Tibor Fischer Quotes

Gyuri had dropped church much in the same way he had stopped believing in Santa Claus; there came a point where it was impossible to take it seriously.

As an author, I realise, you're on your own. You have to do everything you can to help The Book. If I make sure people know it's out there, they can make up their own minds whether they want to read it.

One of my proudest achievements is that when an authoritative book about Hungarian literature came out about a decade ago, there was a little article about me which said I was a Hungarian writer but pretending not to be. Bearing in mind I can hardly write a cheque in Hungarian, I was delighted to be included in the pantheon of Hungarian writers.

I don't take much notice of reviews now - obviously you'd like to have straight worship but you're never going to get that.

The way British publishing works is that you go from not being published no matter how good you are, to being published no matter how bad you are.

I always consider every place worth exploring once- just in case there's a thirty foot flaming sign divulging the secret of life, that no one has told me about.

As suburbs go, Bromley's not bad. But as David Bowie and Hanif Kureishi have observed, you do want to get out of there quickly.

I don't know why they call it life, it's just a moment with memories.

It's what the reader thinks that counts.

When I think of Hungarian films, I think of despair and bleakness, and what's more, despair and bleakness of indefensible duration.

I never could get a proper job.

One of the reasons why I don't write the same kind of book again and again is that I get bored very easily, so I like to make things interesting for myself.

Stay cool, and wait for opportunity.

The impossible lives next door to the possible; people ring its door bell by accident all the time.

Opening the fridge door, I found a rat eating the cheese. My dealings with rodents, particularly those tagged verminous, have been few, but generally the pattern has been one of man, the boss, the caretaker of creation, the namer, appearing and the lower orders hitting the road.

Once you've been backstage at a theater, the theater is never the same for you. Once you've noticed the crack in the vase, the vase is never the same for. Once you've seen a friend do something appalling, the friendship is never the same. That does not mean you won't go to the theater, or keep the vase or the friend. You can choose.

I went to a British Council event a while back and there were lots of German professors of literature. About half of them were convinced I had a German sense of humour and the other half were sure it was British. They are probably still arguing about it now.

No amount of intelligence can save you from stupidity.

Perfection is only chance.

Some years ago, I fired my agent, Andrew Wylie, alias The Jackal. I want to stress this wasn't an amicable parting of the ways or a hankering on my part for fresh representation. I fired him because his agency wasn't doing enough for me.

The greatest danger of being gifted, is that you may never learn how to make an effort.

Even those with unspendable fortunes only have one mind, one mouth, two ears, two eyes and one pleasure station. There's only so much fun you can take.

You've got to try everything once, except those things you don't like, or that involve a lot of effort and getting up early.

I'm not the most prolific writer in the world, and, sadly, writing a novel involves a lot of effort.

We might not want to share our food or our money, but we do want to share our judgement. We want others to think we have more fun.But we need meeting-places of the mind. A Kilimanjaro of spirit that we've all visited so we can say of other things: it's shorter, or taller, or the same height as Kilimanjaro.

Many of us, I suppose, see our existences not as lives, but as life-holders, zarfs, waiting for the job, the person, the event to fill it.

No one wants a masterpiece knocking around when your own book is looking for attention.

Travelling is difficult, and writers tend to want to stay at home and do their work.

Laziness always wins.

New York City has fantastic restaurants and, unlike London, a lot of the best restaurants are relatively cheap.

It's like training dogs. You want the dog to obey you, but you can't have real respect for a dog that always obeys you. You want a dog that occasionally goes over the wall or bites the postman without your permission; you want to be reminded that you command a subdued yet wild animal, not a crawler. A man should be strong enough to kill you with his bare hands.

You don't really have to go anywhere in particular in New York City to have a good time. In every part of town, there's always something going on. It helps to know people there, too, because everything changes so fast, and they will be able to point out what's hot this month.

Most books reviews aren't very well-written. They tend to be more about the reviewer than the book.