Quotes from Liberal Arts

Prof. Peter Hoberg: You know how old I am?
Jesse Fisher: No, how old are you?
Prof. Peter Hoberg: It's none of your goddamn business. Do you know how old I feel like I am?
Jesse Fisher: [shrugs]
Prof. Peter Hoberg: 19. Since I was 19, I have never felt not 19. But I shave my face, and I look in the mirror, and I'm forced to say, "This is not a 19-year-old staring back at me."
[sighs]
Prof. Peter Hoberg: Teaching here all these years, I've had to be very clear with myself, that even when I'm surrounded by 19-year-olds, and I may have felt 19, I'm not 19 anymore. You follow me?
Jesse Fisher: Yeah.
Prof. Peter Hoberg: Nobody feels like an adult. It's the world's dirty secret.

Zibby: Try not to over-think things, okay?
Jesse Fisher: Ah, you're talking to the wrong guy.
Zibby: Well, look. We connect really well, don't you think?
Jesse Fisher: We do, yeah. I just can't figure out if it's because you're advanced, or because I'm stunted.
Zibby: It's because I'm advanced.
Jesse Fisher: Maybe. But I'm also a little stunted.

Zibby: [about vampire novel] I liked it. It was fun and stupid. And it passed the time. And it's not Tolstoy, but it's also not television. And it made me happy. Now you...
Jesse Fisher: Thank you... This - is the worst book - ever - written - in English.
Zibby: So there are worse books written in other languages?
Jesse Fisher: Probably not. Unless this book is translated into other languages.

Jesse Fisher: You know, he said the purpose of fiction was to combat loneliness.
Dean: That's good. I never heard that.
Jesse Fisher: Yeah. Well, on the other hand, spending most of your time with an 1,100-page book tends to put a dent in your social life.
Dean: Yeah. Loneliness simultaneously increased and decreased.

Zibby: It doesn't bother me.
Jesse Fisher: Well, it bothers me.
Zibby: Well, it shouldn't. Age is a stupid thing to obsess over. What if reincarnation is real, huh? Think about that, What if I am like thousands of years older than you?
Jesse Fisher: Okay, that's not really a sound argument.
Zibby: Why not?
Jesse Fisher: Because it's like saying what if reality is all an illusion, then there are no consequences to anything, we're completely off the hook... and I believe in consequences.
Zibby: No, you believe in guilt.
Jesse Fisher: Maybe, but guilt before we act is called morality.