“I always wanted to write novels, even before I had read a lot of novel...” — Elif Batuman Quote

I always wanted to write novels, even before I had read a lot of novels or had a very good idea of what they were.

My parents were educated in the Turkish system and went straight from high school to medical school; my mom, who had skipped a grade, was dissecting corpses at age seventeen. Growing up in America, I think I envied my parents' education. By comparison, everything I did in school seemed so sort of low-stakes and infantilizing.

'Awkward' implies both solidarity and implication. Nobody is exempt.

It's kind of an embarrassing story - that's why it's called 'The Idiot.' But looking back at your past self, you see that this person had reasons for everything she did. There's a whole lot of awkwardness, but really, what should one be embarrassed about?

A sane person doesn't think war is a good idea.

I don't think I've ever turned down a fight. I get an opponent, I'm like OK. With the UFC, turning down fights isn't a good idea. That starts to put you in a bad light.

Most of the guys I look for they always have gum in their mouth, and I'm like, that's a good idea.

During my 20s, I truly said 'yes' to everything, whether it was a good idea or not.

No one would say, 'Hey, I think this medicine works, go ahead and use it.' We have testing, we go to the lab, we try it again, we have refinement. But you know what we do on the last mile? 'Oh, this is a good idea. People will like this. Let's put it out there.'