Stephen Greenblatt (Stephen Jay Greenblatt) Quotes
Through reading literature we can make ghosts speak to us, and we can speak back to them.
Quotes to Explore
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One thing that helps to stretch me is to listen to other preacher's sermons. Every year, I will listen to at least ten other preachers, both to hear God speak to me, and also to evaluate their preaching to see what I can learn and how I can improve my own preaching.
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The Arab world also won the Nobel with me. I believe that international doors have opened, and that from now on, literate people will consider Arab literature also. We deserve that recognition.
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I am the way I am. If you like me because I'm glamorous, so be it. If you like me, because I speak well or I have a brain and opinion, so be it.
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There are works of literature whose influence is strong but indirect because it is mediated through the whole of the culture rather than immediately through imitation. Wordsworth is the case that comes to mind.
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Journalism students need to understand it and need a solid background in the liberal arts, in sociology, economics, literature and language, because they won't get it later on.
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Female characters in literature are full. They're messy: they've got runny noses and burp and belch. Unfortunately, in film, female characters don't often have that kind of richness.
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Whenever you hear a man speak of his love for his country, it is a sign that he expects to be paid for it.
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Just like all great stories, our fears focus our attention on a question that is as important in life as it is in literature: What will happen next?
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In order that all men may be taught to speak the truth, it is necessary that all likewise should learn to hear it.
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I was shy when I was a kid, I was very shy, but now I think I've improved a lot. I can speak OK with the media and with the people. My English is still bad but I feel a little bit better now than before.
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All objects, all phases of culture are alive. They have voices. They speak of their history and interrelatedness. And they are all talking at once!
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Once I was condemned to three months' absolute silence. As I could not speak, I wrote a book.
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Why do the President and Vice-President constantly change the subject when asked to explain why things are going so badly in Iraq? The answer is simple. They have been consistently wrong about Iraq, and the results speak for themselves.
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I don't believe in ghosts.
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I did not go to any creative writing workshop; I did not major in literature. If I can write, anyone can write. All it needs is imagination.
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It is literature which for me opened the mysterious and decisive doors of imagination and understanding. To see the way others see. To think the way others think. And above all, to feel.
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So with that will prompt and prepared to serve all those whom I perceive to be servants of my Lord, I will speak of three things with simplicity and love as if I were speaking to my own soul.
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I love the way you can fall in love with a piece of literature; how words alone can get your heart doing that.
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The First Amendment provides the only kind of security system that can preserve a free government - one that leaves the way wide open for people to favor, discuss, advocate, or incite causes and doctrines however obnoxious and antagonistic such views may be to the rest of us.
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I don't subscribe to the idea that the founders or anyone else were somehow better than us and that we have to live up to their example.
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I am constantly accused of being 'First World.' So what should I do? I can't apologise for my environment, upbringing, aesthetic.
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People seldom improve when they have no other model but themselves to copy.
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It's very difficult when you're in something to be objective enough about the material to just see it for what it is. You either read too much into it and become too passionate about it, or you're disappointed.
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Through reading literature we can make ghosts speak to us, and we can speak back to them.
