Fiction is a kind of compassion-generating machine that saves us from sloth. Is life kind or cruel? Yes, Literature answers. Are people good or bad? You bet, says Literature. But unlike other systems of knowing, Literature declines to eradicate one truth in favor of another.
As Bob Marley says, ‘We must carry on.’ So he has left us a legacy of music to carry on for generations and generations into generations.
It’s funny because I think that both France and Britain are known for their distinctive styles, and everyone says that France is so chic and elegant but I think, more than that, French women are renowned for dressing in what suits them.
My parents are always a great litmus test. Based on the amount of shrieks my mother gives when we’re out in public, her constant shock when somebody comes up and says something nice.
I grew up writing thank-you notes. Real, honest-to-goodness, pen-and-ink, stamped and posted letters. More than simple habit, it’s about what the commitment to expressing your thoughts and feelings in writing says about the character of the writer. About the joy such notes bring to the reader.
As soon as someone tells me: ‘You’re rather sexy,’ I wish I could disappear. If somebody says: ‘You were voted the world’s sexiest man,’ I have no idea what that means. How do I respond? ‘Thank you’ is the best you can do. George Clooney is the world’s sexiest man, anyway.
Even if the last move did not succeed, the inner command says move again.
I worry from the moment I take a job. I worry about how I’m going to do it, if I can do it… Then I walk on set and the director says, ‘Roll’, and all of a sudden, all of it disappears and it’s all happening, and I relax, and I’m doing what I do, and I’m not even thinking about it.
In her verse, she says: ‘It’s me and Karol G, and we let the rats talk.’ I died, I revived, I died and revived again until I understood Nicki Minaj had said my name in her verse.
There’s a verse in the Bible says, ‘In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.’ And what brings me peace is the scripture.
The political tradition of ancient thought, filtered in Italy by Machiavelli, says one thing clearly: every prince needs allies, and the bigger the responsibility, the more allies he needs.
When our Lord says, we must be converted and become as little children, I suppose he means also, that we must be sensible of our weakness, comparatively speaking, as a little child.
People tell you everything changes when you have a kid, but what nobody says is you don’t mind.
No one means all he says, and yet very few say all they mean, for words are slippery and thought is viscous.
My dad always told me to stand up to bullies, and Bill O’Reilly is kind of a bully, and he’s the kind of kid who hits other kids on the playground. And when you hit him, he runs to the teacher and says, ‘Teacher, sue him.’
I’m getting better now, but I used to be incredibly awkward with girls. I think any guy who says ‘I’ve never had an awkward moment with a girl’ is a liar.
I don’t really take into account what the media says. People have their own opinions about what goes on, but they don’t see what goes on behind the scenes with an athlete and their preparation.
When Bush says democracy, I often wonder what he’s referring to.
Seek out that particular mental attribute which makes you feel most deeply and vitally alive, along with which comes the inner voice which says, ‘This is the real me,’ and when you have found that attitude, follow it.
My style says, ‘Look at me, don’t look at me.’
The book of Revelation says that we no longer need the sun or the moon, for Christ is the light of the world.
When somebody says something stupid to me, I usually alleviate it with laughter and humour. I make light of it to educate people on why it’s inappropriate.
If you want to say it with flowers, a single rose says: ‘I’m cheap!’
Immature love says: ‘I love you because I need you.’ Mature love says ‘I need you because I love you.’
Brother Jones is not my product, and I am not responsible for anything he writes or says.
When Americans invade Iraq, Bush says, we will be greeted as liberators by the Iraqi people, proving that taking out Saddam Hussein was the right thing to do.
It’s supposed to be fun, the man says ‘Play Ball’ not ‘Work Ball’ you know.
The existentialist says at once that man is anguish.
Forgiveness says you are given another chance to make a new beginning.
I do get a fair amount of scripts; I got ‘Frozen River’ kinda just that way. I have a hard time turning my back on anybody who says they have something for me.
