Philip Kerr Quotes
A lot of crime writing suffers from treading water. I feel an obligation to move the character on and not repeat myself. I try to fit him into a different period and a different agenda. That way, you learn slightly more about his personal history in the tradition of the unreliable narrator. It makes it more challenging to write.
Quotes to Explore
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As kids, we spontaneously sing and dance and tell stories, and along the way, someone comes and says, 'No. You shouldn't be doing that.' And we slowly begin to unlearn our passions. I think you have to hold on to those things.
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As long as a film stays unmade, the book is entirely yours, it belongs to the writer. As soon as you make it into a film, suddenly more people see it than have ever read the book.
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When you're a war correspondent, the reader is for you because the reader is saying, 'Gee, I wouldn't want to be doing that.' They're on your side.
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I was a huge fan of comedy and movies and TV growing up, and I was able to memorize and mimic a lot of things, not realizing that that meant I probably wanted to be an actor. I just really, really amused myself and my friends with memorizing entire George Carlin or Steve Martin albums.
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It's the sum of the parts that make up the whole, so in my opinion excellence comes from how one undertakes to do something. It all begins with the thought process - which is creative and exalted to produce something out of the ordinary.
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I'm very drawn to characters who are very flawed. I'm less interested in characters who are just good or bad, because to me then they're not real people.
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You like the style of the people you like because it reflects something inside them.
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I wasn't a very good student in elementary school and had a hard time with reading and writing.
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War will never cease until babies begin to come into the world with larger cerebrums and smaller adrenal glands.
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Those who play with the devil's toys will be brought by degrees to wield his sword.
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My senior year of high school, I got into UCLA, but my family couldn't afford it.
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Any beast can cry over the misfortunes of its own child. It takes a mensch to weep for others' children.
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We really tried hard not to make it a cricket book, it appeals to a much wider community.
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I hate being called a pop star. I hate that.
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I want people to tell me the truth.
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The next time you see an outside day with a down close lower than the previous day, don't get scared, get ready to buy!
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The only time some people work like a horse is when the boss rides them.
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Beware of the company you keep. See that you associate with the right type of people.
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Width of life is more important than length of life.
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Gooseberries aren't just for creamy desserts and pies.
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My younger sister Debby had died of cancer, which started me writing - the sense of life being short. Cancer focuses your mind.
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The club scene is terrible.
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A lot of crime writing suffers from treading water. I feel an obligation to move the character on and not repeat myself. I try to fit him into a different period and a different agenda. That way, you learn slightly more about his personal history in the tradition of the unreliable narrator. It makes it more challenging to write.
