Bessel van der Kolk Quotes
A stern schoolteacher may be an intimidating presence to an average kid, but for a child whose stepfather beats him up, she may represent a torturer and precipitate a rage attack or a terrified cowering in the corner.

Quotes to Explore
-
Social interactions have always been a bit of a difficult thing for me. I think I have a natural tendency to make people not 100 percent super comfortable.
-
I really found this campaign odious. I couldn't get up for it. The quality of the candidates and the campaign, I just found the whole thing second-rate. I didn't know how to explain to my granddaughter that I was spending my dotage writing about Al Gore and George W. Bush.
-
Truth is of no practical value to mankind save as it affects terrestrial phenomena, hence the discoveries of science should be concealed or glossed over wherever they conflict with orthodoxy.
-
Yeah, I'd like to get the girl and at least make it through the film.
-
It works both ways: there are victims of tragedy who come to me who have experienced grief of such magnitude that they cannot reconcile. Likewise, I cannot change the mentality of those who committed the crimes or the fools who followed them.
-
A novelist can never be his own reader, except when he is ridding his manuscript of syntax errors, repetitions, or the occasional superfluous paragraph.
-
We are not interested in cloning the Michael Jordans and the Michael Jacksons of this world. The rich and the famous don't participate in this.
-
Faith is not something to grasp, it is a state to grow into.
-
Any frequent visitor to Hawaii is fixated on mapping how the islands have changed since their last visit.
-
I love physical kinds of comedy and getting down and dirty and doing stunts. When I was growing up, I was always getting into fights with guys and usually punching out boys my age because I was a lot bigger and tougher. So I'm naturally accustomed to putting myself into the headspace of a girl who can take care of herself.
-
I'm a man without a corporation.
-
I think movies lost a lot when they went to stereo and five-track sound.
-
My books cover many aspects of daily life through which your children will recognize their own relationships in their families and communities.
-
You know, my faith is one that admits some doubt.
-
I don't move away from grief, rather through it.
-
I like shopping at retail places like JC Penney or Macy's, and maybe buying a top or a shirt, and then buying a skirt from Rue 21 or Forever 21 because they have the maxi skirts, which I appreciate so much, and then topping it off with something that I buy from a Somali shop.
-
Publishing for me is a business, not an ideology.
-
I've got that Beethoven energy, that Stravinsky energy. And it's all a gift from the Creator.
-
I use the rules to frustrate the law. But I didn't set up the ground rules.
-
As a child, I had the opportunity to meet the captain onboard a British Airways flight. It was so exciting to see the cockpit and controls. I was in awe of the captain, and he stamped my log book, which I still have to this day.
-
When a child shows up for school, and is not physically and mentally ready to learn, he or she never catches up.
-
Politicians don't like to face unpleasant realities. In truth, nobody does, but as individuals, we have no choice; if we neglect to plan ahead, we are held accountable. Fail to meet your responsibilities at work, and you get fired. Ignore your car's gas gauge, and you get stranded.
-
It's good just to laugh sometimes, and if it comes out of some truth, it's even stronger.
-
A stern schoolteacher may be an intimidating presence to an average kid, but for a child whose stepfather beats him up, she may represent a torturer and precipitate a rage attack or a terrified cowering in the corner.