Susan Orlean Quotes

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Susan Orlean

Profession : Journalist

Birth : October 31, 1955

Living in a rural setting exposes you to so many marvelous things - the natural world and the particular texture of small-town life, and the exhilarating experience of open space.

Susan Orlean

Knowledge is a beautiful thing, but there are a few things I wish I didn't know.

Susan Orlean

My ace in the hole as a human being used to be my capacity for remembering birthdays. I worked at it. Whenever I made a new friend, I made a point of finding out his or her birthday early on, and I would record it in my Filofax calendar.

Susan Orlean

I want a chainsaw very badly, because I think cutting down a tree would be unbelievably satisfying. I have asked for a chainsaw for my birthday, but I think I'll probably be given jewelry instead.

Susan Orlean

Dogs really are perfect soldiers. They are brave and smart; they can smell through walls, see in the dark, and eat Army rations without complaint.

Susan Orlean

I'm happy to be reminded that an ordinary day full of nothing but nothingness can make you feel like you've won the lottery.

Susan Orlean

A snow day literally and figuratively falls from the sky, unbidden, and seems like a thing of wonder.

Susan Orlean

Unlimited choice is paralyzing. The Internet has made this form of paralysis due to option overload a standard feature of comfortable modern life.

Susan Orlean

What's funny is that the idea of popularity - even the use of the word 'popular' - is something that had been mostly absent from my life since junior high. In fact, the hallmark of life after junior high seemed to be the shedding of popularity as a central concern.

Susan Orlean

The first thing I think about when I wake up most mornings is the fact that I'm tired. I have been tired for decades. I am tired in the morning and I am tired while becalmed in the slough of the afternoon, and I am tired in the evening, except right when I try to go to sleep.

Susan Orlean

I think of myself as something of a connoisseur of procrastination, creative and dogged in my approach to not getting things done.

Susan Orlean

Why, I wonder, should the popularity of a news story matter to me? Does it mean it's a good story or just a seductive one?

Susan Orlean

Sometimes, the Internet can feel like a middle-school playground populated by brats in ski masks who name-call and taunt with the fake bravery of the anonymous. But sometimes - thank goodness - it's nicer than real life.

Susan Orlean

When I wonder what the future of books will be, I often think about horses. Before automobiles existed, everyone had a horse. Then cars became available, and their convenience, compared to horses, was undeniable.

Susan Orlean

I finally overcame my phobia, and now I approach flying with a sort of studied boredom - a learned habit, thanks to my learn-to-fly-calmly training - but like all former flying phobics, I retain a weird and feverish fascination with aviation news, especially bad news.

Susan Orlean

Keeping animals, I have learned, is all about water. Who even knew chickens drank water? I didn't, but they do, and a lot.

Susan Orlean

States should pass laws making it illegal to own or trade wild animals; the phony 'educational' permits that many private owners have used to skirt those laws should be eliminated.

Susan Orlean

I don't turn to greeting cards for wisdom and advice, but they are a fine reflection of the general drift of the culture.

Susan Orlean

I work at home, in the country, and days will go by when, except for my husband and son and the occasional UPS man, the only sentient creatures that see me are my chickens and turkeys.

Susan Orlean

In my perfect world, we would establish perhaps four national zoos of unimpeachable quality and close the rest of them.

Susan Orlean