Jane Smiley Quotes
If to live is to progress, if you are lucky, from foolishness to wisdom, then to write novels is to broadcast the various stages of your foolishness.

Quotes to Explore
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I turned down a lot of films.
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Marriage has always been a state and local issue.
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You have to find out how to become the character.
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When I was in high school, I was really into string theory and superstring theory and read 'Scientific American.' It's fascinating.
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I know what I look like - a weird, sad clown puppet. I'm fine with that.
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In our Western culture, although death has come out of the closet, it is still not openly experienced or discussed. Allowing dying to be so intensely present enriches both the preciousness of each moment and our detachment from it.
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As a liberal and progressive, I abhor the notion of conflict and bloodshed and very much want to find a diplomatic solution to the Iran nuclear issue.
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Everyone should learn to tango in Argentina before they die.
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I had no future with the Dodgers, because I was too closely identified with Branch Rickey. After the club was taken over by Walter O'Malley, you couldn't even mention Mr. Rickey's name in front of him. I considered Mr. Rickey the greatest human being I had ever known.
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I and life: The case was settled chivalrously. The opponents parted without having made up.
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I was lucky that I started very young, since I had a very clear idea of what I wanted to do. But my father is very conservative, and he never considered fashion to be a real career but something I could pursue as a hobby. He wanted me to be a doctor, and at one point, I thought of becoming a plastic surgeon.
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You've got to understand, people are motivated by fun. And they should be.
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If you look at a lot of the songs I've been involved in, there's always been this retro vibe. I started getting worried that I wasn't moving forward very much, nor was I even in tune with the music today. I almost scoffed at it.
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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'm a darned good listener.
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My first film 'Saawariya' was a flop; I don't regret it.
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If only we could pull out our brain and use only our eyes.
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Sometimes when you're praised about something, sometimes it's deserved, and sometimes it's not deserved. Same thing with criticism. Sometimes the criticism is deserved, and sometimes it's not deserved.
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I don't feel the least humble before the vastness of the heavens.
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I can express gratitude for the simple act of being able to breathe in and breathe out. I can move away from darkness and depression to light and hope. I can be happy with who I am, not what I should be, or what I might have been, or what someone tells me I must be. I am me, the true me; you are you, the true you - and that's good. That's beautiful. That's enough.
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'Everybody thinks they want to see the truth,' said Tenkswa-Tawa. 'That’s one of the lies we tell ourselves.'
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Death is a fact of life, no matter where you live. Taking care of the dying is a necessity everywhere. Those are not conditions exclusive to small towns.
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I think it all comes back to being very selfish as an artist. I mean, I really do just write and record what interests me and I do approach the stage shows in much the same way.
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If to live is to progress, if you are lucky, from foolishness to wisdom, then to write novels is to broadcast the various stages of your foolishness.