John Betjeman Quotes
There are two things you need for a jolly good hymn. The first is a set of words that expresses the mood or sentiment of the worshipper. The second-and perhaps even more important-is a good tune … with a simple popular melody.
Quotes to Explore
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If I hadn't spent many years trying to be as compassionate as Mother Teresa, as positive a thinker as W. Clement Stone, as prolific a writer as Stephen King, and as good a speaker as many of the legends I have studied, I would not be as successful as I am today.
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One of the biggest mistakes people make is to think that what you need to write a novel is imagination, creativity and a facility with words. Yes, you need all those things, but a novel is a highly complex organism that needs to be dealt with in quite a logical manner.
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Perhaps it is impossible for a person who does no good to do no harm.
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Altruism raises your mood because it raises your self-esteem, which increases happiness. Plus, giving to others gets you outside of yourself and distracts you from your problems.
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The only really conscious decision I made was to cast my net wide and if the work was good, to do it.
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I'm planning to be here forever, but I know at some point I'll probably have to give it up. If you live to 100, there's a very good chance you'll live forever. Because very few people die after 100.
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The only thing I've kind of missed is finding a really good western that I want to do, because I watched westerns a lot.
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When you are doing a long scene, you have dialogue and interaction to narrate the character. But making sense out of facial expression and reacting is difficult. Having said that, I think such challenges are good for learning.
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When anybody goes to L.A. from London, there's always this slight sense of, 'What are you doing? Who do you think you are? It's never gonna happen.' It's the classic, good-natured British cynicism.
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Being a father is the most important thing, if you ask me. It changed me as a person and gave me an all new life.
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I think a lot of writers are tempted to add complexity by over-complicating things, but always remember that most natural rules/laws are, at their core, simple. Start simple, and build from there, or you risk getting yourself and your readers tangled.
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I'm not going to comment about potential jobs in the future because that's a rabbit hole to go down and get caught up in, but all I'll say is I'll go where the good scripts are.
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My dad was in the Army, so what was happening internationally and nationally was always important to my family.
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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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The less lines, the better. I am the silent film actor, but not in a slapstick sort of way. Film is an image-based medium, so whatever you can say without the words is far more provocative and punctuating. If the lines are not funny or if they don't advance the story, sometimes it's hard. I hate talk in movies.
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Kabir Khan is that rare director who manages to merge Bollywood formula with a good story.
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But I now entered on my fifteenth year - a sad epoch in the life of a slave girl. My master began to whisper foul words in my ear. Young as I was, I could not remain ignorant of their import.
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A tree is known by its fruit; a man by his deeds. A good deed is never lost; he who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love.
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It's always easiest for me as a writer if I know I have a great ending. It can make everything else work. If you don't have a good ending, it's the hardest things in the world to come up with one. I always loved the ending of 'The Kite Runner,' and the scenes that are most faithful to the book are the last few scenes.
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You have to really respect what your kids are doing with their kids and how they're raising them. You can't push your way into areas where you shouldn't be saying anything. You have to always remember they're not your own kids. Play with them, love them, spoil them to death - then hand them back.
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What happened to the America we grew up in, the America of Truman, Ike, JFK and Reagan?
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My biggest fear is that I'm not good enough. I have this voice in my head that I've been battling for years that says, 'You're not really talented enough. You don't really deserve this.'
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Why retire from something if you're loving it so much and enjoying it so much, and you're blessed with another group of people to work with like the gang on 'Hot in Cleveland?' Why would I think of retiring? What would I do with myself?
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There are two things you need for a jolly good hymn. The first is a set of words that expresses the mood or sentiment of the worshipper. The second-and perhaps even more important-is a good tune … with a simple popular melody.
