Ma Jian Quotes
After the Tiananmen Massacre, I felt compelled not only to continue writing but to actively resist the restrictions placed on freedom of speech. I set up the publishing company in Hong Kong, with offices in Shenzhen in mainland China, and managed to publish works of fiction, philosophy, and politics by unapproved authors.
Quotes to Explore
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I like being from a city that is not entrenched in show business. When you're in New York City or Los Angeles, even if you're not dealing with show business, there's still this sense that it's the center of the universe.
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So people think I'm lying about my age all the time? It's the records that are wrong. I've never told anyone how old I am. The minute they ask me, I say 'That's none of your business.' So that means I've never once lied about my age. Now that's true!
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My failures have been errors in judgment, not of intent.
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Humor's always been the problem of my work, hasn't it? When working, I feel satisfied when I surprise myself. And when I surprise myself, I wind up laughing.
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I have this kind of mild nice-guy exterior, but inside my heart is like a steel trap.
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Renouncement: the heroism of mediocrity.
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He who improves an opportunity sows a seed which will yield fruit in opportunity for himself and others.
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I suppose anybody just losing it and sputtering curses is pretty funny. But I think it would be more of a challenge, much more of a challenge, to make a cursing dad funny.
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Success is not measured by what you accomplish, but by the opposition you have encountered, and the courage with which you have maintained the struggle against overwhelming odds.
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I still find it hard to believe that the whole era of jazz is over.
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A single lie destroys a whole reputation of integrity.
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I went through the extremes of amazing notoriety and also the dreaded things that you never thought you'd have to live through. Not everything works the way you want it to, but if I sit back and think, 'Am I happy about this?' Yeah. I wouldn't have done anything any better.
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I always hope to be a better person tomorrow than today.
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If the people don't want to come out to the ballpark, nobody's going to stop them.
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Carrie-Anne Moss is awesome. I am just going to put that out there.
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Actually, I don't think there's anyone that represents the artists, except the artists themselves.
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All the characters on 'Girls' are growing and changing, which is how real people behave, especially when we're young, trying to figure out who we are, doing things that are the polar opposite of our characteristics.
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Health consists of having the same diseases as one's neighbors.
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In your teens, you get the physical puberty, and between 28 and 32, mental puberty. It does make you feel differently.
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Just remember the letter S: salads, stir fries, scrambles, soups, smoothies and sushi. You can't go wrong with the letter S.
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I wanted to be a teacher because that is all I knew. It was a great course on primary school education, in which I could specialise in music, but I ended up dropping out after I was honest with myself about what I really wanted to do with my life.
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To understand political power aright, and derive from it its original, we must consider what estate all men are naturally in, and that is, a state of perfect freedom to order their actions, and dispose of their possessions and persons as they think fit, within the bounds of the law of Nature, without asking leave or depending upon the will of any other man.
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My brother's a teacher in Costa Rica and actually does a more important and significant job than I will ever do.
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After the Tiananmen Massacre, I felt compelled not only to continue writing but to actively resist the restrictions placed on freedom of speech. I set up the publishing company in Hong Kong, with offices in Shenzhen in mainland China, and managed to publish works of fiction, philosophy, and politics by unapproved authors.
