Jonathan Franzen Quotes

One reason that birds matter - ought to matter - is that they are our last, best connection to a natural world that is otherwise receding. They're the most vivid and widespread representatives of the Earth as it was before people arrived on it.

Jonathan Franzen

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Quotes to Explore

• I would like all French children to have unlimited opportunities opened up for them as French minister of education.

  

  Najat Vallaud-Belkacem
  • Up
  • Children
  • Education

• The conflict between religion and science is inherent and (very nearly) zero-sum. The success of science often comes at the expense of religious dogma; the maintenance of religious dogma always comes at the expense of science.

  

  Sam Harris
  • Success
  • Science
  • Religious

• It's for scientists to lay out the data and lay out what they think, and then it's for the public to make up its own mind. We don't live in a priesthood where some small group imposes its views on other people - that's not the way that science works, and it's not the way a democratic society should work.

  

  Venkatraman Ramakrishnan
  • People
  • Up
  • Work

• I usually get all my stress and anger out at the gym. But when I get out, I'm kind of a pleasant person - really.

  

  Natalie Martinez
  • Kind
  • Stress
  • Gym

• I can't conceive of cooking in a sunny place like Florida because my motivation comes from the changing seasons. That's why I decided to live in New York.

  

  Daniel Boulud
  • Live
  • Why
  • Cooking

• I've always performed. I've done plays at home.

  

  Odeya Rush
  • Done
  • Home
  • Always

• Advertising is what you do when you can't go see somebody. That's all it is.

  

  Fairfax Cone
  • You
  • See
  • Advertising

• More is required of public officials than slogans and handshakes and press releases. More is required. We must hold ourselves strictly accountable. We must provide the people with a vision of the future.

  

  Barbara Jordan
  • People
  • Future
  • Vision

• After high school, I went to the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point for a year, and I studied musical theatre. By that point, I was like, 'This is what I want to do.'

  

  Laura Osnes
  • School
  • High
  • Theatre

• The search for knowledge is a long and difficult task.

  

  Fabiola Gianotti
  • Long
  • Knowledge
  • Search

• I can't bear to see myself even in movies. The feeling is complex. I can't stand the sight of myself.

  

  Nat King Cole
  • Feeling
  • Myself
  • Movies

• You can't create a monster, then whine when it stomps on a few buildings.

  

  Yeardley Smith
  • You
  • Monster
  • Buildings

• I'm not the type of actor who is trying to do a whole bunch of different stuff, you know what I mean?

  

  Ice Cube
  • Different
  • Trying
  • Know

• Everyone wants to be a stylist. If you know that's your calling, then you need to intern as much a humanly possible. You need to go to fashion school if you can.

  

  Rachel Zoe
  • School
  • Know
  • Fashion

• 'The Outsiders' cast in particular was a joy to be around - sweet kids, normal goofy teenagers off camera and serious artists on. They were great. I never got them mixed up with the characters, though. Each of them had his own strong personality.

  

  S. E. Hinton
  • Up
  • Great
  • Kids

• It is ingrained in all living creatures, first of all, to preserve their own safety, to guard against what is harmful, to strive for what is advantageous.

  

  Saint Ambrose
  • First
  • Safety
  • Strive

• The People's Republic of China has not yet reached the military might of the Soviet Empire. It requires a little more time and a little more infusion of Western aid, loans, technology and the hard currency of our tourists.

  

  Barbara Amiel
  • People
  • Time
  • Technology

• I sort of understood that when I first started: that you shouldn't repeat a success. Very often you're going to, and maybe the first time you do, it works. And you love it. But then you're trapped.

  

  Jack Nicholson
  • Time
  • Love
  • Success

• I hate the fact that people think 'compromise' is a dirty word.

  

  Barbara Bush
  • People
  • Think
  • Hate

• Some small ones learn to stitch together a Coat of Scowls or a Scarf of Jokes to hide their Hearts. Some hammer up a Fort of Books to protect theirs.

  

  Catherynne M. Valente
  • Learn
  • Stitch
  • Small Ones

• I always had a curiosity about Texas. I had a curiosity about small-town life, although, granted, Odessa's not a tiny town.

  

  H. G. Bissinger
  • Life
  • Small
  • Curiosity

• If you don't have the time or desire to do whatever is being asked of you, say, 'no.' Even if you want to bake those cookies for your kid's fundraiser or take on a new freelancing gig, sometimes you just have to politely decline until you do have the extra time. The other party may be disappointed, but it's not the end of the world.

  

  John Rampton
  • Time
  • World
  • May

• You go to a technology conference or an engineering conference, there are very few women there. At the same time it's a blessing in the fact that you do get noticed. People tend to remember you as the only woman in the room 'who said that', or the only woman in the room who was an engineer.

  

  Padmasree Warrior
  • People
  • Time
  • Women

• One reason that birds matter - ought to matter - is that they are our last, best connection to a natural world that is otherwise receding. They're the most vivid and widespread representatives of the Earth as it was before people arrived on it.

  

  Jonathan Franzen
  • People
  • World
  • Earth