Chinua Achebe Quotes
Once a novel gets going and I know it is viable, I don't then worry about plot or themes. These things will come in almost automatically because the characters are now pulling the story.
Quotes to Explore
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A book is never a masterpiece: it becomes one. Genius is the talent of a dead man.
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I think my message goes out to the entire spectrum of political parties. I'm supported by the Tea Party, the Conservative Party and the Republican Party. I come from a Democratic world. My world is moderate Democrats, Reagan-type Democrats if you want, the blues or whatever you call them, the Blue Dogs. That's been my world, historically.
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I always played to win.
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There are too many books I haven't read, too many places I haven't seen, too many memories I haven't kept long enough.
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My dad's one of the funniest men in the world. I grew up with him making me laugh so much I'd beg him to stop.
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It's hard to pick out one particular wrestler.
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I've turned into one of those people who go jogging in parks that I used to hate.
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I'd have loved to have appeared in 'Absolutely Fabulous' - that's one of my favourite shows.
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The importance of local governance may not be obvious to an America accustomed to treating city and state downfalls with doses of federal comeuppance. Sometimes there's a reason for that - the Civil War. More often, all reasoning seems absent - No Child Left Behind.
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There were centuries when civilization had no theater.
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A few can touch the magic string, and noisy fame is proud to win them: Alas for those that never sing, but die with all their music in them!
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Everyone wants me to be perfect, but I am so far from perfect!
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I don't want to become known as just a body.
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I think about terrorism in terms of popcorn. You can't tell which kernels are popcorn and which are not, but you assume you'll always have some kernels that are going to pop.
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What's the most important thing in the world? It's love, and I look at that as an energy, not a sentiment.
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Some people have a misunderstanding about the Army. Some people think, 'Hey, you're in the military, and everything is super-hierarchical, and you're in an environment that is intolerable of criticism, and people don't want frank assessments.' I think the opposite is the case.
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It is not productive to see things in simple black and white, and talk in either anti-nuclear or pro-nuclear terms.
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The Sherman Act is similar in the economics sphere to the Bill of Rights in the personal sphere.
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Don't worry about motivation. Motivation is fickle. It comes and goes. It is unreliable - and when you are counting on motivation to get your goals accomplished, you will likely fall short.
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On average, people should be more skeptical when they see numbers. They should be more willing to play around with the data themselves.
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There must be a day or two in a man's life when he is the precise age for something important.
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I had to bring the idea of journalistic distance to writing about myself.
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I went from living in a house with five guys in Palo Alto, and living off their leftovers, to all of a sudden having all kinds of resources. And I wanted to figure out how I could take the blessing of these resources and share it with the world.
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Once a novel gets going and I know it is viable, I don't then worry about plot or themes. These things will come in almost automatically because the characters are now pulling the story.
