Donald Barthelme Quotes
I obey the Commandments, the sensible ones. Where they don’t know what they’re talking about I ignore them. I keep thinking about the story of the two old women in church listening to the priest discoursing on the dynamics of the married state. At the end of the sermon one turns to the other and says, 'I wish I knew as little about it as he does.'
Quotes to Explore
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I never really like to skate in an empty ice rink; I always need the attention of an audience.
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First, I have to thank God for giving me the gift that he did as well as a second chance for a better life.
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In a lot of ways, I envy someone like Omar Sharif who lived in a hotel for decades.
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I had the good fortune of having a happy, closely knit family.
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New Zealanders have conventions and pleasantries, but we are direct. We are encouraged to be transparent with our behavior and not to employ passive aggression.
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It is a great delusion in those whose understanding has been darkened by self-love, to think that there is any obedience in the subject who tries to draw the superior to what he wishes.
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I never fully understand all the drama and machinations within the Eagles.
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I never thought of myself as a writer about religion until a religion came after me.
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It's a big theme throughout my music to just embrace everything about your own mind and to always feel powerful. It's not just a feminine thing, but for men, too, whether they feel weak, or strong or crazy or reclusive. I want everyone to feel powerful no matter what little beasts they have in their head.
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To prosper and advance, the American business sector is going to need a financial system oriented toward business, not 'home ownership.'
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What man is there, surrounded though he be with the love of wife and children, who does not retain a memory of the romantic affection of boys for each other? Having felt it, he could scarcely have forgotten it, and if he never felt it, he missed one of the most golden of the prizes of youth, unrecapturable in mature life.
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What I believe unites the people of this nation, regardless of race or region or party, young or old, rich or poor, is the simple, profound belief in opportunity for all - the notion that if you work hard and take responsibility, you can get ahead.
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You gotta give everybody a new trend a new wave, something new to do.
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Religion is absolutely unfathomable. Always and everywhere one can dig more deeply into infinities.
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You should not do an autobiography if you want to tell the truth. There are a lot of things I know about people. If I can't say something good about a person, I don't want to say anything. And since I don't want to say anything bad, I won't write a book.
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I had wanted to be a sculptor throughout life, but to do so, I had to stop painting.
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Personally, fame never really played any part in our family life.
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When I started out in life I wanted to teach.
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A book is a version of the world. If you do not like it, ignore it; or offer your own version in return.
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When I was growing up, the men in my life were abusive; women were the ones I ran to for comfort.
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In boxing, it's one fight, so it's easier to build up rivalries, but everyone's got huge respect for each other.
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It's kind of stupid that people think I'm just partying all the time.
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It would be a miracle, for example, if I dropped a stone and it rose upwards. But is it no miracle that it falls to the ground?
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I obey the Commandments, the sensible ones. Where they don’t know what they’re talking about I ignore them. I keep thinking about the story of the two old women in church listening to the priest discoursing on the dynamics of the married state. At the end of the sermon one turns to the other and says, 'I wish I knew as little about it as he does.'
