Andrew Motion Quotes
I write between 5.30am and 9.00. That way, I hope I carry over something from my dream time.
Quotes to Explore
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I'm a Canadian. Outside Canada I carry the flag. Canadian nationalism isn't as insidious as American nationalism, though. It's good natured. It's all about maple syrup, not war.
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I traveled so much to dance that I feel a part of many places, but New York is where I spent most of my life and where my career has been - it's the place where I exist.
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I only buy a computer when it's two years old, after the glitches have been worked out.
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During my second draft pass on my last book I made 20,000 words happen in a week, which is practically supernatural for me, and it would never have been possible without three nights in a hotel in my own city.
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I first started writing fiction in college because I was attracted to beautiful sentences. I loved to read them. I wanted to write them.
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I grew up in California, and when I read that Proposition 8 was on the ballot, I was disappointed because it seemed to be inconsistent with the spirit of the state, with the independence and diversity of the frontier that California has always been.
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I think chemistry and great acting go hand-in-hand.
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The security and the future of Jordan is hand-in-hand with the future of the Palestinians and the Israelis.
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I would hate for my father to regret all his support that he's given me over the years and be embarrassed by anything I chose to do.
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I don't think I've ever met any single person who has been vulgar. But you know, you learn along the way that some people are going to be very generous, and other people... It's just not innate within them. Sometimes I think you just have to decide if you're going to stand up and get on with it or if you're going to be crushed and threatened.
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The secret of happiness is to admire without desiring. And that is not happiness.
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I cannot believe that violence depicted onscreen actually causes people to act out violently. That's oversimplifying the issue. If somebody commits a violent act after seeing violence in a movie, I think the question that needs to be asked is: would that person still have committed the act if he had not seen a violent film?
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As they marched, the crowds lining the route broke into applause, a sweet and deeply felt spontaneous pattering that was a sort of communal embrace. Welcome home.
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The most exciting happiness is the happiness generated by forces beyond your control.
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I like naturally occurring film grain, and what happens to film when it's under- and over-exposed.
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Private education can give you confidence, which is marvellous; a sense of entitlement isn't.
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Over recent years, urbanisation, globalisation and the destruction of local cultures has led to a rise in the prevalence of mental illness in the developing world.
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My family had a business where they worked with gravestones, and I remember growing up and playing in cemeteries like it was a normal playground.
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I have very mixed feelings about Jesse Jackson. He's very good about labor, and human and civil rights issues, but not so good on cultural issues.
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I'm very fond of the Talent series, and also the Crystal Singer trio.
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The Romantics were whipping boys of the New Criticism, but they appealed to me anyway. I was recalcitrant. It was clear to me that they had thought innovatively.
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You don't understand anything until you learn it more than one way.
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I did not want 'Battleship' to be perceived as an American war film. I wanted to do everything I could to make the film accessible to a global audience. It felt like bringing an alien component to the film would help take the American jingoism out of it.
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I write between 5.30am and 9.00. That way, I hope I carry over something from my dream time.
