Ben Zimmer Quotes
Even though a definite article is supposed to bring something into focus, Donald Trump uses it in a very general way. It's seen by many observers as a kind of racial distancing. Often using that article seems unnecessary. [But] it is serving some function, which is to represent a group collectively rather than as individuals.

Quotes to Explore
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I am an optimist. I believe the future is bright. I think people who see life painted in dark colors are the ones who do not take ownership.
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One of the strange things about violent and authoritarian regimes is they don't like the glare of negative publicity.
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We just feel like history repeats itself. You ain't never going to see nothing brand new; you're only going to see when records are broken. And we're here to just set records and set trends and follow the footsteps that have been shown to us.
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Friendship is a disinterested commerce between equals; love, an abject intercourse between tyrants and slaves.
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How can you think and hit at the same time?
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Every free day, every weekend, I am in a recording session. I'm very lucky to have such supportive people around me.
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I do expect a lot from myself, but it's also a balance of being... positive and also pushing yourself.
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I love hip-hop; I love Sleigh Bells. I also love classical music and musical theater.
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The concept of power we admire is power over someone else.
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It's nice to know that people are paying attention to you on the other side of the ball, but it's also kind of sad because you feel like you're a man that's being hunted down by some vicious animal. I feel they're going to come after me and do whatever they can to shut down the run, and that makes a difference with me in going out and doing my job.
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When two great saints meet, it's a humbling experience.
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Growing up, I always had two interests and two passions; one being public service and the other being the arts and acting.
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libraries are fascinating places: sometimes you feel you are under the canopy of a railway station, and when you read books about exotic places there's a feeling of travelling to distant lands
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There's an argument for saying that brave men deserve what they get, but it's a serious business forcing cowards to stand in harm's way.
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...And you're the only one who knows.
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I hear so many complaints to the effect that Negroes do not take advantage of the educational opportunities offered them. Well, one of the reasons why more of my race do not go in for higher education is that as soon as one of us gets his head above the crowd there are millions of feet ready to crush it back again to that dead level of commonplace thus creating a racial deadline of culture in our Republic. For how am I to compete with other American artists if I am not to be given the same opportunity?
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From the three, you then use one to make eight ones. You add those ones to the three, and you get one-three base eight, or, in other words, In base ten you have eleven, and you take away seven. And seven from eleven is four. Now go back to the sixty-fours, you're left with two.
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The modern habit of doing ceremonial things unceremoniously is no proof of humility; rather it proves the offender's inability to forget himself in the rite, and his readiness to spoil for every one else the proper pleasure of ritual.
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When you play against top players, sometimes you can play - you can play your utmost and you still get beat.
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I didn't need taming. I needed saving.
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Even though a definite article is supposed to bring something into focus, Donald Trump uses it in a very general way. It's seen by many observers as a kind of racial distancing. Often using that article seems unnecessary. [But] it is serving some function, which is to represent a group collectively rather than as individuals.