Ralph Ellison Quotes
Some people are your relatives but others are your ancestors, and you choose the ones you want to have as ancestors. You create yourself out of those values.

Quotes to Explore
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Privacy is not explicitly spelled out in the Constitution as freedom of speech is in the First Amendment.
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There is a role and function for beauty in our time.
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All of the characters in my films, they share one commonality. It doesn't matter whether they are good or bad, it doesn't matter whether they are smart or stupid, these characters all take responsibility for their own behavior. I'm much the same.
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People ask me to describe myself, but it's a very personal thing. You don't feel comfortable.
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Life has been kind to me. I am happy with the love and appreciation that I have been getting throughout my career. I feel blessed.
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When you think of all the conflicts we have - whether those conflicts are local, whether they are regional or global - these conflicts are often over the management, the distribution of resources. If these resources are very valuable, if these resources are scarce, if these resources are degraded, there is going to be competition.
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As anyone who has covered the company for any length of time knows, Yahoo's record on major decision-making has been akin to a hippie commune - a lot of wrangling internally in a culture where everyone seems to have a voice and a reticence to push the button to launch.
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There is a fundamental notion at the core of American identity that, in this country, any little boy or girl can grow up to be president.
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Now while the German money is over for Hollywood, I still have $80 million to make movies, and we will have two things coming up: less major movies and the price for actors will go down.
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I have reached the conclusion that those who have physical courage also have moral courage. Physical courage is a great test.
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In my life, there have always been people who guided my path, towards the school, towards this company. I didn't know about any of it. I didn't have a plan. It's good fortune and generosity from other people that have given me all I have today.
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It was weird - writing is a stupid thing to do. I come up here in the morning to a pleasant room in the roof of my house and imagine I'm a black South American football superstar; then I have to imagine I'm a female pop celebrity who's pregnant. It's a completely mad way to spend your time.
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I think, certainly in the more civilized societies, women's roles are growing in power all of the time.
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My version of a stress dream is, really, showing up on a concert stage with a drum set and not knowing the chart.
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However one might pray - in any verbal way or completely without words - is unimportant to God. What matters is the heart's intent.
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I'm still in touch with a lot people who continue to serve our country well.
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If Christ Jesus dwells in a man as his friend and noble leader, that man can endure all things, for Christ helps and strengthens us and never abandons us. He is a true friend.
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The law of humanity ought to be composed of the past, the present, and the future, that we bear within us; whoever possesses but one of these terms, has but a fragment of the law of the moral world.
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Never use an aluminum pot, pan, or utensil when cooking tomatoes - or any other soft metal items for that matter. The acidity in the tomato doesn't do well with them; they create a chemical reaction that can turn cooked tomatoes bitter and fade the color, and the food will absorb some of the aluminum!
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The most important metrics are did we execute the way in which we said we would, and did we deliver the value to the business that we had promised?
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We are the result of the stimulus we receive.
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They (Kawasaki) had to buy it special. We didn't have one here, so they got it from our Maui store.
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What irritates me is the bland way people go around saying, 'Oh, our attitude has changed. We don't dislike these people any more.' But by the strangest coincidence, they haven't taken away the injustice; the laws are still on the books.
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Some people are your relatives but others are your ancestors, and you choose the ones you want to have as ancestors. You create yourself out of those values.