Alison Gopnik Quotes
I wanted to answer big questions about humanity, about how it is that we understand about the world, how we can know as much as we do, why human nature is the way that it is. And it always seemed to me that you find answers to those questions by looking at children.
Quotes to Explore
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Immaturity is the incapacity to use one's intelligence without the guidance of another.
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Time has lost all meaning in that nightmare alley of the Western world known as the American mind.
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I could go out to five parties a day if I wanted to. I don't. I have attachments to my wife and kids - and about 20 pieces of art.
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I have more friends in New York than Paris.
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Experiencing sadness and anger can make you feel more creative, and by being creative, you can get beyond your pain or negativity.
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There was something to me that was really compelling about that woman, already knowing she couldn't get pregnant. When I made that movie I was maybe 24, and to be 24 and already know you can't get pregnant, that was really interesting to me.
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Michael Jordan and Magic and myself all learned how to play the game in college programs that emphasized the team.
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I am definitely a perfectionist, and I do like things a certain way. But as I have got older, I would say that I am a little bit less of a control freak.
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In argument, truth always prevails finally; in politics, falsehood always.
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Eighteenth-century matrons would have never have dreamed of appointing a redhaired wet nurse for their precious offspring - redheads passed on their horrible characters through their milk.
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I want to have a long career.
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Menon the Thessalian did not either conceal his immoderate desire of riches or his desire of commanding, in order to increase them, or of being esteemed for the same reason. He desired to be well with those in power, that his injustice might escape punishment.
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Being Jewish is a big part of my artistic sensibility and my humor... I think it gives me a certain take on the world on a literary level.
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Not long ago I made a list of Doc Ford books I would like to do, and I came up with 11 pretty easily. I like to let the characters go their own ways and see what happens. I find them fascinating.
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I always say that I don't like it when people follow trends too much, just because it is on the runway. I think what you wear really does need to reflect what your own personal style is.
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While day by day the overzealous student stores up facts for future use, he who has learned to trust nature finds need for ever fewer external directions. He will discard formula after formula, until he reaches the conclusion: Let nature take its course.
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I would prefer to have a more appealing job. If I could still change careers, I would prefer it. This unfortunate art is made for long beards and ugly faces rather than for a relatively well-endowed woman.
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Learning to read the Bible in the light of the times in which it was written is critical. Reading it uncritically, without understanding the cultural and historical setting of the text, leaves us forced to accept scientific and sociological norms of the ancient Near East from 3,000 years ago.
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The only time I ever get choked is when I'm at Make-A-Wish headquarters, because you're talking and working with people who share the same ideals.
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I, too, am interested in identity and Islam, which is what people expect of us. But one must not write what is expected. It's important for North African writers to show they have other things to say.
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I know I could have a better public image if I were less open, if I ducked more issues and didn't speak out. But it's not my nature.
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Why should I crowd the world with my opinions? Live and let live. That's it. Let people have their own opinions, and you just keep yours to yourself. There are too many opinions - some unnecessary, some great, some ridiculously stupid - so I think I rather not say anything and keep my opinions to myself.
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I will say, in open adoption, all these choices you make about race, about the amount of mental illness you can deal with, about special needs and physical maladies, you have to lay all this out there before you know anybody's story.
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I wanted to answer big questions about humanity, about how it is that we understand about the world, how we can know as much as we do, why human nature is the way that it is. And it always seemed to me that you find answers to those questions by looking at children.
