William Blake Quotes
Commerce is so far from being beneficial to arts, or to empire, that it is destructive of both, as all their history shows, for the above reason of individual merit being its great hatred. Empires flourish till they become commercial, and then they are scattered abroad to the four winds.
Quotes to Explore
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The difference between eccentricity and originality in historical studies is often difficult to detect at first encounter. When a radically new interpretation of a large segment of history makes its appearance, time is needed to sift the evidence.
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At one point, I had a story accepted at the 'New Yorker,' which sent off weird bells in people when I told them - 'Oh,' they thought, 'now you are a writer' - where I really had been for the last 30-odd years.
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If you stop being scared, that's when entropy sets in, and you may as well go home.
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I wish I'd gone to music school or just started playing in bands sooner.
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When I look back, I am happy that my mum took me to the gymnastics club. I didn't join gymnastics to become a famous athlete or celebrity; it just happened - I did more than I expected, of course.
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The shoe that fits one person pinches another; there is no recipe for living that suits all cases.
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The field of the novel is very rich. If you're a composer, you're well aware of the history of composition, and you are trying to make your music part of that history. You're not ahistorical. In the same way, I think, if you write now, you are writing in the historical context of what the novel has been and what possibilities it has revealed.
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I was born in England, but then I lived in Calgary, Saudi Arabia, Cyprus, India, Vancouver, London, Toronto, and now L.A.
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I've removed legs from dogs on the bed of my truck on the farm.
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What's so crazy is when you give interviews to reporters that don't really care too much for you, basically what they're going to do is write what they want to write and discredit you. They're going to write and say what they want to say, no matter what you tell them.
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The production of too many useful things results in too many useless people.
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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.
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You mustn't always believe what I say. Questions tempt you to tell lies, particularly when there is no answer.
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It takes people a while to trust you.
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I have reached the conclusion that those who have physical courage also have moral courage. Physical courage is a great test.
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If you're holding out for universal popularity, I'm afraid you will be in this cabin for a very long time.
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I would argue that Asean has been instrumental in driving both economic growth and political development, and that there can be no clearer example than its relations with Myanmar.
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I've always wanted to take up work that my heart is convinced about. And I shall continue to do so.
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The causes of crime are very complicated. But there is a very big literature, as you know, about single parenthood in crime, about race in crime, and about poverty in crime.
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Did you follow what [General Yehoshafat] Harkabi wrote? Formerly of the Israeli military intelligence service. Remember him? Did you follow what he wrote? He said that it was for the sake of the existence of Israel that we have to accept the rights of the Palestinians to have their independent state.
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We have got to stop being a society that turns our heads and looks the other way.
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Opinions are to the vast apparatus of social existence what oil is to machines: one does not go up to a turbine and pour machine oil over it; one applies a little to hidden spindles and joints that one has to know.
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Why would I retire from something I enjoy doing? I can hardly wait to get here.
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Commerce is so far from being beneficial to arts, or to empire, that it is destructive of both, as all their history shows, for the above reason of individual merit being its great hatred. Empires flourish till they become commercial, and then they are scattered abroad to the four winds.
