Ian Buruma Quotes
I am skeptical about the idea that we can learn much from history, at least in the sense that knowledge of past follies will prevent us from making similar blunders in the future... And yet it is important to know what happened before, and to try and make sense of it. For if we don't, we cannot understand our own times.

Quotes to Explore
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Marriage has made me safer.
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Love what you do, not the love you get for doing it.
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Planning bores me. I like to go with the flow. Being whimsical is nice, occasionally. It keeps things fresh; there's no expectation.
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Illegitimacy is something we should talk about in terms of not having it.
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Strong limits on carbon pollution will save Americans money, create jobs, improve our health, and help defuse climate change.
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Fortunately, I grew up in a family that was grounded. My mother and father knew how to guide my career and look out for my best interests.
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I chose the most explosive dress I could find. I put a ton of makeup on and some great round earrings. I looked like Jennifer Jones in Duel in the Sun.
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It's not that I can't be fooled, but I'm not fooled often.
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When I started to pick up the bass, it was purely by random chance.
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I can change a light fixture, and I can do certain things. But I'm really bad in terms of construction. I can't do any of it on my own.
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Being an actress can be a little like being a girl in the '50s: You're stuck waiting by the phone, hoping that the boy you like will call.
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When people move from poor countries to America, they quickly adapt in at least one way - their consumption habits.
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But if there's an erosion at home, you know, Thomas Jefferson warned about a tyranny of an oligarchy and if we surrender our democracy to the tyranny of an oligarchy, we've made a terrible mistake.
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The amount of love I get from India, from Pakistan, from Asia, from Persia, Malaysia - people are just like, 'Brown boy doing it, brown boy doing it!'
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I've worked at this film festival in Telluride called the Telluride Film Festival. Been there since 2002. I used to make popcorn. I was an usher. Cleaned toilets, everything. Grew up there as a kid.
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I believe in the American Dream because I have lived the American Dream.
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I don't disrespect anybody who espouses a particular religion or belief - that is their own right to do that. But I think it's terribly important to look beyond the comfort that religion gives.
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But the development of human society does not go straight forward; and the epic process will therefore be a recurring process, the series a recurring series - though not in exact repetition.
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It was a great privilege for me and my teammates to follow in the footsteps of sporting greats like Roger Federer and Tiger Woods.
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A recurring dream probably merits close attention. Something wants you to pay attention.
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I think it's very important to support the program in your area, as each part of the country has its own challenges coping with AIDS. It can be very different from state to state and city to city. Wherever you live, there is surely someone who could use your help.
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Right after liberal Democrats, the most dangerous politicians are country club Republicans.
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Nobody since Newton has been able to use geometrical methods to the same extent for the like purposes; and as we read the Principia we feel as when we are in an ancient armoury where the weapons are of gigantic size; and as we look at them we marvel what manner of man he was who could use as a weapon what we can scarcely lift as a burden.
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I am skeptical about the idea that we can learn much from history, at least in the sense that knowledge of past follies will prevent us from making similar blunders in the future... And yet it is important to know what happened before, and to try and make sense of it. For if we don't, we cannot understand our own times.