Teju Cole Quotes

Being Nigerian is a strong part of my identity. Being American is a strong part of my identity. And there are important parts of who I am that really have nothing to do with my national connection.

Teju Cole

• Important
• Strong
• Identity
• Connections

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Quotes to Explore

• When I was a kid, I had an Atari 2600, and I would play Pac Man, Frogger, all that kind of stuff. And I did enjoy going to the arcade.

  

  Jack McBrayer
  • Man
  • Kind
  • Enjoy

• I'm my own hero on the sets; why should I work with other heroes? The Khans did not want to work with me when I started. Why should I work with them now?

  

  Kangana Ranaut
  • Work
  • Why
  • Me

• Do we exert our own liberties without injury to others - we exert them justly; do we exert them at the expense of others - unjustly. And, in thus doing, we step from the sure platform of liberty upon the uncertain threshold of tyranny.

  

  Frances Wright
  • Liberty
  • Step
  • Tyranny

• When you're competitive, the last thing you want to do is come out of a game, regardless of what kind of injury it is - whether it's an ankle, a knee, a rib, or a head injury.

  

  Aaron Rodgers
  • Game
  • Want
  • Kind

• I have two tutors - a maths tutor and another tutor who does all the other subjects. It is part of the deal with myself; I really want to finish school. I like learning and education, and I think it is really important.

  

  Olivia DeJonge
  • Important
  • School
  • Education

• I've never been a calm, midrange type person.

  

  Eddie Vedder Pearl Jam
  • Never
  • Person
  • Calm

• Of all presidential perks, the pardon power has a special significance. It is just the kind of authority that would attract the special attention of someone obsessed with himself and his own ability to influence events.

  

  Barbara Olson
  • Power
  • Attention
  • Influence

• When I was young, I was rather attractive, and I thought that I would be a leading lady. I always thought of myself as a dramatic actress, but of course the opportunities for blacks weren't there at the time.

  

  Maidie Norman
  • Time
  • Myself
  • Thought

• I wish I had given more time to learning classical singing.

  

  Lata Mangeshkar
  • Time
  • Wish
  • Learning

• I have to admit I can be pretty high strung and tightly wound.

  

  Laura Fraser
  • High
  • Pretty
  • I Can

• To feel valued, to know, even if only once in a while, that you can do a job well is an absolutely marvelous feeling.

  

  Barbara Walters
  • Job
  • Feeling
  • Know

• She did not admire him any more than she had. It was merely that she considered him the Lesser of two evils.

  

  Edgar Rice Burroughs
  • Admire
  • Considered

• Everyone his own cinematographer. His own stream-of-consciousness e-mail poet. His own nightclub DJ. His own political columnist. His own biographer of his top-10 friends!

  

  Walter Kirn
  • Friends
  • Political
  • DJ

• I've travelled a huge amount, but almost all of it has been through work. I spent five years stationed in London in the special services of the American Air Force, producing and directing shows for the troops, which I absolutely loved.

  

  Larry Hagman
  • Work
  • American
  • Air

• I don't think I was funny until college. I lived with some Harvard MD/PhD students - they were so smart, and what I contributed to the house was, I was the funny one.

  

  Wendy Liebman
  • House
  • Funny
  • College

• Oh God, are you supposed to collect things? I don't collect things. I like throwing things away.

  

  Caitlin Moran
  • God
  • You
  • Like

• One of the problems we're facing is, in my view, that there are no globalized, youth-led, grassroots social movements advocating for democratic culture across Muslim-majority societies.

  

  Maajid Nawaz
  • Culture
  • Problems
  • View

• No visitors shall yonder valley find. Except the spirits of the rain and wind: Here you must bide, my friends, with me entombed In this dim crypt, where shelved around us lie The mummied authors.

  

  Bayard Taylor
  • Friends
  • Wind
  • Rain

• Writing is a strange and solitary activity. There are dispiriting times when you start working on the first few pages of a novel. Every day, you have the feeling you are on the wrong track. This creates a strong urge to go back and follow a different path. It is important not to give in to this urge but to keep going.

  

  Patrick Modiano
  • Different
  • Important
  • Writing

• When it comes to work, there is a fear factor around meritocracy. People are afraid of being openly judged. However, when you know what you are being measured against, it's empowering.

  

  Maynard Webb
  • People
  • Work
  • Fear

• Because I know that my character is developed from my own acts and thoughts, I will guard with care all that goes into its development.

  

  Napoleon Hill
  • Character
  • Thoughts
  • Developed

• You can't regulate what these kids are being exposed to on the Internet. It's so way out of control. All you can do is just try to talk to your own kids.

  

  Pamela Adlon
  • Kids
  • You
  • Control

• In 1906, I developed pleurisy and was unable to get into condition. So I asked for my release and obtained it. So ended my Major League career.

  

  Kid Nichols
  • Career

• Being Nigerian is a strong part of my identity. Being American is a strong part of my identity. And there are important parts of who I am that really have nothing to do with my national connection.

  

  Teju Cole
  • Important
  • Strong
  • Identity