Jonathan Franzen Quotes
If you have not had direct firsthand experience of loving a category of person - a person of a different race, a profoundly religious person, things that are real stark differences between people - I think it is very hard to dare, or necessarily even want, to write fully from the inside of a person.
Quotes to Explore
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If only one in 1,000 people that I talk to goes on to write a good book, that's one more good book that I've helped along... and maybe it will be a book I love myself five or 10 years down the line.
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It's a luxury to not have to just be performing with other people to have my music heard.
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It's hard to give advice. There are so many people, how do you give major advice to a group of people, it's very presumptuous.
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If you love things or ideas or people that contradict each other, you have to be prepared to fight for every square inch of intellectual real estate you occupy.
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The 'Islam vs. the West' dialogue ceased to be about real people a long time ago.
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There is little difference in people, but that little difference makes a big difference. The little difference is attitude. The big difference is whether it is positive or negative.
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I think sports and bodybuilding were the only things that saved me from getting beat up. People are not pleased, for whatever reason, when you can answer all the questions in class. If not for the respect I got from track, cross-country, wrestling and bodybuilding, it would have been a disaster.
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I think that Richard Nixon is a great man and that he is very dedicated to what he does. I had the pleasure of meeting him when I attended the Republican National Convention in Miami. You can really tell that he is willing to go out of his way to help the American people.
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The reason our games generate so much revenue is because we're stupid enough to charge $60 for a box or $50 for a download or something. You need used games because most people can't afford those prices.
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I feel like my kind of music is a big pot of different spices. It's a soup with all kinds of ingredients in it.
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I always joke with people that having nephews is the best birth control there is.
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What other people think of me is none of my business.
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When I go to Indian reservations in the West, and especially to the Pine Ridge Reservation, I sometimes feel unsure where to put my foot when I open the car door. The very ground is different from where I usually stand. There are fewer curbs, fewer sidewalks, and almost no street signs, mailboxes, or leashed dogs.
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Political systems are run by self-selecting politicians. We don't draft people; it's not jury duty.
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No man has a right to expect to succeed in life unless he understands his business, and nobody can understand his business thoroughly unless he learns it by personal application and experience.
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I think it's important for people of colour to have similar opportunities to white people; that's what is most important.
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Life would be very dreary if there were no magic. If the real world were only that veil of tears, I just don't think could get up in the morning.
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For me, I've been known as a very well-rounded fighter, and I think that's really important, that you're well rounded and comfortable in every situation that a fight can go. A lot of people focus on just one discipline, and when they get out of that, they're in a difficult position.
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The real problem with big issues like Medicare is that both parties have to be brave at the same time. Every pollster will tell you not to do that to get partisan advantage. Too many people here are willing to deliberately harm the country for partisan gain. That is borderline treason.
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Ultimately, I know what I'm doing and why I'm doing it. I'm trying to be a construction worker. I'm trying to make things. If people are not interested in that, fine. I just don't give a damn.
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In this time when a citizenry applauds the liberation of a country as it lives in fear of its own freedom, when people all over the country fear reprisal if they use their right to free speech, it is time to get angry. It is time to get fierce.
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The best time to practice mental rehearsal is at night in bed, just before you fall asleep. The last thing you do before you doze off is to imagine yourself performing at your best the following day. You will be amazed at how often the upcoming event or experience happens exactly as you imagined it.
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If you have not had direct firsthand experience of loving a category of person - a person of a different race, a profoundly religious person, things that are real stark differences between people - I think it is very hard to dare, or necessarily even want, to write fully from the inside of a person.
