John Ortberg Quotes
Quotes to Explore
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I'm good at description and imparting flow to a story, but I don't necessarily understand the value of long scenes.
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When I lead essay workshops, I ask students to come up with at least five topics, which they'll narrow down to one. The winning idea should be the story the student is most excited to tell because it honestly reflects his or her best self.
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But, I swear, they're turning Donna into Annie Hall this season. More ties. More suits. But they're also keeping her really motivated, ya know? Like, wanting to be a rock journalist. Wanting to be the first woman president.
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I don't think the Taliban will ever come back to take Afghanistan, no.
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One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon instead of enjoying the roses that are blooming outside our windows today.
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I've always enjoyed making people laugh. But in order for me to be funny, I have to get ticked off about something.
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There's no handbook for parenting. So you walk a very fine line as a parent because you are civilizing these raw things. They will tip the coffee over and finger-paint on the table. At some point, you have to say, 'We're gonna have to clean that up because you don't paint with coffee on a table.'
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I have a great office.
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Reality TV is easier to digest if it comes in small amounts.
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In the U.S., diversity is a politically correct slogan. In India, it is a historical fact. Much as we in the West may resent it, India has a lot to teach us when it comes to religious tolerance.
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To give pain is the tyranny; to make happy, the true empire of beauty.
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I would love to work with Matt Damon.
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I'm a benefit to the city. I'm not a detriment.
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I grew up with a tribe of amazing women, but certainly my mother and my godmother really modeled women as actors.
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I've been asked to interview for many managing jobs, and I never said yes because I was never serious about it, and I thought it would be wrong to go through that process.
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China may censor YouTube. China may censor Twitter. They won't be able to censor Bitcoin. There's no central authority. There's no one you can go to and say, 'We're going to turn Bitcoin off.'
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I like my hands. They do most of the talking.
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I fight fairly, and in good faith.
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There are people who want me to do a cologne. They want to call it 'Patrick.' I was offered a fortune to make exercise videos. Posters, all kinds of stuff – something like $10 million worth. It's insanity. I'm not going to do any of it.
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It depends on the book and what else is going on during my life, but it usually takes me about six months to write and revise the first draft.
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It's funny: I've always had the analogy of a snow globe, that Hollywood is a snow globe. No, it's true. If you shake it up, you can look at it and really enjoy it. But don't ever go in. Don't ever buy into it and be like, 'I deserve all of this!' because it can go away at any time, so just have a lot of fun.
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All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.
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The only true happiness comes from squandering ourselves for a purpose.
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Nobody lives up to the norms that God had in mind when he first created human beings.
