Norman O. Brown (Norman Oliver Brown) Quotes
Psychoanalysis can provide a theory of 'progress,' but only by viewing history as a neurosis.
Quotes to Explore
-
Writers should provoke disagreement.
-
I was born in England, but then I lived in Calgary, Saudi Arabia, Cyprus, India, Vancouver, London, Toronto, and now L.A.
-
I know I'm profane. And outspoken.
-
With 'Free Agent Nation,' I was figuring out how to write a book along with writing the book. Now I think I've kind of, sort of figured out how to write a book a little bit better. But the process remains not that different - slow; laborious; tiny, incremental progress each day, punctuated by feelings of despair and self-loathing.
-
People like music when they're in love, but they don't need it as much. You need music when you're missing someone or you're pining for someone or you're forgetting someone or you're trying to process what just happened.
-
I have great admiration for the way the Americans do business. They drive a hard bargain, but once they do it, they stick to their contracts.
-
It takes people a while to trust you.
-
Museums are western inventions where the rich and the powerful or the government and the state tend to exhibit the signs and symbol and images of their culture.
-
You could have a hit in California that no one had heard of in Oklahoma.
-
My M.O. is just do what you do and don't feel like you have to make apologies for it. I'm sure there will come a point when I have to apologize for something, but not yet.
-
My forte is awkwardness.
-
I think good radio often uses the techniques of fiction: characters, scenes, a big urgent emotional question. And as in the best fiction, tone counts for a lot. But a lot of effective and interesting radio is based on one character who reacts to the world.
-
We know what's in our Cheerios and in our retirement accounts because the law requires disclosure.
-
I write about my feelings, things that happen in my life and experiences.
-
I wish every woman would love herself and embrace what she was given naturally.
-
I was excited by the idea of playing a Nazi.
-
Let me say that I think the economic history of the last 150 years clearly shows that if you want to industrialize a country in a short period, let us say 20 years, and you don't have a well-developed private sector, entrepreneurial class, then central planning is important.
-
I was 16 and did a play at school. I was a rather good student... And then I did a play when I was 16 and completely lost all my concentration for academics.
-
Brave men are brave from the very first.
-
The lives of African-Americans in this country are characterized by violence for most of our history. Much of that violence, at least to some extent, you know, done by the very state that's supposed to protect them.
-
The fleet sailed to its war base in the North Sea, headed not so much for some rendezvous with glory as for rendezvous with discretion.
-
Like the philosopher, the author views his task as one of establishing a clear connection between life and history, and of making the past bear fruit for the present and future.
-
I believe our entire nation is in the midst of a collective coming-of-age crisis without parallel in our history. We are living in an America of perpetual adolescence. Our kids simply don't know what an adult is anymore - or how to become one. Many don't even see a reason to try. Perhaps more problematic, the older generations have forgotten that we need to plan to teach them. It's our fault more than it is theirs.
-
Psychoanalysis can provide a theory of 'progress,' but only by viewing history as a neurosis.
