Douglas Tompkins Quotes
Quotes to Explore
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The billable hours is a classic case of restricted autonomy. I mean, you're working on - I mean, sometimes on these six-minute increments. So you're not focused on doing a good job. You're focused on hitting your numbers. It's one reason why lawyers typically are so unhappy. And I want a world of happy lawyers.
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I worked three and then six hours a day in my studio with strict discipline and emotion. I obtained awards usually granted to other foreigners during the end-of-year admission tests.
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The first book I sat down to write was an historical romance. It was really bad and thankfully no one ever saw it.
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Nearly everything you do is of no importance, but it is important that you do it.
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My grandfather arrived in Houston in 1942 as a refugee from Nazi Germany. He had lost everything - his profession, his language, his money - but the city welcomed him, as it has hundreds of thousands of immigrants over the years.
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Socialism requires that government becomes your god.
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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 went swimming the other day and my wife was watching and she said, 'You know, it's funny, it's when you've got no clothes on, no one recognizes you.' I said, 'What are you saying? That I should do more love scenes?'
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I've written many extra verses to songs that I learned to sing - an extra verse about a friend, or just add some verse - and that led to writing my own songs.
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Nothing is so aggravating than calmness.
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I've always loved performing and, especially, love for the people. That's what keeps me going.
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I clearly understood the concept of wise use before I ever heard the actual words, for my father wouldn't allow us to waste anything.
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It's never been difficult for me to say no. I have never given excuses like I don't have dates. I have never over-quoted to avoid a project. I simply say that while the script might be good, I can't connect with it. My strategy is that while I wouldn't want anyone to waste my time, I shouldn't be doing that, either, with others.
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I hate being asked how I met my husband and very personal questions like that. I don't like that. People are too nosey. Intelligent questions I like, but sometimes people ask such silly, dopey ones.
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Man is a creative retrospection of nature upon itself.
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You cannot be lonely if you like the person you're alone with.
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My identity comprises of more than just my faith. I am a proud Muslim, but I am also a liberal, a Briton, a Pakistani, a Londoner, a father, a product of the globalised world who speaks English, Arabic and Urdu.
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All the big online retailers are looking at how to enter the Russian market.
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I love to create clothing for the everyday woman. I get joy out of that because it's something that we need in this industry.
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I'm a very good storyteller; I have a lot of compassion for people. That's very useful for a novelist. A lot of novelists are snots. They're just mean people. I'm not a terribly skilled stylist, nor do I want to be. I want a lot of people to read one of my stories and go, 'That was pretty cool.'
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The theories of the major philosophers of the 18th century secular enlightenment were biblical and theological in spite of themselves.
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Almost nothing anyone told me about Harvard has been accurate.
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I'm really not one of these procrastinators who cleans the house in order to put off writing, but life gets in the way.
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There are emotional relationships in any business.
