Matthew Desmond Quotes
When I talk to booksellers, they tell me how hard it is to hand-sell some of my books because I do keep popping around.
Quotes to Explore
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I've never gotten thick skin. If you close yourself off and you get this protective armor, there is a price you pay with that - of not feeling. And feeling is important when you are a songwriter.
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I think you have to keep a childlike quality to play music or make a record.
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I am in love with myself, with my friends, with my family, with kids, with life and my movies.
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If North American musicians would only know how uncomfortable life is for European musicians.
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If you're not kind, then you won't be attractive to me personally because that spirit shines through and makes people attractive.
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May Heaven be propitious, and smile on the cause of my country.
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I loved London. In the 1970s... it was very exciting, really wild.
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There are four ways, and only four ways, in which we have contact with the world. We are evaluated and classified by these four contacts: what we do, how we look, what we say, and how we say it.
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In our local Baptist church, I sang in the choir and formed a gospel quartet. When our minister caught me messing with his guitar, he taught me three positions – one, four and five. After that, I taught myself to play.
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As far as everyone else's opinion, I mean, if I would have thought that everyone was right, I probably wouldn't have left Compton, so I don't get too caught up on what the next person thinks.
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I enjoy passing time in my house. I'll get up, head out on the terrace, think about what to do, fool around oiling the floorboards or hanging pictures askew.
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Discouragement, fear, doubt, lack of self-confidence, are the germs which have killed the prosperity and happiness of tens of thousands of people.
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I don't wear plaid shirts.
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I just butcher a book. Everything I underline I assume is important to me.
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You have to take criticism with a grain of salt because you're never going to please everybody.
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I'm a dilettante. My governing word is 'curiosity.'
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My father was very clear; I had to have an ordinary upbringing. I was put to work as a lowly-paid trainee after college. I didn't like it at the time, but I can't help but feel that that was probably the best thing for me.
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The most important thing to realise is that everyone is capable of telling a story. It doesn't matter where we were born or how we grew up.
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The best measure of a spiritual life is not its ecstasies but its obedience.
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Disobedience to conscience is voluntary; bad poetry, on the other hand, is usually not made on purpose.
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The secret to gaining the upper hand in a negotiation is to give the other side the illusion of control. Don't try to force your opponent to admit that you are right. Ask questions, that begin with 'How?' or 'What?' so your opponent uses mental energy to figure out the answer.
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I like that I have kids still willing to hold my hand.
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When I talk to booksellers, they tell me how hard it is to hand-sell some of my books because I do keep popping around.
