John Mortimer Quotes
Quotes to Explore
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Read some good, heavy, serious books just for discipline: Take yourself in hand and master yourself.
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You go to a theater now and you literally see parents watching the movie and they suddenly cover their kid's ears. I figured I'd make one movie where they didn't have to do this.
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Writers have an opinion about the world and offer arguments about the world. They should offer contemplation.
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When you were a kid, a day was a long time and a year was a long time.
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I think good companies can navigate being public and doing the right things for their customers.
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They that are intoxicated by self-conceit have interposed themselves between it and the Divine and infallible Physician. Witness how they have entangled all men, themselves included, in the mesh of their devices. They can neither discover the cause of the disease, nor have they any knowledge of the remedy.
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You can go down the list of great artists and kind of understand that they are products of their environment. Whether it's U2 or Henry Rollins or myself or Johnny Lydon, they're gonna be products of their environment.
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Tell people you're a Canadian or a Kiwi when you travel and they'll adore you.
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I have an affinity for the law. I like looking at the small type on contracts, and if I could have afforded law school, I probably would have gone.
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I used to get a shiver if I thought about holding balloons, because I was scared of floating away.
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The air of ideas is the only air worth breathing.
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Not all lies are harmful. Sometimes we're willing participants in deception for the sake of social dignity, maybe to keep a secret that should be kept secret, secret. We say, 'Nice song.' 'Honey, you don't look fat in that, no.'
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'Helter-Skelter' was the motive for the murders. Manson borrowed that term from a Beatles song on the 'White Album.' In England, helter-skelter is a playground ride. To Manson, helter-skelter meant a war between whites and blacks that the Beatles were in favor of.
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When I'm governor, we're not going to be silent like Bruce Rauner. Illinois will be a firewall against Donald Trump's destructive and bigoted agenda.
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If we do everything right, the best we can do is live out our potential with as little age-related disease and disability as possible.
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In social matters, pointless conventions are not merely the bee sting of etiquette, but the snake bite of moral order.
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Each time I free a child, I feel it is something closer to God.
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Just making the crowd laugh is not really doing things for me anymore. That's just knowing how to kill; I've learned how to kill – but also learned when a crowd's laughter is meaningful.
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My first attempt at writing a novel was horrible. I had to throw it away. But I stuck with the idea, which is what became 'The Invisible Circus.'
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Nobody from my label called any of their labels to get this done. Most of it happened very naturally. Mary and I have been friends for a long time. Then Jay-Z offered.
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I remember when people actually wore coats and ties to theatre every night. They don't anymore. It's very different.
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There is, with any great artist, a little manic-ness and insanity.
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All I tell artists is, 'Do what you love. Never let anybody talk you into changing what your musical idea is just to try to get a hit, because you're chasing your tail that way. It's not going to happen, and if you're successful, you have to do it the rest of your life. Stay true to it and do it for the sake of the art.'
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There is always time for failure.
