Zadie Smith
👤 SpeakerAppearances Over Time
Podcast Appearances
You do your own work by yourself.
You don't need anybody.
That's the whole thing.
You don't need anybody.
And I guess the reality of getting older is that that's just not true.
You will need people.
People will need you.
So you have to recalibrate your brain around that new fact.
There's so much magical thinking in it.
You realize that if someone actually puts the question to you, you've kind of hazily thought it'll be a simultaneous act.
But of course it's ridiculous.
We've both done an equal amount of life shortening things.
So we'll wait and see.
The main thing I think actually is that, which I never would have thought when I was in my twenties, when I was so terrified of death and all I wanted to do was live, live, live, live.
Given all my luck and the pleasure of the work that I've done, I'm less terrified.
And I feel like I've been given just about as much as I deserve.
So everything else at this point is gravy.