A John Updike is a once-in-a-generation phenomenon, if that generation is lucky: so comfortable in so many genres, the same lively, generous intelligence suffusing all he did. – George Saunders
Whatever your supposed politics are – left, right – if you put it in a human connection, most people will rise to the occasion and feel the human pain in a way that they might not if it was presented in a more conceptual way. – George Saunders
The cool parts – the parts that have won Dubai its reputation as the Vegas of the Middle East or the Venice of the Middle East or the Disney World of the Middle East, if Disney World were the size of San Francisco and out in a desert – have been built in the last ten years. – George Saunders
We try, we fail, we posture, we aspire, we pontificate – and then we age, shrink, die, and vanish. – George Saunders
As a nation we have, over the past seven years, been rebuilding our intelligence with powerful capabilities that many thought we would no longer need after the Cold War. We have been rebuilding our clandestine service, our satellite and other technical collection, our analytical depth and expertise. – George Tenet