Sherman Alexie Quotes
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What inspires a poem for me is usually a moment.
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Do you understand how amazing it is to hear that from an adult? Do you know how amazing it is to hear that from anybody? It's one of the simplest sentences in the world, just four words, but they're the four hugest words in the world when they're put together. You can do it.
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When it comes to death, we know that laughter and tears are pretty much the same thing. And so, laughing and crying, we said good-bye to my grandmother. And when we said goodbye to one grandmother, we said good-bye to all of them. Each funeral was a funeral for all of us. We lived and died together. All of us laughed when they lowered my grandmother into the ground. And all of us laughed when they covered her with dirt. And all of us laughed as we walked and drove and rode our way back to our lonely, lonely houses.
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When you construct a mix tape, the first song you come out with has to be a barnburner.
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We only know how to lose and be lost.
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He looked into the crowd for approval, saw his mother and father. He waved and they waved back. Smiles and Indian teeth. They were both drunk. Everything familiar and welcome. Everything beautiful.
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I guess a witness is all I am. I think as a writer, you're pretty removed. Writing is a very selfish, individualistic pursuit. So in that sense I'm a witness because I'm not participating.
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I write books for teenagers because I vividly remember what it felt like to be a teen facing everyday and epic dangers. I don't write to protect them. It's far too late for that. I write to give them weapons-in the form of words and ideas-that will help them fight their monsters. I write in blood because I remember what it felt like to bleed.
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I suddenly understood that if every moment of a book should be taken seriously, then every moment of a life should be taken seriously as well.
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The problem is that too many adults think their kids' lives are simple, or they try to make their lives simple, when their emotional lives are just as complicated as ours. They might have a few less tools to deal with it because they're young, but the emotions are all the same, and the subject matter is all the same.
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We can all learn from every text. Reading the work that disgusts you can only strengthen your core beliefs. I could teach a semester-long course based only on reading the local telephone book. All stories can be taught in valuable ways.
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Like any good shaman, professional baseball player, or politician, my mother always answered questions with questions.
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I ain't interested in the truth. I'm interested in the way things should be.
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I'm quite aware of my differences. I wouldn't classify them as weird
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If one reads enough books one has a fighting chance. Or better, one's chances of survival increase with each book one reads.
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How self-centered, how arrogant... Imagine the awesome privilege of living in a society where you get to choose what you eat at each and every meal. When I was a kid, I was a vegetarian and a vegan for long stretches... I was a commodity cheese-atarian.
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When it comes to death, we know that laughter and tears are pretty much the same thing.
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White Americans have a short memory.
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We all have to find our own ways to say good-bye.
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Somebody dies and people eat your food. Funny how that works.
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The dream he needed most was the dream that frightened him more.
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I love to scare the already terrified assholes.
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She was in pain and I loved her, sort of loved her, I guess, so I kind of had to love her pain, too.
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If it's fiction, then it better be true.