Elif Batuman Quotes
The novel is like a melancholy form. It's about some kind of disillusionment with the way things are versus the idea of how they could be or how they used to be.

Quotes to Explore
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I will go so far as to say probably smoking had something to do with my pancreatic cancer.
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Education is a way of empowering people; it opens up so many doors and is fundamental to everybody. And teachers are not often appreciated in the way that they should be.
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Sometimes, in order to follow our moral compass and/or our hearts, we have to make unpopular decisions or stand up for what we believe in.
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Owing to the difficulty of dealing with substances of high molecular weight we are still a long way from having determined the chemical characteristics and the constitution of proteins, which are regarded as the principal con-stituents of living organisms.
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We are like the mechanism of a watch: each part is essential.
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I like PETA as a group for many reasons, but one of the reasons that I admire them is that they say and do the things that other groups won't do.
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I've always considered music stores to be the graveyards of musicians.
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If we'd had another carefree 70's, I'd have been dead. It was a little too carefree, you know? I don't know how carefree they were for me, I think I was worried then, I can't remember what about.
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May the perfect grace and eternal love of Christ our Lord be our never-failing protection and help.
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I cannot outline. I do not know what the next thing is going to happen in the book until it comes out of my fingers.
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I know I got angels watchin me from the other side.
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He who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with men. We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals.
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The day that you walk out in front of 30,000 people and don't get nervous is probably the day to give it up. It's inspiring to be a little terrified.
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You know in my own area of Waltham Forest, we've had many murders as a result of the gang violence and often innocent bystanders get caught up in it.
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I'm not having to go outside and switch the role model hat on. It's me, and it's important for me to leave that legacy to help inspire younger players because I didn't have a role model growing up.
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I've never been an all-black girl. I like pinks and blues and greens. If you come over to my closet, you'll be able to find a rainbow of things to wear.
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I hate to look at myself in a mirror, and I never go and see films.
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I like films that are well-written and concise and with not a lot of room for improvisation.
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Many tax experts say a key element to any fundamental overhaul is getting rid of certain deductions for businesses - the 'special-interest giveaways that are masked as tax breaks,' as House Republicans describe many of them in their own proposal.
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Crowds are the most difficult thing for me these days because I have to walk with my head down and my eyes averted. There's still that part of me that wants to hold my head up, make eye contact and smile.
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Appearances often are deceiving.
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Most people understand that Lehman Brothers didn't collapse because Gordon Brown built too many schools and hospitals.
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I always begin a room with the rug; it is literally the foundation of the space. I then go on to the furniture.
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The novel is like a melancholy form. It's about some kind of disillusionment with the way things are versus the idea of how they could be or how they used to be.