Yusef Komunyakaa Quotes
My great-grandfather Melvin had been a carpenter - so was my father - and they taught me the value of tools: saws, hammers, chisels, files and rulers. It all dealt with conciseness and precision. It eliminated guesswork. One has to know his tools, so he doesn't work against himself.
Quotes to Explore
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I never thought I would be standing here, married to an All-American guy, living in Oklahoma. What a country.
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It's not possible to be perfect - you can always do something better. I'm never proud of what I've done. Sometimes, I'm not ashamed.
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Billy Jean King could not get credit when her husband was in law school and she was winning the Wimbledon, because he had to sign the cards. You know, you had these cases in the '70s of women who were mayors who couldn't get credit unless their husbands signed for them.
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Certainly our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters need to be supported in living out their call to holiness.
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When people go through something rough in life, they say, 'I'm taking it one day at a time.' Yes, so is everybody. Because that's how time works.
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I don't like allegories.
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I was about five years old when I was eating soup in our kitchen, and as I was lifting the spoon towards my mouth, it bent and broke in half.
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Everything was in stark and dreadful contrast with the trivial crises and counterfeit emotions of Hollywood, and I returned to England deeply moved and emotionally worn out.
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There is no more respected or influential forum in the field of journalism than the New York Times. I look forward, with great anticipation, to contributing to its op-ed page.
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I never felt popular as a child and never had best friends.
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If you respect a language and culture, it shows in your work.
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I always like to have a buffer between me and journalism in general. Not just a reporter, but journalism.
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On one hand, it seems strange that a country that has suffered so much from violence and war would be debating if they want peace or not. But in Colombia, a part of society is deeply connected with the war as a means of making a living.
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In the wealthy industrialized nations, effective drug therapies against AIDS became available - AZT as early as 1987, then combinations of antiretroviral agents in 1996. The new drugs offered hope that fatal complications might be staved off and AIDS rendered a chronic condition.
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Too many times, the international community has not prepared the post-conflict period in time.
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When I was at school, I used to end every school day with fountain pen ink all over my hands and face and down my shirt.
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I make the music my ears want to hear, I wear the clothes my body wants to wear and the ones boys call me back for, and I generally make the songs that my feet dance to.
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I'll talk about these things, but it's just, you know, you only get so much time and I'm much more interested in what I'm going to be doing next year than in something I did 10 years ago.
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The American women are very pretty and have great simplicity of character, and the extreme neatness of their appearance is truly delightful: cleanliness is everywhere even more studiously attended to here than in England.
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Just because you're not sweating doesn't mean you're not putting in the work.
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I don't speak Spanish, I speak a little of Italian but no Spanish.
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I always thought that was one of the single most important things a prosecutor could do is to seek justice for the families of victims.
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It's much easier for me to sleep in space than it is back home. We sleep in a cabin, and you can float inside.
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My great-grandfather Melvin had been a carpenter - so was my father - and they taught me the value of tools: saws, hammers, chisels, files and rulers. It all dealt with conciseness and precision. It eliminated guesswork. One has to know his tools, so he doesn't work against himself.
