Douglas Coupland Quotes

Lists only spell out the things that can be taken away from us by moths and rust and thieves. If something is valuable, don't put it in a list. Don't even say the words.

Douglas Coupland

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Quotes to Explore

• The difference between eccentricity and originality in historical studies is often difficult to detect at first encounter. When a radically new interpretation of a large segment of history makes its appearance, time is needed to sift the evidence.

  

  Edmund Morgan
  • Time
  • History
  • New

• I think to have the skill set and the ability to physically help others in matters of life and death must be incredibly empowering.

  

  Karlie Kloss
  • Life
  • Help
  • Death

• The Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument may be distant from our shores, but it will help us understand how healthy marine ecosystems work and how we can revive troubled seas closer to home.

  

  Frances Beinecke
  • Work
  • May
  • Home

• I got into politics because I was tired of complaining.

  

  Patrick Murphy
  • Politics
  • Tired
  • Complaining

• I used to think I had ambition... but now I'm not so sure. It may have been only discontent. They're easily confused.

  

  Rachel Field
  • May
  • Think
  • Ambition

• I shall have a beautiful dream tonight. I also wish everyone to have a beautiful dream.

  

  Yani Tseng
  • Beautiful
  • Dream
  • Wish

• If there's a will, prosperity can't be far behind.

  

  W. C. Fields
  • Will
  • Prosperity
  • Far

• The performances you have in your head are always much better than the performances on stage.

  

  Maggie Smith
  • You
  • Always
  • Better

• Jobs mean freedom for workers to support their families.

  

  Nancy Pelosi
  • Freedom
  • Support
  • Mean

• I remember having this friend in school who said she didn't like the Beach Boys. And in that moment I knew we couldn't be friends anymore.

  

  Zooey Deschanel
  • School
  • She
  • Friends

• The Arab Spring I think we will look back whether it's two years, five years, ten or fifteen. And say it's a good thing.

  

  Abdullah II of Jordan
  • Good
  • Think
  • Spring

• But if I played well and prepared myself properly, then all I had to do was control myself and put myself in a position to win.

  

  Jack Nicklaus
  • Control
  • Myself
  • Win

• On the Internet, everybody has an opinion about everything, but if you're smart, you know when to keep your mouth shut.

  

  Rachel Sklar
  • Know
  • Opinion
  • Smart

• I remember seeing 'Gremlins' and having my mind blown and seeing 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off' at 13, and it was this hugely aspirational experience.

  

  Edgar Wright
  • Mind
  • Experience
  • Remember

• In the calculus of western interests, there is no suffering, whatever its scale, which cannot be justified. Chechens, Palestinians, Iraqis, Afghans, Pakistanis are of little importance.

  

  Tariq Ali
  • Suffering
  • Importance
  • Scale

• Don't take 'no' for an answer.

  

  Abdullah II of Jordan
  • Answer
  • Take

• The American Negro has no conception of the hundreds of millions of other non-whites' concern for him: he has no conception of their feeling of brotherhood for and with him.

  

  Malcolm X
  • American
  • Feeling
  • Him

• Perhaps the truest axiom in baseball is that the toughest thing to do is repeat.

  

  Walt Alston
  • Baseball
  • Repeat
  • Axiom

• If I could only remember that the days were, not bricks to be laid row on row, to be built into a solid house, where one might dwell in safety and peace, but only food for the fires of the heart.

  

  Edmund Wilson
  • Heart
  • Remember
  • House

• the urgent crowds out the essential.

  

  Nan Fairbrother
  • Crowds
  • Essential
  • Urgent

• As far as your personal goals are and what you actually want to do with your life, it should never have to do with the government. You should never depend on the government for your retirement, your financial security, for anything. If you do, you're screwed.

  

  Drew Carey
  • Life
  • Government
  • Financial

• I've always tried to put a little message in my music.

  

  Kristian Bush Sugarland
  • Music

• Prior to Elephant I'd taken about six years of acting classes in Portland, but there's not a huge market there. The only thing we have is commercial stuff, and that didn't really appeal to me. So this is really a dream come true.

  

  John Robinson
  • True
  • Dream
  • Taken

• Lists only spell out the things that can be taken away from us by moths and rust and thieves. If something is valuable, don't put it in a list. Don't even say the words.

  

  Douglas Coupland
  • Words
  • Taken