Jan Timman Quotes
Quotes to Explore
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When your conscience says law is immoral, don't follow it.
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Only twice have I really had a hard time leaving a character. The first was my character in 'Rome' and then in 'Homeland.'
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With comedy, it's really hard to tell if something's working on the page - you really need the actors to bring it alive. The scariest part is if people will laugh or not.
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I know exactly what it's like to stand on top of a tall building or in a high place and look down and go, 'Ohhhh my God.' I try to get into that place every time I write a scene like that. And definitely when I write the action scenes, I get overheated and my heart goes really fast. I get very involved.
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Actor's life is very long.
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Menon the Thessalian did not either conceal his immoderate desire of riches or his desire of commanding, in order to increase them, or of being esteemed for the same reason. He desired to be well with those in power, that his injustice might escape punishment.
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How a piece ends is very important to me. It's the last chance to leave an impression with the reader, the last shot at 'nailing' it. I love to write ending lines; usually, I know them first and write toward them, but if I knew how they came to me, I wouldn't tell.
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Sometimes, I'm an ogre. I can be short. I'll walk into the office some days and I've gotten up on the wrong side of the bed, and everybody knows it. I'm a perfectionist. I like to be organized, and I like to get everything done today.
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The Companion of Honour I regarded as an award from the country for 50 years of work - which I thought was okay.
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As a kid, I always felt connected to Africa; it was something I was very proud of.
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As soon as it was clear, in Copenhagen in 2009, that the Senate was blocking Obama from introducing meaningful climate legislation, the push was for him to use executive authority, use the EPA, use the tool of federal leases, and there was just a refusal to do it.
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I had a pretty public divorce. They're not easy - divorces - and it took me a long time to really get through.
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When someone calls you 'gay,' there's not much you can do about that because I am. Whereas, if someone calls you fat, there is something you can do about that.
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You'll see me on 'Top Chef' someday. My Midwestern hospitality needs an outlet, you know?
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I wonder if anyone else has an ear so tuned and sharpened as I have, to detect the music, not of the spheres, but of earth, subtleties of major and minor chord that the wind strikes upon the tree branches. Have you ever heard the earth breathe?
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Every American, I think, should be able to fill out their taxes on a postcard.
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I honestly don't read that much. Obviously I read chess books - in terms of favorites, Kasparov's 'My Great Predecessors' is pretty good.
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We had a tiny budget for 'The Greatest,' which was the opposite of 'Wall Street.' We just kind of went in and did it. You've got four or five takes and then you've got to move on. We didn't even have trailers to stay in or anything.
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I only hope that one day, America will recognize what the rest of the world already has known, that our indigenous music - gospel, blues, jazz and R&B - is the heart and soul of all popular music; and that we cannot afford to let this legacy slip into obscurity, I'm telling you.
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When I was really young, I wanted to grow up and be the sun. Which shows an early penchant for ambition or narcissism or grandiosity or delusion - all of which are bellwethers for becoming a writer.
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It seems idle to rail at ambition merely because it is a boundless passion; or rather is not this circumstance an argument in its favor? If one would be employed or amused through life, should we not make choice of a passion that will keep one long in play?
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All of us are going to have to find ways to do things more efficiently, find ways to get our costs more in line, and do it in a time of higher regulatory and environmental standards.
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It is not unseemly for a man to die fighting in defense of his country.
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I am still full of ambition.
