Ben Lerner Quotes
Experiments with the "as if" of fiction are often more lively in poetry and criticism and other modes of writing than in weak short stories or novels.
Quotes to Explore
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I believe that I'm a hillbilly in my values and in my attitudes, and I don't want to lose that. I think it's possible to maintain a big chunk of that identity so long as you're self-reflective and meaningful about it.
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If you taste something, you're not at the maximum of your ability. What I think about in competition is temperature and texture. It has nothing to do with taste or emotion.
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I wasn't interested at all in doing a documentary. I was not a public figure.
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You know, I have the best parents in the world and I got really, really lucky because they think that everything I do is Oscar-worthy.
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I didn't grow up in a wealthy family at all. Being at home all day and watching movies, that was a luxury.
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The worst mistake a woman can make is to emulate a man.
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To communicate the truths of history is an act of hope for the future.
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I like that the 'Underworld' series created a whole other world that's totally different yet familiar to our own.
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When I sit down to write, I know everything I need to know... I start writing, and within 30 seconds or 60 seconds, I'm watching a movie. I'm not making this stuff up; the characters are acting it out,and I'm just writing it down.
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This race is hotter than a Times Square Rolex.
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I'm at peace with my family, my friends, myself and God so there's really nothing else that I worry about.
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I love it when people say things to me in public and want to meet me, because I want to meet them! Early on, my manager told me, 'If you want to sell 500,000 records, then go out there and meet 500,000 people.'
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One who is too insistent on his own views, finds few to agree with him.
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When I look at a film, I don't think, 'Oh, I wish I had done that' because I haven't done that role, so it doesn't matter.
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I'm a huge fan of the Clintons. I love Hillary; I love Bill.
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My first experience on a feature film was with Shane Meadows on 'This Is England.'
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'Ray Donovan' is very dark and very serious. As actors will tell you, the darker and more serious the material, the more jokes that go around set. It's a counterbalance.
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I think the virtue I prize above all others is curiosity. If you look really hard at almost anybody, and try to see why they're doing what they're doing, taking a dig at them ceases to be what you want to do even if you hate them.
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The idea of being a painter, I've always thought, is better than being an artist or a sculptor.
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Learning stamps you with its moments. Childhood's learning is made up of moments. It isn't steady. It's a pulse.
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The Beatles did everything long before anyone else. They weren't afraid to try things and to experiment with a lot of sounds. In 200 years, when you look up 'rock and roll' in the dictionary, it'll have a picture of the Beatles next to it.
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When I was 16 or 17, anyone could have had me if they sang the right song and recruited me in the right way. Which is why I've always had a sneaking understanding for people who took the wrong route. That doesn't mean to say I took it or even contemplated it myself.
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The lesson is clear: estimates of causes of death are warped by media coverage. ... The world in our heads is not a precise replica of reality; our expectations about the frequency of events are distorted by the prevalence and emotional intensity of the messages to which we are exposed.
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Experiments with the "as if" of fiction are often more lively in poetry and criticism and other modes of writing than in weak short stories or novels.
