John Updike Quotes

Halfway isn't all the way, but it's better than no way.

John Updike

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Quotes to Explore

• 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.

  

  Kate Klise
  • Up
  • Best
  • Winning

• Wine and women do not go with song. Alcohol is the worst enemy of the imagination.

  

  Patrick Kavanagh
  • Women
  • Song
  • Imagination

• The people will save their government, if the government itself will allow them.

  

  Abraham Lincoln
  • People
  • Government
  • Save

• I tried college and I hated that. I seem to quit everything I do.

  

  Harmony Korine
  • College
  • Everything
  • Quit

• It was in a stonecutter's house where I went to have a headstone made for Raftery's grave that I found a manuscript book of his poems, written out in the clear beautiful Irish characters.

  

  Lady Gregory
  • Book
  • House
  • Beautiful

• There are clearly many good politicians who are guided by religious belief, so the mix can work. But there's a line to be drawn. It would be hugely dangerous for a country's laws to be set by the scriptures, and particularly those of the expansionist religions.

  

  Zac Goldsmith
  • Good
  • Work
  • Country

• I auditioned in Chicago for Juilliard and didn't get in. I was basically living in a back room of my parents' house, paying rent and not doing anything with my life. I'd like to say it was patriotic to join the Marines, but it was also that I was doing nothing honorable with my life and spending too much time at McDonald's.

  

  Adam Driver
  • Life
  • Time
  • House

• When I was in drama school, I really got into a dark place. I went to a therapist - it was really helpful to have that dialogue with someone. So I understand anxiety.

  

  Finn Jones
  • School
  • Dark
  • Drama

• What the future of the planet and music and art and all of it is sharing; it's diversity.

  

  Henry Saint Clair Fredericks
  • Music
  • Art
  • Future

• These days we're all hyper-aware of the canonical way in which stories are supposed to play out - people are taught all about three-act scripting and where to put the reversal and all of that - and I think we can do more interesting narratives.

  

  Hari Kunzru
  • People
  • Think
  • Interesting

• The Japanese bureaucracy is unique. It is also very powerful, although it is now the object of so much criticism. Many of Japan's brightest made it a pillar of strength and continuity.

  

  F. Sionil Jose
  • Powerful
  • Unique
  • Criticism

• Hinduism has an enormous capacity to absorb from outside influences and accept it in a peaceful and steady manner without perturbing the system.

  

  N. R. Narayana Murthy
  • System
  • Accept
  • Peaceful

• Any two philosophers can tell each other all they know in two hours.

  

  Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
  • Know
  • Two
  • Tell

• Japan learned from the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that the tragedy wrought by nuclear weapons must never be repeated and that humanity and nuclear weapons cannot coexist.

  

  Daisaku Ikeda
  • Humanity
  • Tragedy
  • Weapons

• I think that it helps that I have acted. That said, it doesn't mean you're going to be a good director.

  

  Valeria Golino
  • Good
  • Think
  • Said

• To communicate the truths of history is an act of hope for the future.

  

  Daisaku Ikeda
  • History
  • Hope
  • Future

• It was great to be the rock comic, the shock comic. But after you've played Giants Stadium with Bon Jovi in front of 82,000 people, after you've done the 'Wild Thing' video with Jessica Hahn and every rock band from hell, you're not gonna top that.

  

  Sam Kinison
  • People
  • Great
  • Done

• It's when children are 15, 16 or 17 that they decide whether they want to be a doctor, an engineer, a politician or go to the Mars or moon. That is the time they start having a dream, and that's the time you can work on them. You can help them shape their dreams.

  

  A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
  • Time
  • Work
  • Children

• When I had dark hair I definitely felt that I was more anonymous.

  

  Naomi Watts
  • Dark
  • Hair
  • More

• Religion is simply an ideal. It is an ideal force that tends to free the human being from material bonds. I do not believe that matter and energy are interchangeable, any more than are the body and soul. There is just so much matter in the universe and it cannot be destroyed. As I see life on this planet, there is no individuality. It may sound ridiculous to say so, but I believe each person is but a wave passing through space, ever-changing from minute to minute as it travels along, finally, some day, just becoming dissolved.

  

  Nikola Tesla
  • Believe
  • Soul
  • Energy

• You just have to go to bat and take a swing. And if you're not right for a part, or it goes to a British man, they may remember that you showed up, knew your lines and were good. And maybe they'll call you in for something else.

  

  Tanya Fischer
  • Up
  • Good
  • May

• We repress the things we're scared of, but if we just look at and embrace the things we're scared of, it's a much fuller, richer life that's also not as scary.

  

  Gary Ross
  • Life
  • Look
  • Scary

• When I was producing the first solo album, i just wanted to convey some messages through it. The message was 'no blood will come out even if I am pinned' However, after trying out different kinds of music activities, I started to change and wanted to convey my real emotion that I have in my everyday life. I want to express the feelings that everyone has felt at least once, in music so I think people will feel/understand my songs.

  

  Kwon Ji-yong Big Bang
  • People
  • Thinking
  • Real

• Halfway isn't all the way, but it's better than no way.

  

  John Updike