Jaron Lanier Quotes

I have a really, really, really normal family. And by normal I mean we're all nuts on some level. I think you've gotta be a little nuts to pursue any kind of creative job. I was also a really good kid. I know that sounds really dull, but I didn't rebel in the traditional sense.

I think everyone thinks their dad is a little bit odd or crazy. As they get older, they develop their own little habits. They have a certain way that they like to live their life, and nothing is going to interrupt that.

My dad didn't want me to listen to Zeppelin, I think because it reminded him of his wilder days, and now he's a retired Southern Baptist minister.

It's like, you can't have any fun, and if you do have fun, if you do your own thing, you're considered crazy and should be in a mental institution. Now, that's what I find creepy. I'm eccentric. I am not messed up.

I lead a very conventional life. I don't lead a writer's life. And I think that can be a source of suspicion and irritation to some people. This was more true when I was living in California, when I didn't lead a writer's life at all.

You gotta understand, there are two different kinds of Asians - the kind who are good at school, obey their parents, go to college - that kind of stuff. And then you have my family - me, my brother, all of my cousins - we're just wretched people.

Negativity sells. I have been labelled a rebel. If I had been one, would I have got married at 23? Would I have been a straight A student?

Sons have always a rebellious wish to be disillusioned by that which charmed their fathers.

On the one hand, I've had such a normal upbringing with my mum, who has kept me grounded, but on the other, the wild experiences through my dad.

All I can really tell you about my father is that he did odd things like put tin foil on a bottle of beer after having a few sips, then put it in the refrigerator to perhaps have on another night.

I was home-schooled, was always very close with my mom and was very straight-laced and square. I was never the rebellious one, and I never threw hissy fits.

I wish I had some strapping football player husband. It would be such a dream to be 'normal' like that, but I'm just not.

All my pictures are built around the idea of getting in trouble and so giving me the chance to be desperately serious in my attempt to appear as a normal little gentleman.

My family all thought I was a little nuts.

When I was 10, I had dyed red hair, and I used to paint my nails - I think my mum secretly loved it.

My mom never let me dye my hair, and I would beg her every single day. When I was 16, I told her I wanted to dye it purple, and she let me - probably because she never thought I'd actually do it. Then I just stuck with it.

School is not for me. I'm volatile and hate being told what to do.

My mom was the breadwinner in my family. I always thought, 'That's how it is.' I never thought that was the exception.

There are definitely advantages to not looking like a Viking in real life.

It's kind of a Catch-22. The more successful you get, the less normal you get.

Culturally, it's really funny to me that people respect the weird guy as an artist. There can be a curmudgeon in the corner with spiders building nests in his hair, and he hasn't bathed for three weeks, but for whatever reason, he's more creative than the guy sitting next to him that's showered and is talking to everybody.

Not everybody needs to be a weirdo.

I think I'm a bit more of a rule-breaker than my mom. She's very sweet and very worried. She was valedictorian. I think I got a little bit of an edgier side from my dad.

My family is very conservative.

I totally understand I'm an eccentric person; I'm not going to claim to be a normal person.