Ta-Nehisi Coates Quotes
Quotes to Explore
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In politics people give you what they think you deserve and deny you what they think you want.
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I got a note from my father, who said that Success is wonderful, if you don't inhale. That was his own aphorism, and I think it's the very best thing he could have said to me or anyone else on the subject.
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I am a perfectly normal woman. If what we do is storytelling and represent people that we see all day and every day, well, we do not see supermodels all day and every day.
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I made my parents crazy. As a kid, I redecorated my bedroom every month. I would literally save my allowance and go buy things.
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I'm kind of a private person.
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I produce for a low price and I sell it on my own to 80 countries.
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The characters are always the focal point of a book for me, whether I'm writing or reading. I may enjoy a book that has an intriguing mystery or a good plot, but to become one of my real favorites, it has to have great characters.
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You know, bigotry isn't relevant to just the South. It never was. But I'm very grateful that I don't know what it's like from experience.
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When I've produced a song, I try to record a vocal over it, and sometimes it becomes really hard. Sometimes I've already said a lot that I want to say within the production. The vocal is just adding to it, rather than it being a song.
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Kids are meant to believe that their stepping stone to massive money is 'The X Factor.' Luck is great, but most of life is hard work. We do not celebrate people who have made success out of serious hard work.
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I have been learning English on the road since I started when I was 15, so it is a slow process but making some progress. Now I think I am much more comfortable with my English. However, it is difficult, still, when I speak about something that is not tennis.
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It's always good to be known. You want to build your brand up, want to build your name.
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When I was a kid, there was so much talent outside of recorded music.
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You say something, things you would rather forget, and then they are out there. It makes me anxious and I don't know why people are interested in me anyway. If I had my way, I would rather exist in a little hole and not speak to anyone.
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But the Republican right-wing agenda, these people - Arnold and his patrons - felt it could be accomplished by circumventing the Legislature and spending money and organizing and giving sound bites.
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Being with someone who is smart and gives good advice adds tremendously wonderful elements to your life.
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Perfectionists are their own devils.
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I've loved men that wear un-ironed clothes, it doesn't make me fall out of love. When you love someone, you should see beyond their image. It just makes me want to iron their shirt. But once you love a person, they could wear a garbage bag!
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To all, to each, a fair good-night, and pleasing dreams, and slumbers light.
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You feel alive to the degree that you feel you can help others.
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I think if everyone looked the same, it would be a bit boring.
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My father was my hero, and he died when I was 11. So, I really never experienced the kind of natural teenage rebellion or the anger at him. I never experienced those feelings as a young person.
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The problem is not that the U.S. economy won't be able to take care of its citizens - it is that taking away benefits, creating intergenerational warfare, and scapegoating will make for very difficult and bad politics. This is a tragedy that we can see coming. Early action would be relatively painless.
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James Baldwin is probably the biggest influence on me from a literary perspective.
