David Quammen Quotes

Most Americans know nothing about the African forest, and it seems to them a very scary, spooky dangerous place. I've spent a lot of time in the forests of central Africa. I know they're beautiful places that contain a lot of different kinds of creatures, including some that carry Ebola.

David Quammen

• Time
• Different
• Beautiful
• Scary
• Forest

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Quotes to Explore

• I've read quite a few readers' reviews of my book on Amazon, saying, 'Ah, he criticises the free market, he advocates central planning.' I don't do that for a minute! But this is our black and white, dichotomous way of thinking - which has really been harmful.

  

  Ha-Joon Chang
  • Thinking
  • Book
  • Free

• I wear the Jewish star, but I'm not - I haven't converted to Judaism, and I'm not - I'm not - I'm not Jewish in the conventional sense because the Kaballah is a belief system that predates religion and predates Judaism as an organized religion.

  

  Madonna Breakfast Club
  • Star
  • Religion
  • Belief

• I am obsessed with the Great Depression and with former showgirls - and the Victorians - the idea of wistful, dark romance.

  

  Karen Elson
  • Great
  • Depression
  • Obsessed

• Sometimes I like to watch TV, though I never get to watch any of the shows in real time. I'm a fan of 'Downton Abbey,' 'Boardwalk Empire,' and 'Boss.' There's a British series called 'Luther,' but in England, they think a series means four episodes. And I like 'Mad Men.' Otherwise, it's always good to unwind with a book.

  

  L'Wren Scott
  • Time
  • Good
  • Men

• I work eight hours a day, but I'm not writing all that time. I'm thinking, editing, looking something up. Thinking is what I do a lot of.

  

  Barbara Taylor Bradford
  • Up
  • Time
  • Work

• My phone blows up all the time. I had to change my number.

  

  Calvin Johnson
  • Up
  • Time
  • Change

• We have to embrace the good over the bad. That has to be one's personal project.

  

  Yusef Komunyakaa
  • Good
  • Bad
  • Project

• I would love to have some sort of 'Back To The Future' Delorean time machine travel device so I could go back to 1981 to see that very first Jackson 5 concert I went to, back when I was a kid.

  

  Questlove
  • Time
  • Love
  • Future

• In our Western culture, although death has come out of the closet, it is still not openly experienced or discussed. Allowing dying to be so intensely present enriches both the preciousness of each moment and our detachment from it.

  

  Ram Dass
  • Death
  • Culture
  • Present

• Lyndon Johnson was a profoundly insecure man who feared dissent and craved reassurance. In 1964 and 1965, Johnson's principal goals were to win the presidency in his own right and to pass his Great Society legislation through Congress.

  

  H. R. McMaster
  • Great
  • Man
  • Society

• When I read the 'Country Strong' script, I thought, 'Can't they just hand-double it? Can't I just do the rest of the movie and not have to do the performing?' It took me six months to learn to sing and play guitar at the same time.

  

  Garrett Hedlund
  • Time
  • Country
  • Movie

• I try and sit on the fence because as soon as you voice any kind of opinion, people begin to think you're an idiot.

  

  Calvin Harris
  • People
  • Think
  • Opinion

• I've been married twice. Most women would rather not be married to a traveling blues singer.

  

  B. B. King
  • Women
  • Most
  • Singer

• I'm originally from southern California, so I, like, say 'like', like, a lot. I've been trying to scrub any traces of Valley Girl from my speech since I moved to New York, but it's, like, totally way harder than anyone thinks, you know?

  

  Mara Wilson
  • Trying
  • Girl
  • California

• I procrastinate all morning. That's when I get my office work done and answer e-mails and see what's on the Internet and do laundry.

  

  Kate Christensen
  • Work
  • Done
  • Morning

• My birthday is Feb. 11, and I'm both excited and not excited by it. You'll never be 15 again, and you really, really need to savor every day like it's your last.

  

  Q'orianka Kilcher
  • Day
  • Everyday
  • Birthday

• To anybody who says to me, 'I'm in character,' I say, 'You should be in an asylum.' If you don't know that you're pretending, then you should really seek medical help. I don't have patience for that stuff.

  

  D. B. Sweeney
  • Character
  • Help
  • Patience

• Sometimes you have to be okay with what you are to the world, where you are in the world, and make the most of it.

  

  Jack McBrayer
  • World
  • You
  • Sometimes

• I became very timid, very retreating. I wouldn't talk to anybody. I didn't look you in the eye. I just had that kind of personality as a kid that basically puts a target on you.

  

  Frank Peretti
  • Personality

• For a long time I thought I was a poet, but that's a high title to claim.

  

  Philip Pullman
  • Time
  • Long
  • High

• Sometimes you can tell a wise person not only by what he says but also by what he doesn't say. Remember, it is much better to say little than to say too much and regret it later.

  

  Christian Slater
  • Remember
  • Wise
  • Regret

• Most Americans know nothing about the African forest, and it seems to them a very scary, spooky dangerous place. I've spent a lot of time in the forests of central Africa. I know they're beautiful places that contain a lot of different kinds of creatures, including some that carry Ebola.

  

  David Quammen
  • Time
  • Different
  • Beautiful