Ralph Ellison Quotes
For now I had begun to believe, despite all the talk of science around me, that there was a magic in spoken words.
Quotes to Explore
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Experience, already reduced to a group of impressions, is ringed round for each one of us by that thick wall of personality through which no real voice has ever pierced on its way to us, or from us to that which we can only conjecture to be without.
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When I was younger, I wanted to marry early, like at 23. Year by year, I found things I wanted to do, and the thought of marriage disappeared. But I don't want to marry too late. Around 31?
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This is the beauty of fiction. We may not like these characters, but we inhabit them.
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I really believe great actors, even with disease and age, can be great.
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Man's enemies are not demons, but human beings like himself.
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Without a dog, you'll be without at least one creature who thinks you are the smartest, most decent and heroic human being on the planet.
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Fallible characters are more interesting than superheroes in the end.
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I think of a piece of music as something that comes alive when it is being performed, and I feel that my role in the transmission of music is to be its best advocate at that moment.
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Americans are good at pursuing happiness. And the Americans who pursue happiness most diligently show that we're also good at running it down and killing it.
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I think a great starting point for a debate and discussion over a national consumption tax is, let's start with the Fair Tax, legislation that has been written up and, I think, signed up on by 80 congressmen and women.
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A man is as alive as he can communicate.
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I've had a few conversations with people who are horrified: who tell me my work is demeaning, is sexist, is negative.
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I have some property. We have a few acres, so I like working on it, whether it's cutting stuff down, cleaning stuff up, building steps, or working with concrete, you know, brickwork.
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He who molds the public sentiment... makes statutes and decisions possible or impossible to make.
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Before my marriage, I was really wild, and I was very open about it. My wife knows about it. From the age of 19 to 30, I was this mad, wild person. I just wanted to have a good time, not get serious with anyone. I didn't allow relationships to happen, and I made it clear to whoever I was with.
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Of course, violence will not end with our combat mission. Extremists will continue to set off bombs, attack Iraqi civilians and try to spark sectarian strife. But ultimately, these terrorists will fail to achieve their goals.
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And all for love, and nothing for reward.
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One person seeking glory doesn't accomplish very much.
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Let us choose to believe something good can happen.
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I believe that there are no mistakes in the universe, so I think it all happens as it should!
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Nature loves courage. You make the commitment and nature will respond to that commitment by removing impossible obstacles. Dream the impossible dream and the world will not grind you under, it will lift you up. This is the trick. This is what all these teachers and philosophers who really counted, who really touched the alchemical gold, this is what they understood. This is the shamanic dance in the waterfall. This is how magic is done. By hurling yourself into the abyss and discovering its a feather bed.
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When my agent told me I had an audition for 'Friar Tuck,' I burst out laughing. It actually brought a bit of sunshine to my day. I was thinking: fat suit. I was thinking: shaving my head. It was so outlandish, such a crazy idea.
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'30 Rock' is probably one of my favorite shows. It's just joke after joke after joke.
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For now I had begun to believe, despite all the talk of science around me, that there was a magic in spoken words.
