James Boswell Quotes
I went to my father's at night. He spoke of poor John [Boswell's brother] with disgust. I was shocked and said, "He's your son, and God made him." He answered very harshly, "If my sons are idiots, can I help it?
Quotes to Explore
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A book is never a masterpiece: it becomes one. Genius is the talent of a dead man.
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From my point of view, I'm a totally normal person! Really! I have a family. I have kids. I have a house... I don't have a dog.
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The British Museum was our first real museum, the property of the public rather than the monarch or the church.
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Yeah... I was a singer as a kid. I had a lot of stage fright, and what's happened with 'Idol,' it has got me past so much of that.
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A man cannot become an atheist merely by wishing it.
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Israel has a fantastic film industry, and many times we are known for our political films or films that have to do with the army. I love the fact that we can show that there are films coming out of Israel that are just for fun.
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The decision that has to be made was whether it was material, whether he knew he was lying under oath, whether he did it willfully. I think that's required of any prosecutor who is charged with an investigation of this.
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My dad was very fun and very adventurous, and from a formative age I learned to value men who would do things on a whim.
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I was physically abused and I retaliated.
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I love to go to casinos with my wife. I play poker, and she's an old-fashioned slot queen. She even has a visor.
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I want to, at the end of the day, be able to say, 'I am a runner.'
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If longevity is the best index to measure a company, a basic requirement is the ability of the corporation to generate new and new leaders.
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We've had Audrey Hepburn, we've had Twiggy, we've had Veruschka, we've had Kate Moss. I'm trying to figure out why I am to blame for skinniness.
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The only show my mother could afford to take me to when I was growing up was 'Cats', for my birthday.
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I need to start honing in on projects that I want to devote my time to and not put my energies into the unattainable ones.
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Some movies to me are like vampires – they suck all of the energy out of me and I don't like that. I like to give the audience energy if I can.
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I've been the best player on every team that I played on, so if I can't be the poster child of your team, then what else is it? It's got to be a black-white issue. Every white player I know who's the best player on their team is the poster child of that team.
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Give me a child and I'll shape him into anything.
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I was raised with a father who really believed in the bridge between all Africans around the world.
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The live show is different from the album. It's different every night depending on where I am and how many months have gone by since I last performed.
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The first 20 stories written about a public figure set the tone for the next 2,000 and it is almost impossible to reverse it.
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My mum told me, 'At that moment when you know you can't do both, the marriage and the kids, choose the marriage because you're going to be spending your whole lives together, so you have to put a lot of work and attention into the relationship.'
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I went to my father's at night. He spoke of poor John [Boswell's brother] with disgust. I was shocked and said, "He's your son, and God made him." He answered very harshly, "If my sons are idiots, can I help it?
