We’ve progressed well beyond the four humors in the two thousand-odd years since Hippocrates, but we still haven’t satisfied the urge to discover ways of sorting people into personalities and types and, in so doing, predict how they might act in specific situations.
The first draft is all about freedom, and if loyalty is in question, it is only my loyalty to the characters and situations on the page. All the worries about where the material may have sprung from or what so-and-so might think can be dealt with later.
There’s a very good reason for why economics developed the way it did, and that is that in many situations, the assumption that people will exploit the opportunities available to them is very plausible, and it simplifies the analysis of how markets will behave.
You can’t make accommodations in crucial situations and be heroic.
I don’t like to talk hypotheticals. I deal with the real life situations. I treat every day as a blessing.
I think Sacajawea was caught in a series of tragic situations – her kidnapping as a child, her being passed from tribe to tribe, being sold into marriage. However, I never thought of her as a tragic figure. I do not think she was a victim in the way we think of tragic figures.
Every clinical encounter is an opportunity to generate social capital. Even in situations where patient needs are complex or seemingly insurmountable, it is the empathy and goodwill which makes the difference.
I seem to get into situations that make people laugh, but I don’t consider myself that funny of a person. I’m not witty. I’m kind of slow in conversations. I’m not that articulate with jokes. The first time I made stuff and screened it for an audience, I was surprised what people were laughing at.
Chaos is my natural habitat. I write about chaotic situations and about people finding their way through the chaos, the hope that you can find your way.
I think shows that are completely dramatic are a lie. People use humor to cope. That is how we deal with things. In the darkest situations, there’s humor. And if you don’t show that, you’re not being true to real life.
People are funny, and in the most tragic situations, when comedy erupts from nowhere, it can turn on its head within the space of a second or a minute. You’re laughing one minute and you’re crying the next and that’s just life for me, and that is what people are like.
Meanings are not determined by situations, but we determine ourselves by the meanings we give to situations.
I always prefer to write songs about emotional situations and heartbreak because I like getting into the character.
Eurobonds are absolutely wrong. In order to bring about common interest rates, you need similar competitiveness levels, similar budget situations. You don’t get them by collectivizing debts.
I want to create situations that give people something to think about.
Without imagination and without love, life can be pretty bleak. I think having both will get you through the most dire of situations.
There are certain people who react well in life-threatening situations, and our military and our law enforcement and our first responders tend to be those types of folks.
I’m very used to playing the tomboy or the sarcastic cynic. That’s my go-to. Playing the vulnerable of a real girl that’s in real womanlike situations, where it’s romanticized, I’m a little nervous about it.