Talent alone doesn’t matter in this industry, and everyone knows this. If someone says, ‘Good films are done’, ‘Talent always survives’, there are other factors, too, which are far more important.
It warms my heart more than anything when somebody comes up to me and says, ‘You inspired me to do this.’
The aphorism in which I am the first master among Germans, are the forms of ‘eternity’; my ambition is to say in ten sentences what everyone else says in a book – what everyone else does not say in a book.
The Bible says that all things work together for the good of those who love the Lord and are called according to his purpose. I believe that. Because I’ve seen it all work.
The press doesn’t stop publishing, by the way, in a fascist escalation; it simply watches what it says. That too can be an incremental process, and the pace at which the free press polices itself depends on how journalists are targeted.
If someone says Wes Anderson is an auteur, I’ll believe it 100 percent. Fine. He’s an auteur, but I’m not.
There’s nothing written in the Bible, Old or New testament, that says, ‘If you believe in Me, you ain’t going to have no troubles.’
I can’t find anything in the Constitution that says you prefer the life of the mother, or the convenience of the mother if it’s an abortion by choice, over the potential life of the fetus. Look, I think women, if they’re required to not have abortions, could die and could – so I favor a woman’s right to choose.
An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way. An artist says a hard thing in a simple way.
When it comes to the draft process, I’m going to be – I’m not going to say anything stupid – but I’m going to be my authentic, true self, and hopefully someone in an organization says, ‘That’s my guy.’
Smart on Crime says if you commit violent crimes, you should go to jail, and go to jail for extended periods of time. For people who are engaged in non-violent crimes – any crimes, for that matter – we are looking for sentences that are proportionate to the conduct that you engaged in.
I just want a quiet life. I think that’s what everybody says when they get older.
I have five tattoos. One says conquer, another Svatantra, a third mind over matter. I have a heart on my collar bone, and another tattoo saying Always Mommy’s Girl. I got these tattoos in different places at different times in my life and they all mean something to me.
Some people be game-goofy and words don’t sound right coming out of their mouthpiece. But whenever E-40 says something it’s just solidified.
With so many serious issues and responsibilities before the United States Senate, I think New York needs an independent senator who thinks for herself, not someone who just rubberstamps the Obama agenda or checks with Chuck Schumer and says, ‘Me too.’
I’ll say I’m happy doing my thing. No one says ‘no comment’ anymore.
Breathe in deeply to bring your mind home to your body. Then look at, or think of, the person triggering this emotion: With mindfulness, you can see that she is unhappy, that she is suffering. You can see her wrong perceptions. You can see that she is not beautiful when she says things that are unkind.
Everyone says Toyota is the best company in the world, but the customer doesn’t care about the world. They care if we are the best in town, or not. That’s what I want to be.
If you sit in a position where decisions that you take would have a serious effect on people, you can’t ignore a lot of experience around the world which says this drug has these negative effects.
I’m the one guy who says don’t force the stupid people to be quiet. I want to know who the morons are.
One says also, it is one of the most faithful men in Hollywood, and makes again more interesting it equal.
Trade helps bring us products cheaply, but there is no guarantee whatsoever to assume that it will allow us to replace the jobs that have been lost, and there is no mechanism under productivity that says that, either.
I wanna make a jigsaw puzzle that’s 40,000 pieces. And when you finish it, it says ‘go outside.’
We three have never been very good chemists but we are gratified with a Nobel Prize in Chemistry. The Peter Principle says that everyone is promoted until they reach their level of incompetence. We are worried that we may have reached this remarkable point.
Ideals are not something I can control. It’s not logic that convinces me of something, it’s what my heart says. My heart has a way of involving me in things, which can only be good for the music.
I don’t want to have an asterisk next to my accomplishments for the rest of my life. I don’t want everybody to say, ‘interim champ’ every time someone says Dustin was the champion.
