Deborah Tannen Quotes
Quotes to Explore
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Remember that our sons and grandsons are going to do things that would stagger us.
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I think the Hajj tends to reflect the state of the Ummah. That's one of the things about the Hajj is that you get to see the Ummah. It's a microcosm of the Ummah's condition.
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There's nothing wrong with constructive criticism, and I learn from that and better myself. I'm not expecting anyone to be sycophantic in any way; I never expected that.
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When the best leader's work is done the people say, 'We did it ourselves.'
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Western enthusiasm for democracy stops when those opposed to its policies are elected to office.
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Ah, I am thinking people put more in their prayers than was ever put in them by God.
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September 11 was a wake-up call to me. I don't want to contribute to the hate in any shape or form. I now regret in the past being silent about what I have heard in the Islamic discourse and being part of that with my own anger.
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Lighter computers and lighter sensors would let you have more function in a given weight, which is very important if you are launching things into space, and you have to pay by the pound to put things there.
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I've been noticing gravity since I was very young.
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Apparently, I'm very good at firing a gun without blinking, which is unusual. That's why so many action characters have to wear sunglasses during shoot-out scenes. That's my party trick.
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My dad has always been really helpful. He taught me that talent is a bonus, but persistence is what wins out.
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Spiritual practice should not be confused with grim duty. It is the laughter of the Dalai Lama and the wonder born with every child.
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The world may be full of fourth-rate writers but it's also full of fourth-rate readers.
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I was 19, and I thought I should settle down and get a real job, and what was I doing living this dream world?
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You've got to eat while you dream. You've got to deliver on short-range commitments, while you develop a long-range strategy and vision and implement it. The success of doing both. Walking and chewing gum if you will. Getting it done in the short-range, and delivering a long-range plan, and executing on that.
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For a long time, I couldn't even afford food and clothing. I climbed from the very bottom of the society.
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I have long been impressed with the focus on politics and that focus being... from young people.
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I'd read at a much higher-than-average grade level since, well, grade school.
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I tried snowboarding, and that scared the hell out of me.
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The 'New Yorker' asked me to shoot a story on climate change in 2005, and I wound up going to Iceland to shoot a glacier. The real story wasn't the beautiful white top. It ended up being at the terminus of the glacier where it's dying.
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My favorite audience is everybody. I worked in a drive-in theater from the time I was 8 years old until I went to college, and I'm accustomed to everybody can buy a ticket and everybody should be taken into account.
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In the end, abortion is an issue of fundamental human rights. To force women to undergo pregnancy and childbirth against their will is to deprive them of the right to make basic decisions about their lives and well-being, and to give that power to the state.
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Big waves are a whole different ball game. You're riding a wave with an immense amount of speed and power, generally over 10 meters. On the face of the wave, obviously life and death thoughts start to happen.
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We tend to look through language and not realize how much power language has.