Joseph Brodsky Quotes
Prose is admittedly an art rooted in social intercourse, and a fiction writer is faster to find a common denominator with his cell mates than a poet is.
Quotes to Explore
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I like the detail work of telling a story in small pieces, as is done in movie-making, and also the long leap of faith needed to see a theatre performance through each night. Both require focus and self-discipline.
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When I first got back from the war, I said, 'I'm gonna write the Great American Novel about the Vietnam War.' So I sat down and wrote 1,700 pages of sheer psychotherapy drivel. It was first person, and there would be pages about wet socks and cold feet.
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Though we may know Him by a thousand names, He is one and the same to us all.
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Elvis was a big influence to my music, but Loretta Lynn was, as well.
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I think if you are young and you have children, you still have so much to prove. When you have children later in life, you lose a bit of that urge for working.
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I find the whole situation of confronting an audience terrifying.
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I've had situations where producers would be like, 'Could you meet me? Take the train; don't tell your parents.'
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The way to a man's heart is through his chest.
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Upon the death of my father, our family and myself were emotionally and financially exhausted.
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When the 'Seinfeld' show said it was going to be a show about nothing, everybody said it couldn't - wouldn't work. It did. 'Thor' is about something, about that character finding his destiny, but it's not doing what was expected... and yet it's doing very well.
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Living in a cultural milieu where the foreign writers most widely available and admired were Russian, I came very late to postwar American writers, and I had great trouble with the canonically exalted white male writers I tried first.
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I was definitely nervous for the combine. You train for three months to go out there and perform for three days.
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I will come up with a project that will wipe out poverty in the Philippines in two years. I want to remove the people from economic crisis by using the Marcos wealth. Long after I'm gone, people will remember me for building them homes and roads and hospitals and giving them food.
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Public appearances are a headache. I hold mine down to a minimum.
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Any partying I did, I did at home. I didn't want to be in the spotlight... There's an easy way to get away from the paparazzi; they're not that difficult to hide from and you don't need to go out for coffee every five minutes.
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For the strikers, we have more freedom, and even when we lose the ball, if we press together, we can get it back, and it is good system for Chelsea.
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I think Gore does have to worry. He is tied to Bill Clinton. We know that there were telephone calls that he made from his office. We know that there were visits to the Buddhist temple.
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If the world's leaders are serious about improving collective well-being, we'd better get serious about prioritizing education in our nations and in our global discussion.
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This is not a political issue. I know Florida's leadership has talked about a real commitment to helping our veterans. Now it's time for them to show it.
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Oh, I am such a nerd when it comes to music - I only listen to Broadway!
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So much of every art is an expression of the subconscious that it seems to me most of all the important qualities are put there unconsciously, and little of importance by the conscious intellect. But these are things for the psychologist to untangle.
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Most visual artists, just like most writers, tend to be solitary. While they're doing the art, that is. They may have a crazy orgy that morning, but at a certain point they kick everybody out, and say: "Come, go home. Yeah, I had a great time too." And then you're alone again, and then you're freshly inspired and energized.
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When I was growing up in comedy, there were maybe 10 comics in the whole country. Everyone had a day job. You worked free for years in little clubs, then you got your big break and became a star.
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Prose is admittedly an art rooted in social intercourse, and a fiction writer is faster to find a common denominator with his cell mates than a poet is.
