Jonathan Raban Quotes

It's been so long since a talented writer last occupied the White House; no wonder, then, that American writers have been among the most prominent of all the demographic groups claiming a piece of Barack Obama for themselves.

Jonathan Raban

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Quotes to Explore

• I did not direct my life. I didn't design it. I never made decisions. Things always came up and made them for me. That's what life is.

  

  B. F. Skinner
  • Life
  • Me
  • Always

• You can be tops in Australia and be unheard of everywhere else.

  

  Barry Gibb Bee Gees
  • You
  • Australia
  • Everywhere

• Texas is a pretty free state.

  

  Isaac Hanson Hanson
  • Pretty
  • Free
  • Texas

• I actually like football a great deal.

  

  H. G. Bissinger
  • Great
  • Football
  • Like

• I've never been a really big fan of theatre. I don't know why. It's so much for effort. It's much more difficult for me than stage acting just because of the pressure that's piled on you and you have to learn the entire performance by heart.

  

  Callan McAuliffe
  • Heart
  • Why
  • Effort

• A man marries to have a home, but also because he doesn't want to be bothered with sex and all that sort of thing.

  

  W. Somerset Maugham
  • Home
  • Want
  • Man

• I had a lovely childhood. For family holidays, we went as far as the car could take us - we would drive to Florida, even though it would take three days. I didn't know we didn't have a lot of money because there was always food on the table. I didn't have a lot of stuff, but I did figure skating for a long time, and I always had my skates.

  

  Rachel McAdams
  • Time
  • Long
  • Family

• Cross-cultural marriage is difficult, especially when one person has to live in another country. But I thought there was a very good chance of it working because people grow together if they have a common passion.

  

  Imran Khan
  • People
  • Good
  • Live

• You can't take yourself too seriously; it's important to poke fun at yourself. Once in a while, it is great to show your inadequacies, too.

  

  Ram Kapoor
  • Great
  • Important
  • Fun

• We have two trainers at the polo ground and do a mix of aerobics, gymnastics and stretches before we start riding. As polo players, it's very important for us to keep in shape. We do a bit of yoga and Pilates sometimes, too.

  

  Facundo Pieres
  • Important
  • Sometimes
  • Start

• Hungary is, in a word, in a state of WAR against the Hapsburg dynasty, a war of legitimate defence, by which alone it can ever regain independence and freedom.

  

  Lajos Kossuth
  • War
  • Freedom
  • Alone

• When punk began to be a genre, people were going to go out and try to mine it. Some of the better groups, like the Ramones and the Sex Pistols, were very artificial.

  

  Iggy Pop
  • People
  • Sex
  • Better

• Boxing is one of the few sports that is one on one.

  

  Irwin Winkler
  • Sports
  • Boxing
  • Few

• They got word that the Japanese planes were coming back, so we sunk her ourselves so the Japanese wouldn't get it. We didn't want the Japanese to get it intact.

  

  Barney Ross
  • Want
  • Japanese
  • Planes

• Maybe I've lost a little, but I think everyone does over time. People have been writing that I'm getting old every year, and eventually they're going to be right. There's nobody in this game that's doing the same things they once did in the peak years of their career.

  

  Randy Johnson
  • People
  • Time
  • Writing

• The media doesn't create narratives, really. They're not that powerful. What they do is they tap into narratives that are already bubbling amongst their viewership or readership.

  

  Beau Willimon
  • Powerful
  • Media
  • Create

• My reading and drawing drew me away from the ordinary interests, and I lived a great deal in the world of imagination, feeding upon any book that fell into my hands. When I had got hold of a really thick book like Hugo's 'Les Miserables,' I was happy and would go off into a corner to devour it.

  

  Jacob Epstein
  • World
  • Great
  • Book

• One element of Madonna's career that really takes center stage is how many times she's reinvented herself. It's easier to stay in one look, one comfort zone, one musical style. It's inspiring to see someone whose only predictable quality is being unpredictable.

  

  Taylor Swift
  • She
  • Career
  • Style

• Socialism is practical, in the best sense of the term; a living, vital force of inestimable value to society.

  

  Daniel De Leon
  • Society
  • Best
  • Value

• But I did have two months off between Loser and the start of Prozac Nation. So, it was supposed to be Jason time, right? My time to enjoy myself away from movies.

  

  Jason Biggs
  • Time

• I want to see overwhelming force repel anybody who is trying to get into the White House.

  

  Jason Chaffetz
  • Trying
  • House

• I think that's always very valuable: to keep the mind open to receiving all sorts of information, which can then be used in my work, but also just as a human being.

  

  P. J. Harvey
  • Work
  • Mind
  • Think

• There must, whether the gods see it or not, be something great in the mortal soul. For suffering, it seems, is infinite, and our capacity without limit.

  

  C. S. Lewis
  • Great
  • Soul
  • Suffering

• It's been so long since a talented writer last occupied the White House; no wonder, then, that American writers have been among the most prominent of all the demographic groups claiming a piece of Barack Obama for themselves.

  

  Jonathan Raban
  • Long
  • American
  • House