Elif Batuman Quotes

I always wanted to write novels, even before I had read a lot of novels or had a very good idea of what they were.

Elif Batuman

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• Well, I decided to stop. And I did. I stopped smoking, and I stopped speed at the same time.

  

  Larry Hagman
  • Time
  • Stop
  • Same

• In thinking about it, the villains often have a little bit more range because their morality is different. You can have just a really good time as an actor, and there is just more there that you can explore on that side of the story.

  

  Mahershala Ali
  • Time
  • Good
  • Different

• I have never Twittered or Tweeted or even Chirped.

  

  P. J. O'Rourke
  • Never
  • Even

• The Chinese are really good at diplomacy - and even at making their interlocutors feel very uncomfortable.

  

  Zbigniew Brzezinski
  • Good
  • Feel
  • Chinese

• Over my career, I've had to do a lot of shows that involve stunts, and I so enjoy stunts.

  

  J. August Richards
  • Career
  • Enjoy
  • Over

• I've lived my life the way I wanted to, whether scaling the mountains, partying long into the night or having fun playing soccer.

  

  Marat Safin
  • Life
  • Long
  • Fun

• When I wrote my eighth thriller, 'Inside Out,' in 2009, the villains were a group of CIA and other government officials who colluded to destroy a series of tapes depicting Americans torturing war-on-terror prisoners.

  

  Barry Eisler
  • War
  • Government
  • Group

• Nine months after we submitted the original screenplay for 'The Attack,' the studio that was involved pulled out. I've been told that 'you don't write in a French way; you can't make these multicultural films.'

  

  Ziad Doueiri
  • You
  • Write
  • Original

• You know how you put peanut butter on a piece of bread and the bread falls - it never falls on the bread side down, it always falls peanut butter side down. That's because of gravity.

  

  J. B. Smoove
  • Know
  • Down
  • Gravity

• When you have an iPad and 75 books on it, it's so easy to go, 'I'm bored, I'm just going to read something else.'

  

  Eddie Kaye Thomas
  • You
  • Easy
  • Bored

• I do not have any pets. We travel too much.

  

  Nancy Kerrigan
  • Travel
  • Too Much
  • Pets

• I believe that the topic of chemical weapons is critically important for international peace and security, and I take note of the ongoing debate over what course of action should be taken by the international community. All those actions should be taken within the framework of the U.N. Charter, as a matter of principle.

  

  Ban Ki-moon
  • Believe
  • Important
  • Community

• I always like to do the things that I think are right. I am not trying to be a model, I am trying to be myself and do the right things. If what I am doing is a model, or is an example, is the right example, I am very happy, but I don't pretend that.

  

  Rafael Nadal
  • Happy
  • Model
  • Right

• Imagine Him smiling down on you right now. Embrace His love. Remember, you are His most prized possession, the apple of His eye!

  

  Victoria Osteen
  • Right
  • Possession
  • Smiling

• I choose to express myself.

  

  Dan Fogelberg
  • Myself
  • Choose
  • Express

• I was never a Boy Scout, but oh, I wanted to be one when I was a kid about ten or eleven years old. But there wasn't anyplace where I could ever join the Boy Scouts.

  

  Carl Barks
  • Never
  • Boy
  • Old

• My mom raised me with the idea of doing public service, and I definitely want to go in that direction. But I also want to follow in my dad's entrepreneurial footsteps.

  

  Patrick Schwarzenegger
  • Want
  • Dad
  • Mom

• In a vague way, I always knew neurosurgery was different - more delicate, more difficult, more demanding. After all, we say things like, 'I'm no brain surgeon,' for a reason.

  

  Sam Kean
  • Different
  • Always
  • Brain

• I'm an artist, and I'm a bit weird, and I'm probably a bit eccentric.

  

  FKA twigs
  • Artist
  • Weird
  • Bit

• I don't even think I'm that good at rapping, but I think what makes a great rapper - what CAN make a great rapper - is someone who wants to be better.

  

  Donald Glover
  • Good
  • Great
  • Thinking

• My dad had me in Taekwondo when I was a kid, but I didn't retain much of that.

  

  Lucas Till
  • Dad

• There is a degree of role-playing in modeling, for sure, and you're also in a high-profile job - there are lots of similarities for sure. But when I'm acting, I've got to try and be present, and I've got to be emotionally committed to a character, both physically and intellectually.

  

  Lily Cole
  • Character
  • Job
  • High

• I love playing the bitter guy.

  

  Bill Engvall
  • Guy
  • Bitter

• I always wanted to write novels, even before I had read a lot of novels or had a very good idea of what they were.

  

  Elif Batuman
  • Good