P. J. O'Rourke Quotes

It was Ronald Reagan who used to say that the 10 most frightening words in the English language are, "I'm from the federal government, and I'm here to help."

P. J. O'Rourke

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Quotes to Explore

• I was not so committed to financial success that I was willing to abandon my principles and priorities. One of the most visible examples of this is our decision to close on Sunday.

  

  S. Truett Cathy
  • Success
  • Decision
  • Financial

• Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?

  

  Abraham Lincoln
  • Friends
  • Friendship
  • Destroy

• In America, people think being South Asian is still kind of exotic. When you go outside New York and Chicago and L.A., there are people who have never tried Indian food... they've never even tasted it!

  

  Aasif Mandvi
  • People
  • America
  • Food

• We learn martial arts as helping weakness. You never fight for people to get hurt. You're always helping people.

  

  Jackie Chan
  • People
  • Hurt
  • Fight

• People should know what they want, not just what they don't want.

  

  Abdolkarim Soroush
  • People
  • Want
  • Know

• I think the best president - because he changed the whole mood of the country, the whole economy of the country, and stood up to Communism... that was continuing its causes around the world, and backed them off and caused them to collapse - and that was Ronald Reagan.

  

  Pat Boone
  • Up
  • World
  • Country

• I've always loved writing, and the impulse for me is storytelling. I don't sit down and think: 'What political message can I sell?' I love the creativity of it.

  

  Randa Abdel-Fattah
  • Writing
  • Love
  • Political

• When the British became Christian, Christianity in no way altered their political organisation.

  

  Sabine Baring-Gould
  • Political
  • Way
  • Christian

• Horrors, I believe, should be original - the use of common myths and legends being a weakening influence.

  

  H. P. Lovecraft
  • Believe
  • Influence
  • Legends

• I like certain subgenres within science fiction and fantasy, and one of those is urban fantasy, and another is steampunk.

  

  Gail Carriger
  • Science
  • Science fiction

• I was born and grew up in Fitzgerald, way down in south Georgia. It was a mill town and my family ran the cotton mill. My grandfather was mayor many times and my family felt deeply rooted to that spot.

  

  Frances Mayes
  • Up
  • Family
  • Down

• I don't want to sound disingenuous here - controversy is obviously good for business, especially if your business is satire. And it does amplify the discussion - in my view, a good thing.

  

  Garry Trudeau
  • Good
  • Business
  • Sound

• All of Hollywood was convinced that 'Gone with the Wind' would be a colossal disaster and rather hoped it would be.

  

  Olivia De Havilland
  • Wind
  • Hollywood
  • Disaster

• I have a particular image, and my customers know my line isn't going to be so trendy it will be out of style next year.

  

  Jaclyn Smith
  • Know
  • Style
  • Year

• I know that my tendency is to be linear, and I'm trying to find ways to subvert that. And so in 'Bellocq's Ophelia' my device for subverting it was to tell the story and then to tell it again; it always circles back to this one moment, and it's not linear, but it's round in that way, and much of 'Native Guard' is like that.

  

  Natasha Trethewey
  • Trying
  • Story
  • Moment

• I don't have a lot of skills, but one thing I can do is, I can compartmentalize. I can make that a little world that I can go back to, so I can be a waitress, or I can be a teacher, and then go and work on my book.

  

  Dana Spiotta
  • World
  • Work
  • Book

• All fame is is having people you don't know coming up to you and saying, 'Hello.' I'm always polite and people are always nice, but it's weird.

  

  Karl Pilkington
  • People
  • Up
  • Nice

• I like being by myself.

  

  Larry Bird
  • Myself
  • Like
  • Being

• What creates freedom? A revolution in the streets? Mass protest? Civil war? A change of government? The ousting of the old guard and its replacement by the new? History, more often than not, shows that hopes raised by such events are often dashed, sooner rather than later.

  

  Jonathan Sacks
  • War
  • History
  • Freedom

• So many misconceptions surround the notion of heroism. Far too many categorize a hero as a champion on the battlefield, a commander of legions, a master of rare talent or ability. Granted, there have been heroes who fit those descriptions. But many men of great evil as well. Heed me. A hero sacrifices for the greater good. A hero is true to his or her conscience. In short, heroism means doing the right thing regardless of the consequences. Although any person could fit that description, very few do. Choose this day to be one of them.

  

  Brandon Mull
  • Evil
  • Hero
  • Champion

• I write my novels in English first; then they are translated into Turkish by professional translators. Then I take their translation and rewrite. So basically, I write the same novel twice.

  

  Elif Safak
  • English
  • Professional

• I remember being in New Orleans after Katrina hearing people calling, 'Help me,' and wanting to slide down in the seat of my car because it felt like I was invading their suffering. But I also know that our being there gave them a voice.

  

  David Muir
  • People
  • Remember
  • Help

• I'm a writer, not a genre.

  

  Carlos Fuentes
  • Writer
  • Genre

• It was Ronald Reagan who used to say that the 10 most frightening words in the English language are, "I'm from the federal government, and I'm here to help."

  

  P. J. O'Rourke
  • Help
  • Words
  • English