Elif Batuman Quotes

A lot of fiction doesn't answer a question that any reasonable person would ever ask.

Elif Batuman

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• What most people didn't realize in the Western countries is that here its not a question of having supporters, its a question of getting these votes to the polling stations.

  

  Imran Khan
  • People
  • Question
  • Realize

• If you're playing in a room that holds 15,000 people, it's just a question of how bad the room acoustics are and in what way they're bad.

  

  Walter Becker Steely Dan
  • People
  • Bad
  • Question

• I think my thing is that... I don't know. And that's why I don't wanna sing about 'This is me, this is who I am' because, like, even the question, 'Tell me about yourself' - what are you supposed to say? 'Ooh, I'm a happy girl, but I'm sad, too'? People are so complex.

  

  Zara Larsson
  • People
  • Why
  • Happy

• Anyone can wear any color. The question is about finding the right shade. There is a momentary trend to dark colors because when the financials are not that great, people go for black, navy and grey.

  

  Ozwald Boateng
  • People
  • Great
  • Black

• It's a question of not copying the masters, to look for something, good or bad, for oneself. To enter this liberated state of mind, one cannot copy the others.

  

  Nathalie Sarraute
  • Good
  • Mind
  • Bad

• When there's an authentic mystery, as opposed to just a question being asked, that's what makes you lean forward.

  

  J. J. Abrams
  • You
  • Question
  • Mystery

• Our problem is not adopting reforms, which we will do without question. It is not reaching an objective, which we will meet. But it is finding an end to the recession.

  

  Yannis Stournaras
  • Question
  • Problem
  • End

• There is no question that photography has played a major role in the environmental movement.

  

  Galen Rowell
  • Question
  • Photography
  • Environmental

• The question of boundaries is a major question of the Jewish people because the Jews are the great experts of crossing boundaries. They have a sense of identity inside themselves that doesn't permit them to cross boundaries with other people.

  

  A. B. Yehoshua
  • People
  • Great
  • Question

• Augustine says that you don't understand a nation by the throw weight of its military or the strength of its research universities or the size of its population, but by looking at what it loves in common. To assess a nation, you look at the health and strength of its ideals. And there's no question that the common love in America is freedom.

  

  Os Guinness
  • Love
  • America
  • Freedom

• Above and beyond drawing my creations, I try to incorporate some kind of message. I try not to end as merely a question but try to provide a conclusion within the work.

  

  Natsuki Takaya
  • Work
  • Question
  • End

• I have two daughters: One an open book, one a locked box. So the question of privacy is a challenging one. How much do kids need? How much should we give? How do we prepare them to live in a world where the very notion of privacy opens a generational chasm?

  

  Nancy Gibbs
  • World
  • Live
  • Book

• I do not question the power of our weapons and the efficiency of our logistics; I cannot say these things delight me as they seem to delight some of our officials, but they are certainly impressive.

  

  J. William Fulbright
  • Power
  • Me
  • Question

• There's no question that the Kings have been, are, and can be great hosts for any major events.

  

  Gary Bettman
  • Great
  • Question
  • Kings

• Is life worth living? This is a question for an embryo not for a man.

  

  Samuel Butler
  • Life
  • Man
  • Question

• The question of likability is a bit of a puzzler for me. You know, I don't write people with likability in mind. It's more whether or not I find them compelling.

  

  Patrick deWitt
  • People
  • Mind
  • Compelling

• I believe that Orthodoxy has been thinking lately, and despite other impressions, that we can't have full sacramental communion if we don't first have a fundamental agreement on the question of the primacy, that still isn't there.

  

  Karl Lehmann
  • Believe
  • Thinking
  • Question

• It is important that students bring a certain ragamuffin, barefoot irreverence to their studies; they are not here to worship what is known, but to question it.

  

  Jacob Bronowski
  • Question
  • Students
  • Worship

• In Chinese culture, it wouldn't occur to kids to question or talk back to their parents. In American culture, kids in books, TV shows and movies constantly score points with their snappy back talk. Typically, it's the parents who need to be taught a life lesson - by their children.

  

  Amy Chua
  • Life
  • Children
  • Kids

• Life is not governed by will or intention. Life is a question of nerves, and fibres, and slowly built-up cells in which thought hides itself and passion has its dreams.

  

  Oscar Wilde
  • Life
  • Question
  • Passion

• I'm sometimes asked about my productivity, which I find a bit embarrassing to be honest. I don't really have a particularly interesting answer to this question.

  

  Oliver D. Crisp
  • Interesting
  • Question
  • Honest

• The Obama administration came into Utah and said, 'We're not going to listen to what the U.S. Supreme Court said. 'We, the federal government, are going to recognize marriages in the state of Utah and Utah state law explicitly does not recognize as marriage,' and that was really, in my view, an abuse of power.

  

  Ted Cruz
  • Power
  • Law
  • Government

• Not yet, but I do wanna work with Leona Lewis. I love her, she's so sweet! I think she's working on her album as well so I'd love to do a nice powerful female duet with her. I think our voices would blend really well. There's a couple of other people I'd love to work with - like Fergie, Justin Timberlake and Alicia Keys.

  

  Jordin Sparks
  • People
  • Work
  • She

• A lot of fiction doesn't answer a question that any reasonable person would ever ask.

  

  Elif Batuman
  • Question