The attempt to devote oneself to literature alone is a most deceptive thing, and often, paradoxically, it is literature that suffers for it.
No matter what I’ve worked on or what art practices I’ve delved into, they’ve always been an attempt to world-build.
Strong moral arguments exist for why we should often try to ignore stereotypes or override them. But we shouldn’t assume they represent some irrational quirk of the unconscious mind. In fact, they’re largely the consequence of the mind’s attempt to make a rational decision.
Every goal, every action, every thought, every feeling one experiences, whether it be consciously or unconsciously known, is an attempt to increase one’s level of peace of mind.
‘Working Class Man’ is my second memoir and is a continuation of my story from where ‘Working Class Boy’ left off. The book is really an attempt at explaining the impact of my childhood on myself and the ones I loved as an adult.
My writing always came out of a very personal place, out of an attempt to stay sane.
My first attempt at a kiss was in fifth grade, but it didn’t go so well. Later, I used Boyz II Men and Jodeci songs to come on to girls. I had more success.
If scientific reasoning were limited to the logical processes of arithmetic, we should not get very far in our understanding of the physical world. One might as well attempt to grasp the game of poker entirely by the use of the mathematics of probability.
I think that Gordon Ramsay is maybe one of the most entertaining people ever on television. And I would love to pretend to be Gordon Ramsay and walk into a restaurant uninvited and attempt to make them change their menu. It’s just a personal fantasy of mine.
Western countries are thoroughly accustomed to being the centre of global attention, which they have come to regard as their natural birthright. Not so China. It was thwarted in its attempt to hold the 2000 Olympics, which, as a result of American-led pressure, was awarded to Sydney.
In America, black urban teenagers have long been lacking in inclusion. In France, there is a comparable lack of inclusion among North Africans. In much of Europe, there has been little attempt to include the Roma.
There has been throughout this country and throughout Europe really an attempt silence the conservative voice. We get identified, caricatured and then demonised and made to look as though we are some kind of sinister, fascist, racist kind of people.
We need variations, variations in not just attempt but in flickers’ attempts as well. I mean, a flicker needs to use different angles, pace to keep the opposition defence guessing.
My own approach has always been to push intense emotions down and attempt to deal with them later.
Somebody’s real voice is probably the hardest one that somebody could attempt.
I even reject and condemn in the strongest terms the idea, the consideration of a military coup. If I had the chance I would stand in front of the people who would attempt such a thing and open my arms and beg them to stop.
He had decided to live forever or die in the attempt.
What is modern art but the attempt to pinpoint vague, incorporeal, inexpressible sensations? What is modern art, I would add, but the most solemn pile of nonsense that ever appeared on Earth?
This is something special. You can attempt to have a kind of non-living music.
One civilization after another has been wrecked upon the attempt to secure sufficient leadership from a single group or class.
Criminal cases require strategy, and prosecutors should attempt to prove only what can be proved.
People have written about ‘Sleep’ as if it were some kind of record attempt, but I could just put repeat marks at the end, and it would be 16 hours. It’s not about that.
Well I don’t write, I attempt to scribble here and there. And no, nothing ever so grand as being published.
Gay teenagers are four times as likely to attempt suicide as straight ones. I wish they knew that there’s nothing wrong with them; that they are just a different shade of normal.
I love this game too much to not give my best attempt.
We don’t attempt to have any theme for a number of the anthology, or to have any particular sequence. We just put in things that we like, and then we try to alternate the prose and the poetry.
It has been said that idleness is the parent of mischief, which is very true; but mischief itself is merely an attempt to escape from the dreary vacuum of idleness.
In America, it was decided to attempt the production of atomic bombs with an effort that would constitute a large part of the collective American war effort. In Germany, an effort one thousandth the scale of the American was applied to the problem of producing atomic energy that would drive engines.
An artist is attracted to certain kinds of form without knowing why. You adopt a position intuitively; only later do you attempt to rationalize or even justify it.
So much of my writing derives from these questions that I ask myself – things that are utterly beyond my personal set of experiences – and it’s my attempt to try to… understand, to sort of break out of my own consciousness, you know, the limitations of my own life.
In my opinion, Jesus is God’s attempt to reach man. But while I believe Jesus is the way to God, it makes no sense to hate people who disagree.
To attempt the destruction of our passions is the height of folly. What a noble aim is that of the zealot who tortures himself like a madman in order to desire nothing, love nothing, feel nothing, and who, if he succeeded, would end up a complete monster!
Religion is man’s attempt to bind himself back to a relationship with God.
Marriage is an attempt to solve problems together which you didn’t even have when you were on your own.
I realize that a lot of business leaders may disagree with me, but I truly believe that God belongs in what my company does. By putting Him first in my operations, He can bless what I attempt.
To attempt to write seriously is always, I feel, to fail – the disjunction between my beautifully sonorous, accurate and painfully affecting mental content, and the leaden, halting sentences on the page always seems a dreadful falling short.
Modern sociology is virtually an attempt to take up the larger program of social analysis and interpretation which was implicit in Adam Smith’s moral philosophy, but which was suppressed for a century by prevailing interest in the technique of the production of wealth.
I always attempt to stay within the rules of wrestling.
The songs are just an attempt to document what’s been happening in my life. If people can relate to what’s going on with me, then that’s great.
When every one of your arguments is characterized an attempt to bring back slavery or resegregate lunch counters, it’s a little hard to have any sort of productive debate.
Indias rapid economic growth has mainly been due to the dismantling of government controls. An attempt to reintroduce monopolistic pricing must be strongly opposed.
Feminism is doomed to failure because it is based on an attempt to repeal and restructure human nature.
It’s important that we attempt to extend life beyond Earth now. It is the first time in the four billion-year history of Earth that it’s been possible, and that window could be open for a long time – hopefully it is – or it could be open for a short time. We should err on the side of caution and do something now.
A man watches his pear tree day after day, impatient for the ripening of the fruit. Let him attempt to force the process, and he may spoil both fruit and tree. But let him patiently wait, and the ripe pear at length falls into his lap.
YouTube clips get millions, billions of hits. Reality TV programs have their own channels. How can movies attempt to compete with these kinds of numbers? And do we even need to? Are we scaring ourselves by unnecessary comparisons, by not comparing apples with apples?
Genocide is an attempt to exterminate a people, not to alter their behavior.
I always dreamed of being an entertainer. So, my whole life to some extent, or from the age that I can remember onwards, I knew I was going to have to make some sort of attempt at being noticed for being funny.
Aesthetics – rather than reason – shapes our thought processes. First comes aesthetics, then logic. ‘Thinking in Numbers’ is not about an attempt to impress the reader but to include the reader, draw the reader in, by explaining my experiences – the beauty I feel in a prime number, for example.
Anything that we do to make ourselves feel worthy and safe is a flight from the pain of powerlessness. Every pursuit of external power – every attempt to change the world or a person in order to make yourself feel valuable and safe – is a distraction from the pain of powerlessness.
I’ve always liked the No.10 position. You can get on the ball a lot more and attempt to dictate the play a lot more.
Capping our SALT deduction was a deliberate attempt to punish states that value quality public services.
With me serving as the president, we filed a $3-million lawsuit against the league and its member clubs in an attempt to win increased pension benefits and a larger share Of television revenue.
My position on democracy is really clear. Any attempt to overthrow the country is a betrayal to our unity and is treason.
