John McWhorter Quotes

Black English is simpler than standard English in some ways; for example, it often gets by with just 'be' and drops 'am,' 'is,' and 'are.' That's because black English arose when adult African slaves learned the language.

John McWhorter

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• English

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Quotes to Explore

• Through the history of rock n' roll, you see lots of bands making the mistake of putting on the tights when they get to arenas. Don't do that.

  

  Patrick Carney The Black Keys
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• I'm working now on a collection of Shakespearean sonnets, about 100 of them, that I may publish if anyone's interested. My take on life is a little different from the bard's.

  

  Jack Prelutsky
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• The joining of the whole congregation in prayer has something exceedingly solemn and affecting in it.

  

  Karl Philipp Moritz
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• He had a lot of talent, but didn't have much dedication, wasn't organized, didn't know how to learn, didn't know how to comprehend what he was doing, didn't try to learn how to get better.

  

  Jack Nicklaus
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• I became interested in ocean issues in the 1980s when I couldn't take my daughters swimming because of pollution at our local beach. Twenty-five years later, I'm a board member of Oceana, the world's largest international organization dedicated to ocean conservation.

  

  Ted Danson
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  • Organization
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• You can't win if you don't play as a unit.

  

  Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
  • You
  • Play
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• Biggie was a lyrical genius: he was a musical painter with words. As he rapped, you would see the picture come to life as you heard his story. You hear a lot of rappers rap; you hear a lot of singers sing, but you don't see the movie in your head the way you do when you hear Biggie rap.

  

  R. Kelly
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• It's nice not to be too boring.

  

  Barry Pepper
  • Nice
  • Boring
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• Always write as if you are talking to someone. It works. Don't put on any fancy phrases or accents or things you wouldn't say in real life.

  

  Maeve Binchy
  • Life
  • Real
  • Always

• Living in the lap of luxury isn't bad except that you never know when luxury is going to stand up.

  

  Orson Welles
  • Up
  • Bad
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• I never wanted to be a millionaire. I just wanted to live like one.

  

  Walter Hagen
  • Live
  • Like
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• I think there's a karmic purpose that souls make before they decide to come into people's bodies and become someone's parent, or become someone's child. Maybe my dad disappearing was his way of giving me material with which to work, or a predisposition to feel heightened emotions.

  

  Bat for Lashes
  • People
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• For me, music was the only reason I went to school. I was kind of a street kid, in a lot of trouble committing crimes and stuff. Music gave me something to focus on.

  

  Flea Red Hot Chili Peppers
  • Music
  • School
  • Focus

• You have to keep listening and thinking and being critical and self-critical. Remember General Nivelle, in the First World War, at Verdun? He said he had the solution and then destroyed the French Army until it mutinied.

  

  H. R. McMaster
  • World
  • Thinking
  • Remember

• I am so proud of being a Paralympian because I think the Games are a very good platform for disabled persons to perform themselves. Within the Paralympics movement, it's not just talk about excellence; it's not just talk about the competition. It's also talk about the equality and how your world accepts those disabled people.

  

  Yu Chui Yee
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• I have nothing holding me back in my head at all.

  

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• America thrives on identity politics, left and right. But France is opposed to the idea. Since the Revolution, the French have enthroned the idea of universalism. All of us must be equal before the law as abstract individuals, and that extends to the arts.

  

  Edmund White
  • America
  • Law
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• Since I have been singing for so many years, I don't always need to approach a song quite so laboriously and meticulously.

  

  Kate Smith
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  • Singing
  • Years

• What you need is one black dress I call Plan B. It doesn't have to be fabulous, it just looks good, covers up the problems and is neutral enough for dinner, business, a date, a funeral. You don't overwear it, you don't overwash it, because the Plan B is - gold.

  

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• Every day of my life I walk with the idea that I am black, no matter how successful I am. And our success is tempered by that; you're successful in this way given the fact you are black, and most blacks don't get to that point.

  

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  • Life
  • Success
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• The basic rhymes in English are masculine, which is to say that the last syllable of the line is stressed: 'lane' rhymes with 'pain,' but it also rhymes with 'urbane' since the last syllable of 'urbane' is stressed. 'Lane' does not rhyme with 'methane.'

  

  James Fenton
  • Pain
  • English

• Governing a great nation is like cooking a small fish - too much handling will spoil it.

  

  Lao Tzu
  • Great
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• From my perspective, 'postmodernism' merely names an interesting set of developments in the social order that is based on the presumption that God does not matter.

  

  Stanley Hauerwas
  • Interesting
  • Perspective
  • Development

• Black English is simpler than standard English in some ways; for example, it often gets by with just 'be' and drops 'am,' 'is,' and 'are.' That's because black English arose when adult African slaves learned the language.

  

  John McWhorter
  • Black
  • English