Jonathan Lethem Quotes

By viewing our relationships with friends, family, and co-workers as mirrors, as teachers - we see that they are reflecting back to us exactly what we most need to learn.

I don't know how you can understand other people or yourself if you haven't read a lot of books. I just don't think you're equipped to deal with the demands and decisions of life, particularly in your dealings with other people.

Remember that no relationship is a total waste of time. You can always learn something about yourself.

I'm sensitive, you know, about some things, and as some of my partners could attest to, incredibly insensitive.

I don't like getting people upset, so that's not my goal. But I like putting people in situations where how they respond says a lot about them.

Whenever I'm trying to understand people that I don't understand, or things in people or even in myself, I'll say, 'When did this negativity get here?' I try to think back to how I was raised to deal with things, and then consider how the person that I'm dealing with grew up.

I was forced, more or less, to go to anger management. I was either going to make myself and everyone around me miserable, or I was going to realize that there's more than one person on this Earth. It definitely has made me a better person.

I have found that when I have attacked people personally, that's been a stupid mistake on my part. And so whoever I have attacked personally I apologize for.

Experience informs us that the first defence of weak minds is to recriminate.

My heart's in the right place. I know, 'cuz I hid it there.

All of the sadness and drama you have lived in your life was rooted in the making of assumptions and taking things personally. The whole world of control between humans is based on that.

You never want to judge your character.

Find a positive lesson and positive reason for all of your personal relationships. Accentuate the blessings and knowledge gained from each.

One should go easy on smashing other people's lies. Better to concentrate on one's own.

It's important to listen to those around you, and ultimately you have to decide which path you're going to go down.

Your fellow man is your mirror. If your own face is clean, the image you perceive will also be flawless.

When I was young, every time I criticized someone, my mother would stand me in front of the mirror and say: 'The flaws you see in others are actually a reflection of yourself.' That taught me to pay close attention when I looked at others.

It is easier to recount grievances and slights than it is to set down a broad redress of such grievances and slights. The reason is that one fears to be thought of as an arrant braggart.

Takes a man or a woman to say I'm sorry, and it takes a fool to walk away.

Sometimes you're not like the person you'd want to hang out with. Would I really want to hang out with me full time? No, you've gotta find people who balance you out.

I'm not the greatest communicator. I kind of internalize a lot.

I'm not a good listener some times. I'm too much of a control freak. I'm learning to be better. I was so caught up in just getting the job done that I would miss out on the human aspect of this. There was a connection missing.

Everyone is a mirror image of yourself-your own thinking coming back to you.

Sorry I’m so sarcastic. I feel really bad about it.

Thinking that what you want equals what's best for you is a dead end.