Chris Abani Quotes

I love essays, but they're not always the best way to communicate to a larger audience.

Chris Abani

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Quotes to Explore

• The secret of my success with Geraldine is that she's not a putdown of women. She's smart, she's trustful, she's loyal, she's sassy.

  

  Flip Wilson
  • Women
  • She
  • Success

• We would betray Mexicans' hopes for change if we felt satisfied with what we've accomplished so far.

  

  Vicente Fox
  • Change
  • Satisfied
  • Betray

• Beauty is not just a white girl. It's so many different flavors and shades.

  

  Queen Latifah
  • Different
  • Girl
  • Beauty

• At one point, I didn't get out of bed for, I think, three months, and I went down to the bottom of the hill one day and I had to call somebody to get me to come back up - come pick me up because I couldn't physically walk up the hill.

  

  Tanya Tucker
  • Up
  • Me
  • Day

• Shakespeare's villains are fabulous because none of them know that they are villains. Well, sometimes they do.

  

  Ian Mckellen
  • Know
  • Sometimes
  • Fabulous

• But I used to have a bit of a gambling problem. And that would have been the answer to my prayers. It got worse when I started playing this character, too.

  

  Fisher Stevens
  • Character
  • Problem
  • Gambling

• Chemical weapons simply have no place in the 21st century. Progress in this vital area will help generate momentum to meet our goal of eliminating all weapons of mass destruction.

  

  Ban Ki-moon
  • Help
  • Progress
  • Goal

• I stopped watching horror movies after I watched 'Candyman' when I was – I don't know, fifteen or something. I remember my sister rented it, 'Candyman,' and it really, really scared me. And so it was only after I found myself in a horror film that I really went back and kind of rediscovered the genre.

  

  Fiona Dourif
  • Remember
  • Movies
  • Sister

• Betty Shabazz was the wife of a man who challenged a government that was historically unjust. She was harassed and placed under surveillance by the Nation of Islam (NOI), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

  

  Ilyasah Shabazz
  • She
  • Man
  • Wife

• I have been, and will remain, outspoken in my insistence that Israel has a right to live in peace and security.

  

  Ban Ki-moon
  • Live
  • Peace
  • Security

• Maybe I'm just a slow learner or something, but I like to have things laid out as plainly and simply as possible.

  

  Walter Cronkite
  • Things
  • Possible
  • Slow

• Hope is definitely not the same thing as optimism. It is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.

  

  Vaclav Havel
  • Hope
  • Conviction
  • Optimism

• Figure out who you are.

  

  Randy Jackson Breakfast Club
  • You
  • Figure
  • Out

• I don't think a system or a government should fear critical opinions or views. Only by heeding those critical views would it be possible for us to further improve our work and make further progress.

  

  Wen Jiabao
  • Work
  • Fear
  • Progress

• Culture of the mind must be subservient to the heart.

  

  Mahatma Gandhi
  • Mind
  • Heart
  • Culture

• Art and activism seem to go together naturally, the idea being that if you're an entertainer, you can have a voice, and if you have a voice, you can make a difference. But if I were not an actress, I would still try to extend myself beyond my little micro-universe of my job, family and personal joy.

  

  Salma Hayek
  • Family
  • Art
  • Job

• Someone asked me if I was afraid to write my memoirs. I told him: 'We have to stop drawing up accounts of fear! We live in a society in which people are allowed to tell their story, and that is what I do.'

  

  Salman Rushdie
  • People
  • Up
  • Live

• Going to so many book events keeps me connected with my readership while constantly reminding me that all the long hours at the drawing desk are worthwhile.

  

  Raina Telgemeier
  • Book
  • Drawing
  • Constantly

• I've learned... That the easiest way for me to grow as a person is to surround myself with people smarter than I am.

  

  Andy Rooney
  • People
  • Persons
  • Grows

• Undermine their pompous authority, reject their moral standards, make anarchy and disorder your trademarks. Cause as much chaos and disruption as possible but don't let them take you ALIVE.

  

  Sid Vicious Siouxsie and the Banshees
  • Chaos
  • Alive
  • Authority

• Whether in London’s ornate arcades or Rio’s fractious favelas, whether in the high-rises of Hong Kong or the dusty workspaces of Dharavi, our culture, our prosperity, and our freedom are all ultimately gifts of people living, working, and thinking together—the ultimate triumph of the city.

  

  Edward Glaeser
  • Freedom
  • City
  • Gifts

• When you have quality and show it, there's no problem.

  

  Riyad Mahrez
  • Problem
  • Quality
  • Show

• I love essays, but they're not always the best way to communicate to a larger audience.

  

  Chris Abani