James Buchan Quotes
The use of refined petroleum as fuel, which began in the 1850s, freed hundreds of millions of people from the toil of centuries, gave hundreds of millions more a life of ease and plenty, and, by allowing great cities to feed themselves from every corner of the world, multiplied the population of the earth fivefold.

Quotes to Explore
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What's great about stand-up is that you can say whatever you want and go around the country, and sometimes the world, and work on it and see how people react. You don't need Standards & Practices or notes from lawyers or producers to tell you what's funny.
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A play is much easier to maintain your personal life with because if you're rehearsing, you're working like from 11 to 6 or 11 to 5 and you get to have your whole morning and your whole evening. When you're doing the play, you have all day.
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To write it, it took three months; to conceive it three minutes; to collect the data in it all my life.
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It's always convenient for certain people to heap accusations on Israel.
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Monologues are self-verifying and self-referencing, a world in their own right, one with its own internal logic that strengthens with reiteration.
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The great photographers of life - like Diane Arbus and Walker Evans and Robert Frank - all must have had some special quality: a personality of nurturing and non-judgment that frees the subjects to reveal their most intimate reality. It really is what makes a great photographer, every bit as much as understanding composition and lighting.
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The misperception about the South is that everybody is racist, and all black people are victims, that what was prevalent in the '60s is only relegated to the South.
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Spiritual life can certainly follow the pattern one sees in the fake martial arts, with most teachers making nebulous and magical claims that never get tested, while their students derange themselves with weird ideas, empty rituals, and other affectations.
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My great-grandfather fought with the Colonial Army in New England in the American Revolution.
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The acquisition of knowledge - knowledge of both the world and of their own religion - will inoculate young people against extremist ideologies.
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I've never really felt like a veteran. I've never felt like the guy who's like, 'OK, everyone needs to look up to me and respect me.' I've always just been one of the guys that people are excited to get in the ring with. That's all I want.
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I've always felt that if you've been blessed, you should try to help as many people as you can. I just think that's the right thing to do.
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The boundary between space and the earth is purely arbitrary. And I'll probably always be interested in this planet - it's my favorite.
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I had learned of Gertrude Stein's bon mot that medicine opened all doors. This prompted me, in different moods, to view my future life as literary psychiatrist, globe-trotting tropical disease specialist, or academic internist.
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Music is really something that makes people whole.
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When you get bullied, you automatically think that you're the reason why you're getting bullied. The reality is, it's about them, not you... I'm all about blocking people. I'm all about saying, 'You know what, I don't need this in my life.'
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Bitterness and unforgiveness block the flow of God's blessing in your life and actually hinder your prayers.
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I have been immeasurably honored to serve the people of Maine for nearly 40 years in public office and for the past 17 years in the United States Senate. It was incredibly difficult to decide that I would not seek a fourth term in the Senate.
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There is certainly a higher percentage of wit in British comedy than in American comedy. What always tickles me is the way in which people try to use their intellect to get themselves out of tricky situations but never quite manage to do so - much to their enormous embarrassment.
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You can't be the best player if suddenly you play well and the next day you play badly.
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Even if you're improvising, the fact that beforehand you know certain things will work helps you make those improvisations successful. It really helps to have a certain amount of knowledge about musical structure.
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I almost never have a plan for myself... I'm not ambitious in that way.
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What really grabs me is when a reader writes to express her personal story and how a book helped her situation, or her acceptance of a situation she can't change. I read some sad cases in my snail and electronic mail. I respond to all I can, affirming that they are the true heroes of life because they are fighting through adversity and surviving.
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The use of refined petroleum as fuel, which began in the 1850s, freed hundreds of millions of people from the toil of centuries, gave hundreds of millions more a life of ease and plenty, and, by allowing great cities to feed themselves from every corner of the world, multiplied the population of the earth fivefold.