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

• 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

• If the first bite is with the eye and the second with the nose, some people will never take that third, actual bite if the food in question smells too fishy, fermented or cheesy.

  

  Yotam Ottolenghi
  • People
  • Food
  • Question

• All day long he was docile, intelligent, good, Though sometimes changing to a darker mood. He seemed hypocritical, could tell better lies, in the dark he saw dots of colors behind closed eyes, clenched fists, put his tongue out at his elder brother.

  

  Arthur Rimbaud
  • Good
  • Long
  • Eyes

• 'Friend Monkey' is really my favorite of all my books because the Hindu myth on which it is based is my favorite - the myth of the Monkey Lord who loved so much that he created chaos wherever he went.

  

  P. L. Travers
  • Friend
  • Loved
  • Chaos

• She gave me another of those long keen looks, and I could see that she was again asking herself if her favourite nephew wasn't steeped to the tonsils in the juice of the grape.

  

  P. G. Wodehouse
  • Long
  • She
  • Looks

• We've continued to meet and talk, probably on a daily basis, with the commissioner and with members of the committee, ... Several of the candidates have come in over the last couple of weeks and have gone down to mlb.com and have spent some time down there continuing their due diligence. Again, I see no reason why we can't make an announcement by Labour Day.

  

  Bob DuPuy
  • Meet
  • Candidates
  • Commissioner

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

  

  Elif Batuman
  • Question