John Banville Quotes

Flaubert read too many books, and in consequence some of his own books stagger under the weight of his erudition. He said he'd read some preposterous number of books to prepare for the writing of Salammbô, and you can feel them dragging the novel down. It would have been much better if he'd made it all up.

John Banville

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Quotes to Explore

• Nearly all government advice on terrorism sacrifices practical particulars for an unalarming tone. The usual guidance is to maintain a three-day supply of food and water along with a radio, flashlight, batteries and first-aid kit.

  

  Barton Gellman
  • Food
  • Government
  • Water

• Not really, drums found me, I just liked music, all kinds of music.

  

  Pat Mastelotto Mr. Mister
  • Music
  • Me
  • Just

• I like to look at 'A Place in the Sun' every now and get inspired by it.

  

  Randa Haines
  • Sun
  • Inspired
  • Look

• I think you have to do certain things in the pilot to get your network's attention - to break through... So maybe you push a little further in the first show.

  

  D. B. Sweeney
  • Think
  • Attention
  • Push

• We are very luck to be women, so even if we're wearing trousers, I always wear them with some lace underwear or a very feminine bra - I like that.

  

  Carine Roitfeld
  • Women
  • Always
  • Luck

• The lives of African-Americans in this country are characterized by violence for most of our history. Much of that violence, at least to some extent, you know, done by the very state that's supposed to protect them.

  

  Ta-Nehisi Coates
  • Country
  • Done
  • History

• It's good - it's great when somebody who is 20 years younger than you comes up and says, 'Wow, we just got turned on to you guys, and you're really great,' or something like that. I like that.

  

  Walter Becker China Crisis
  • Up
  • Good
  • Great

• I love people, and the hustle.

  

  Gary Vaynerchuk
  • People
  • Love
  • Hustle

• You realize, no matter how great, books are not shows or movies; each operates on their own different rules. 'Game of Thrones' is no different. Being forced to come up with those scenes on short notice helped how we were viewing the show and forcing it to come into its own.

  

  D. B. Weiss
  • Up
  • Great
  • Different

• Darwin's idea of natural selection makes people uncomfortable because it reverses the direction of tradition.

  

  Daniel Dennett
  • People
  • Direction
  • Tradition

• Why is it that a large majority of Hindus do not inter-dine and do not inter-marry? Why is it that your cause is not popular? There can be only one answer to this question, and it is that inter-dining and inter-marriage are repugnant to the beliefs and dogmas which the Hindus regard as sacred.

  

  Babasaheb
  • Why
  • Question
  • Marriage

• I think I'm like a free spirit.

  

  Bai Ling
  • Think
  • Free
  • Free Spirit

• We - we spend a lot of time, scholarly time, thinking about love and sex, but very little about the - the kind of joy that can take over a crowd of people or a group of people, in festivity, in ecstatic ritual of some kind, in celebration.

  

  Barbara Ehrenreich
  • People
  • Time
  • Joy

• Federalism is no longer the fault line of Centre-State relations but the definition of a new partnership of Team India. Citizens now have the ease of trust, not the burden of proof and process. Businesses find an environment that is open and easy to work in.

  

  Narendra Modi
  • Work
  • Team
  • Trust

• There is an urgent need for the Central government to take the lead in ensuring health and nutrition service delivery.

  

  Kapil Sibal
  • Health
  • Government
  • Service

• We're a phenomenally snobby society, and it's such a rich seam. The middle class is so funny: it's the class I know best, and it's the class where you find the most pretension, so that's what makes the middle classes so funny.

  

  Joanne Rowling
  • Society
  • Funny
  • Best

• There are some things that I write that I know are personal in a way, or the gag is so obscure that it's just for me, and there's other things that could basically be for anybody or be anything, at least until the lyrics start to get written.

  

  Walter Becker China Crisis
  • Know
  • Write
  • Start

• It costs more money to put a person on death row than it does to lock them up for the rest of their lives because of attorney fees.

  

  Gary Johnson
  • Up
  • Money
  • Death

• Sometimes things just fall out of your head on the paper, and if you're smart, you learn not to touch them.

  

  Laurie Halse Anderson
  • Fall
  • Smart

• I was born in Chicago and grew up in the suburb of Evanston.

  

  Douglas Wood
  • Up
  • Chicago

• My goal was to do anything that would lead to a job. I know that writing would not lead to a job. It's too fancy for me. My biggest goal was to be an office receptionist, answer phones. I didn't expect to go beyond that.

  

  Anchee Min
  • Writing
  • Job

• When working on my choreography I am not always receptive to outside suggestions or opinions. I believe that if you have something in mind in the way of a creation, such as a new dance, a sequence, or an effect, you are certain to come up with inaccurate criticism and damaging results if you go around asking for opinions.

  

  Fred Astaire
  • Up
  • Believe
  • Mind

• Flaubert read too many books, and in consequence some of his own books stagger under the weight of his erudition. He said he'd read some preposterous number of books to prepare for the writing of Salammbô, and you can feel them dragging the novel down. It would have been much better if he'd made it all up.

  

  John Banville
  • Up
  • Writing