Deborah Tannen Quotes
The long history of conversations that family members share contributes not only to how listeners interpret words but also to how speakers choose them.
Quotes to Explore
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I always point out to my Passover guests that the Hebrews were not living in isolation. They were at the crossroads of several great, elaborate cultures with their own mythology and religion and art and architecture and cultural belief. In fact, so many of the mythologies of the world describe the same events, just from different points of view.
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I did a film called 'Fire with Fire.'
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All I know is stars and hits, you know what I mean? I don't just sign a guy because he has a hot record. I sign a guy because he's a star. He's a pillar of the community.
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I was never offended that people underestimated me because of my appearance or that they thought I was pretty and discouraged me from fighting because they didn't want me to risk hurting my looks.
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There are a lot of mindless moments in my tunes.
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If I have a 100 percent batting average, you should fire me, because it means we haven't tried anything really noble.
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Yeah, I'm from Jersey; it's almost like I was automatically born a Nets fan.
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On a personal level, I love the idea of hosting an awards show. I think that sounds like kind of a fun thing to do.
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Acting is the work of two people - it's only possible when you have the complicity, the help, even the manipulation of a director.
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The mere fact that so many continue to rise, year after year, out of just such conditions as you may think are fatal to your advancement, ought to convince you that you also can conquer your environment.
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Some people can be choosy because they're ultratalented or lucky or whatever, but yeah, there are certain things that might not be the greatest thing on my resume. But I don't sit back and go, 'Gosh, I wish I didn't do that.' It's all part of the growth of a career, whether you're an entertainer or a librarian.
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I'm not a Facebook/Twitter gal, but my husband is.
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You know, we've got to this place, where you go to a movie for one particular surgical fix. So, it's like, I want the pulse-pounding action, or the insane falling-off-my-seat comedy, or the devastating, heart-breaking drama.
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My whole back's tattooed. I just wanted a twist. I was always in punk bands when I was little... I think that's where the tie comes from.
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I'd rather go to a flea market than just about anything. It's the process I like - the same with getting dressed. If I've got someplace to be, I'll spend more time getting dressed than I spent at the actual event. Sometimes. Even in my own closet, I love to dig and search and find.
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Science does not limit itself merely to what is currently verifiable. But it is interested in questions that are potentially verifiable (or, rather, falsifiable).
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I don't write a great song every day. I don't write a great song every couple weeks. It comes in such random times.
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Charles McCarry is the best modern writer on the subject of intrigue - by the breadth of Alan Furst, by the fathom of Eric Ambler, by any measure.
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If we dare to come closer to our fellow human beings, we will be able to see and understand them better.
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I study English literature but my friends are doing psychology and things like that. No one cares about acting there. It's not competitive and it's a nice environment for me.
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'China rich' is the new 'crazy rich.' It's a new level of outrageousness. It comes from this world where overnight fortunes have been made, but the fortunes are so ginormous compared to anything we've ever seen in the history of the world.
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The idea that humanity is divided into these separate and distinct and disparate groups with clear boundaries has been disproven by science a long time ago, decades ago. Humanity really is more of a continuum, and that people belong on the same continuum and there are no clear breaks between these so-called races.
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Mark what 'tis his mind aims at in the question, and not what words he expresses it in: and when you have informed and satisfied him in that, you shall see how his thoughts will enlarge themselves, and how by fit answers he may be led on farther than perhaps you could have imagine. For knowledge is grateful to the understanding, as light to the eyes.
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The long history of conversations that family members share contributes not only to how listeners interpret words but also to how speakers choose them.
