Matthew Desmond Quotes
I felt that writing about peoples' lives was a heck of a responsibility, and I wanted to know them in a deep way.
Quotes to Explore
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It is shallow people who think beauty is frivolous or excessive. If you are bringing beauty and god, you are enriching the country. Rice feeds the body, books feed the mind, beauty feeds the soul. It is one thing I can really be proud of and stand tall in the world.
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I want to entertain people, but with some substance.
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You can't win if you don't play as a unit.
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I was on 'SVU' for 11 years. I developed a muscle in my brain that could memorize things much more easily than people who don't do it every day. I got used to the language, and some of it got to be repetitive language, so you build your vocabulary.
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Because the nights bring the threat of invasion and terror to the villages, thousands of children in northern Uganda have become night commuters, leaving the nightmare of capture behind for the safety of the city.
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I was at one time a football wife, and there is a certain level of bonding that happens between women who are the wives of football players.
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To me, a critic is some loser who has no idea... someone with an opinion. We all have opinions. No offense, but what makes them dictate what is cool and what is not.
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I hate the way they portray us in the media. If you see a black family it says they're looting, if you see a white family it says they're looking for food.
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Listen to my voice - I sound like I'm permanently congested.
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R. Kelly is a thing on TV, but nobody knows Robert and what he's been through.
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The African Union has to act in order to put an end to armed conflicts that undermine the continent, to fight against the devastation caused by AIDS and other contagious diseases, to promote sustainable development of its member states.
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In my early 20s I was so miserable doing construction, I wanted something that paid money. I liked nice stuff. I liked cars and architecture, and things that cost money. I wanted to not swing a hammer, and make money... and not do stuff that was dirty. I attempted to get into comedy. I started to do stand-up, but I wasn't very good at it.
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I often have the impression that the book I've just finished isn't satisfied: that it rejects me because I haven't successfully completed it. Because there is no going back, I'm forced to begin a new book so I can finally complete the previous one.
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I'll never get married again, and I always hate to say never to anything, but I will never marry again.
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We do not need to proselytise either by our speech or by our writing. We can only do so really with our lives. Let our lives be open books for all to study.
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People in power, they're so used to people kind of playing up to them.
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Mulberry Street was the beating heart of the Italian-American experience, but you don't find those gangsters now. I live with a bunch of yuppies and models.
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Writing changed my life. It has an existential dimension, and that's the same for every writer. Every artist has a moment of awakening, of happening upon an idea that grabs hold of you, regardless of whether you are a painter or a writer.
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I don't intentionally go: 'Ooh, what is provocative,' and try to do that. I just do stuff, and people go: 'Ooh, that's provocative.'
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I personally believe that those who are leaders with political power over the world will be forced some day, sooner or later, to give way to common sense and the will of the people.
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When you think everything is someone else's fault, you will suffer a lot. When you realize that everything springs only from yourself, you will learn both peace and joy.
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You get in that pressure situation where you feel like you have to win at home.
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There were, and still are, a lot of different points of view in the gay community. It's not everybody holding hands and singing 'Kumbaya.' People have very different perspectives.
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I felt that writing about peoples' lives was a heck of a responsibility, and I wanted to know them in a deep way.
