Dinaw Mengestu Quotes
As a writer, it's a great narrative tool to have that character who is slightly detached but at the same time observant of his reality, because I think that's pretty much what being a writer is - being there, watching and internalizing.
Quotes to Explore
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Even when something sad or tragic happens, I find a way to look at it in a positive light. People who don't have a sense of humor must be so sad all the time.
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Many of the songs on Undertow were written at the time Opiate came out.
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One thing I hear a lot is, 'Dude, my mom loves your record,' or 'I got it for my dad for Christmas.' I'm essentially doing dad rock. Which is great, because I love Steely Dan, you know? Nothing wrong with dad rock!
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The reality is that I always envisioned the 'Riddick' franchise as a continuing mythology, so I always imagined that there would be many other films to follow.
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I'm half living my life between reality and fantasy at all times. It's best not to ask questions and just enjoy.
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A lot of the time we think finances are immediately linked to experience, opportunities, image, and all sorts of important things that can progress us in life. Sometimes they're not. Finances can be completely irrelevant if you allow yourself to feel like things are going well.
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Radical thought has inspired many of the great political and social reform movements in American history, from ending slavery to establishing the minimum wage.
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Canada was my whole world and my whole reality, and now I meet people who've never been there, and it's like, 'You've never been to my whole world?'
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One cannot spend one's time in being modern when there are so many more important things to be.
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I was pretty young, but because of that first record, 'Cole Espanol,' we took our first trip - well, my first trip - to Mexico.
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I have the time needed to support the album and tour.
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If I waited for inspiration every time I sat down to write a song I probably would be a plumber today.
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Ninety per cent of how you learn is watching great people. When you are surrounded by good actors it lifts your performance.
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Our World War II generation met the challenges of their time.
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Where was Paris Hilton a year ago? She's a fabulous character to write about.
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I spent a lot of time doing really unimportant work as an actor. It was important when I started writing that I obviously make it entertaining, or no one is going to go see it - but to really make you think, that is my goal.
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I went to hockey camp at Michigan because my dad has some relatives in the Ann Arbor area. We went to visit them as kids, and you start to learn the language from being around people. At the same time, when I got to college, I thought my English was better than it really was. I learned a lot over my four years.
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Authors change publishers because it's like being married for a long time and suddenly you want to go out and have a wild affair! No, not seriously, sometimes the deal is more interesting with a new publisher, and other times they have more enthusiasm for your books.
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Throughout my work with family and child support organizations, one thing that has stood out to me time and again is that getting early support for a child who is struggling to cope is the best possible thing we can do to help our children as they grow up.
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I haven't had a lot of celebrities around me growing up.
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I understand that one of the purposes of bipartisanship is to cram something difficult and necessary down the American people's gullets for which neither party has the fortitude to assume full responsibility. It's a way of turning a possible gangplank into a teeter-totter.
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Love is lust made meaningful. Hope is hunger made human.
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I will do plays as long as they're interested in having me do them. It's the biggest opportunity to learn the most about how to act. Something I discover every time I'm doing one is how little I know about acting - how important the art of listening is, and how important it is to listen with your entire body. You can tell so much of a story with stillness, and a lot of that can be from really actively listening to your scene partner.
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As a writer, it's a great narrative tool to have that character who is slightly detached but at the same time observant of his reality, because I think that's pretty much what being a writer is - being there, watching and internalizing.
