Alexander McCall Smith Quotes
It's like people inviting you to come along to a church service or an amateur orchestra. They're hoping that you'll join. People are recruiters at heart, you know. It makes them feel more comfortable to see the ranks of their particular enthusiasm swelling.
Quotes to Explore
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As one grows older one becomes more critical of oneself and less of other people.
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And also, I know I have this responsibility or mission to show people, to encourage them to live their dream, too.
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I'm not a fan of people romanticizing their loved ones in death.
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Realize that the game of life is the game of, to some extent, being taken advantage of by people who make a science of it. Whether they are in government or personal life or in business, they're everywhere.
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Helping people boost themselves out of poverty is the best way to make a lasting positive difference in a person's life.
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I'd like it if people thought I was Jewish looking.
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One of the greatest gifts God ever gave to humanity was that of liberty. We love freedom and bloom under it. We cannot and should not try to force people to live by a certain religious code. To do so negates our free will.
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My mum was a nurse, and her passion was geriatric care. I used to love listening to the old people's stories in her nursing home and picturing myself in their place. They'd say, 'I went to school in a horse and cart,' and I'd just think 'Wow!' I'd picture myself in their place - acting was a natural progression.
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Second, we also got a more authentic liturgy of the people of God, in the vernacular language.
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My heart is as pure as the driven slush.
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History is more interesting than most people think.
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Often people would mistake me for white when I was younger, and I didn't correct them; there would be a period of time that they just thought I was.
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I didn't necessarily have a total idea when I was writing the movie of where everything was going. I just wanted to have really realistic dialogue and write like people I knew talked. I tried to keep it very real.
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Maybe I didn't have the childhood people think you should have, but I still went through the ages; I was still a child.
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When you are suffering, you become more understanding about yourself, but also about other people's sufferings too. That's the first step to understand somebody is to understand their sufferings. So then love follows.
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I think three or four years ago, people would have said my biggest weakness was that sometimes I was awkward on television, with my stammer, but I think they'd say that much less now.
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I love shooting guns. Not at people or animals, but I love shooting blanks!
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The general message would be to say to all these young people: If you have entrepreneurial aspirations, there is money, there are consumers, there is a huge market. The only thing you need to do is to go there and start doing things.
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What kind of people do we wish to become, and how do we know an American when we see one? Is it possible to pursue a common purpose without a common history or a standard text?
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If every choice you make comes from an honest place, you’re solid and nothing anybody can say about you can rock you or change your opinion. It doesn’t shake me because I know why I do the things I do and I know I come from a good place and so people can judge me however they wish. But I know I’ll continue to do the best I can and be the best I can.
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Where there is an absence of international political leadership, civil society should step in to fill the gap, providing the energy and vision needed to move the world in a new and better direction.
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Mastering music is more than learning technical skills. Practicing is about quality, not quantity. Some days I practice for hours; other days it will be just a few minutes.
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My mom is a translator for the school district in Delaware. She'd hear these different stories from working with families there. Those stories stuck with me.
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It's like people inviting you to come along to a church service or an amateur orchestra. They're hoping that you'll join. People are recruiters at heart, you know. It makes them feel more comfortable to see the ranks of their particular enthusiasm swelling.
