt them. To the French lying is simply talking.
lying believe hard-work
I believe in talent. I know you're not supposed to believe in that anymore because you're supposed to believe if you just work hard you can do anything. That's how you succeed, maybe. But talent is something you're born with. You cannot acquire it by working hard, and you cannot lose it by lying around either.
lying book writing
If you feel the urge to write, just lie down and read a book: it will pass.
country lying ignorance
The terrible state of public education has paid huge dividends in ignorance. Huge. We now have a country that can be told blatant lies -- easily checkable, blatant lies -- and I'm not talking about the covert workings of the CIA. When we have a terrorist attack, on September 11, 2001 with 19 men -- 15 of them are Saudis -- and five minutes later the whole country thinks they're from Iraq -- how can you have faith in the public? This is an easily checkable fact. The whole country is like the O. J. Simpson jurors.
apartment order outdoors pass
. . .to me the outdoors is what you have to pass through in order to get from your apartment into a taxicab.
allow children mix
Do not allow children to mix drinks. It is unseemly and they use too much vermouth.
chance figure whether
I figure you have the same chance of winning the lottery whether you play or not.
hear last life phone stage teenager
Remember that as a teenager you are in the last stage of your life when you will be happy to hear the phone is for you.
assure conscious firm life refusal remain
Stand firm in your refusal to remain conscious during algebra. In real life, I assure you, there is no such thing as algebra.
book cause high school unpopular
Having been unpopular in high school is not a just cause for book publication
cement children color discussing interest mixer persist recently subtle topic
Notoriously insensitive to subtle shifts in moods, children will persist in discussing the color of a recently sighted cement mixer long after one's interest in the topic has waned
book parties worse
I often used to say, the more parties there were for a book, the worse the book was.
racism racist environment
Whenever someone accuses someone of being a racist - which is rare, you have to admit, considering how much racism there is - there is an incredible outrage. I realized that we live in an environment that it seems to be worse to call someone a racist than to be one.
writing thinking opposites
Most writers write too much. I have the exact opposite problem. I feel I could write almost anything in a paragraph. I have a natural ability to condense, and so I often think, "Are you kidding me? Five thousand words? How am I gonna make 5,000 words out of that?"