Per Petterson Quotes
In a household tragedy, you are very much aware of being alone. It is something that is possible to grasp, and that is why it hurts so much. Because you are alone. I know a little about this.

Quotes to Explore
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I want to be with those who know secret things or else alone.
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I think that everyone should be able to dribble. Everyone should be able to pass. Otherwise, why are you out there?
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Michael and I talk at least every two weeks. He understands why I've done the things I have.
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A lot of women are afraid of loneliness, so when they see a woman who can live alone, then they think, 'Hmm, I can do that.' But you need an example, and that is why I am proud to say I have divorced three husbands.
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The most overrated tool: a pasta maker. Why make it when you can buy it? It's a lot of work!
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What works for me is knowing the character in an emotional sense. I wish I was more logical but it doesn't work for me like that. I need quite a lot of time; it's why I always worry when I'm doing more than one thing at a time. I hope that some sort of magic will kick in.
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Photography, alone of the arts, seems perfected to serve the desire humans have for a moment - this very moment - to stay.
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My grandparents never understood why my mother Noreen chose such exotic names for her children: Damon and me. My granny insisted on calling my brother Dermot - a good Irish name - until she died; I was just known as 'wee one.'
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There is only one thing keeping us from having heaven on earth: we can't believe it! Why? Because we don't want to be wrong - so we'll be right and make it hell!
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But it's the particularity of a place, the physical experience of being in a place, that makes it onto the page. That's why I don't just do library research. I very rarely write about somewhere I haven't been.
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The reason why I'm a conservative is because conservative policies work and they improve opportunities. They are the avenue for climbing the economic dream.
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You have to understand that while I pre-plot the meta story of a given book, I often have no idea of what will happen on the next page, let alone the next chapter. That's what makes it fun for me; I write the books the same way many people read them.
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Listen, when somebody says, 'I take the fifth,' well, you know, they did something, OK? Why else would they take the fifth?
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In the '50s, I was traveling alone all over Mindanao, Basilan, all the way to Tawi-Tawi with just a camera and a notebook. I always stayed in the houses of Moros.
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No one is good but God alone. What is good is therefore divine, what is divine is therefore good.
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All my life, people have asked me what I was so mad about. 'Why you so mad?' And I was never mad. I'm not mad, I just look mad.
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Why do women get paid less money? It doesn't make any sense.
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I really do feel very lucky. I've had my kids and my relationships. I've set my life down - I'm in my house, and I'm alone with my children - and I'm at peace, and that's a really nice feeling. All I really want in my life is to maintain that.
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Why was it never good news that put problems into perspective? Why did it always take another set of problems?
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I learned to appreciate repetition. That's why I can dance. It's how I learned to act. I have a high tolerance for repetition.
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Is it he or is it I that experience this?
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For me, writing is a concentrated form of thinking.
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I don't get to keep the dresses I wear. It is not fair.
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In a household tragedy, you are very much aware of being alone. It is something that is possible to grasp, and that is why it hurts so much. Because you are alone. I know a little about this.