“ The best works of art are never innocuous: they alter the viewer's perceptual predictions. It is only when the patterns of our vision are disrupted that we truly pay attention and must ask ourselves w… Siri Hustvedt
“ Artists are cannibals. We consume other artists, and they become part of us—flesh and bone—only to be spewed out again in our own works. Siri Hustvedt
“ In effect, painting is the still memory of [the artist's] human motion, and our individual responses to it depend on who we are, on our character, which underlines the simple truth that no person leav… Siri Hustvedt
“ No one rejoices more in revenge than women, wrote Juvenal. Women do most delight in revenge, wrote Sir Thomas Browne. Sweet is revenge, especially to women, wrote Lord Byron. And I say, I wonder why,… Siri Hustvedt
“ I am fascinated that no one I have read seems to have noticed that the literature on Picasso continually turns grown-up women into girls. Siri Hustvedt
“ In order to be accepted, women must compensate for their ambition and strength by being nice. Men don't have to be nearly as much d as women. I do not believe women are natively nicer than men. They m… Siri Hustvedt
“ Fiction is necessary to life - not only as books but as dreams, dreams that frame the world and give it meaning. Siri Hustvedt
“ I've come to think of consciousness as a continuum of states, from fully awake cogitation to daydreaming to the altered consciousness of hallucinations and dreams. Still, interpreting dreams can only… Siri Hustvedt
“ We must all allow ourselves the fantasy of projection from time to time, a chance to clothe ourselves in the imaginary gowns and tails of what has never been and never will be. This gives some polish… Siri Hustvedt
“ Dreaming is another form of thinking, more concrete, more economical, more visual, and often more emotional than the thoughts of the day, but a thinking through of the day, nevertheless. Siri Hustvedt
“ Dreams are stories made by and for the dreamer, and each dreamer has his own folds to open and knots to untie. Siri Hustvedt
“ Pain is always emotional. Fear and depression keep constant company with chronic hurting. Siri Hustvedt
“ Every reader writes the book he or she reads, supplying what isn't there, and that creative invention becomes the book. Siri Hustvedt
“ A book is a collaboration between the one who reads and what is read and, at its best, that coming together is a love story like any other. Siri Hustvedt
“ I will turn human anatomy into roses and stars and sea. I will dissect the beloveds body in metaphor. Siri Hustvedt
“ Walking across campus made me feel sad, and I thought to myself, I wasn't happy there. Then, after reading, we walked past Butler Library. It was dark, but the light inside illuminated the windows. St… Siri Hustvedt
“ It is true that I suffered in a difficult and stupid love affair and that I worked at one bad job after another to try to keep myself going. Nevertheless, I remember that time as extraordinary, and I… Siri Hustvedt
