Douglas Coupland Quotes
Sometimes I wonder if the world is too interesting and too boring at the same time.
Quotes to Explore
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The last time I had to make a career decision, I was 17. I could have gone to Ballet Theatre or National Ballet of Canada. There were options. But as I became exposed to the Robbins repertoire, I realized that there was a living genius in the house.
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If people would dare to speak to one another unreservedly, there would be a good deal less sorrow in the world a hundred years hence.
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It is when we all play safe that we create a world of utmost insecurity.
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Most people don't really like to pose. It is difficult to get them to be present and relaxed under this kind of molecular scrutiny. I want them to understand I'm not simply painting them: I am painting them within a precise moment in time, as a shadow moves across their eyebrows. Then it is gone. The moment is over.
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Some people are instantly brilliant. The Kenneth Branaghs of this world are ready-formed actors at 23 - he has used his success in lots of different ways - but there are people out there for whom acting is: 'Ooh, I can get on the telly and be famous.'
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I'm the best in the world; thank you, Jesus, for that.
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We all wish to live. We all seek a world in which men are freed of the burdens of ignorance, poverty, hunger and disease. And we shall all be hard-pressed to escape the deadly rain of nuclear fall-out should catastrophe overtake us.
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Being right half the time beats being half-right all the time.
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Life is painting a picture, not doing a sum.
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I don't tend to set out on huge world domination goals or have anything in mind. I just like to play. I like to gig a lot; I like to write music.
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Literary dementia seems dated now, but there was a time when a month in the funny farm was as de rigueur for budding writers as an M.F.A. is now. To be sent away was a badge of honor; to undergo electroshock, a glorious martyrdom.
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What we now call the browser is whatever defines the web. What fits in the browser is the World Wide Web and a number of trivial standards to handle that so that the content comes.
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I time everything. I'm a scientist at heart.
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The only time a friend has ever helped me in the industry was how I got my first job - that was through Mike Figgis.
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I've had hundreds of requests from journalists all over the world asking me to speak about Leicester, which is astonishing. It's captured the imagination.
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You gotta be really careful what you bite off. Don't bite off more than you can chew. It's a dangerous world.
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I have two daughters: One an open book, one a locked box. So the question of privacy is a challenging one. How much do kids need? How much should we give? How do we prepare them to live in a world where the very notion of privacy opens a generational chasm?
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Everyone gets a raise when they do well. No one asked me what I got for my initial films. There was a time I got paid Rs. 6 lakh. I charge what producers are willing to pay me.
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Many of our problems are home-grown. Gordon Brown regularly advised the rest of the world to follow his British model of growth. But the model was flawed. It led to the highest level of household debt in relation to income in the world.
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I'm not the sort of person who wants to live my life doing just one thing. I like to go around and do as many things as possible.
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I don't have Facebook; I don't have Twitter. I don't have anything because, believe it or not, I'm a very, very private person! I don't even have WhatsApp! I don't like to pry into people's business.
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Directing is quite a nuts-and-bolts thing. It's a mixture of creating an atmosphere in which actors can feel safe enough to be dangerous.
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Now I've gotten to know more about the industry. And now that I'm over 18, I can work without my parents on set. That was nice and helped me get comfortable.
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Sometimes I wonder if the world is too interesting and too boring at the same time.
