Elif Batuman Quotes
		
	 
	
		
	
	
	
		I had wanted to write 'The Possessed' as fiction, but everyone told me that no one would read a novel about graduate students. It seems almost uncivilized to tell someone writing a novel, 'No, you have to call this a memoir.'
	
	 
	
		
			
				
					
						 
					 
				
				Elif Batuman 
			 
		 
	
	
  
	 
	 
	
	
	
	Quotes to Explore 
		
	
	
	
	
	
		In the case of my book, I don't think it's really the coming-out gay novel that everyone really needed, even though it was received as such. The boy is too creepy, he betrays his teacher, the only adult man with whom he's enjoyed a sexual experience, etc. 
	
	 
	
		
			
				
					
						 
					 
				
				Edmund White 
			 
		 
	
	
  
	 
	
	
	
	
		I just like to stay a little quiet and just do my own thing. If I win a little more, I think I'll get a little bit more attention. 
	
	 
	
		
			
				
					
						 
					 
				
				Inbee Park 
			 
		 
	
	
  
	 
	
	
	
	
		When my lady and I sit down and watch TV, I find she gets annoyed at characters because they don't do what she would do in the situation. I'm always like, 'Well, she has to do that because that's what the story is.' 
	
	 
	
		
			
				
					
						 
					 
				
				Dallas Roberts 
			 
		 
	
	
  
	 
	
	
	
	
		I have no problem with violence, I have no problem playing horrible people. 
	
	 
	
		
			
				
					
						 
					 
				
				Mandy Patinkin 
			 
		 
	
	
  
	 
	
	
	
	
		Stillness of person and steadiness of features are signal marks of good breeding. 
	
	 
	
		
			
				
					
						 
					 
				
				Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. 
			 
		 
	
	
  
	 
	
	
	
	
		I made sacrifices willingly; it was what I did best. 
	
	 
	
		
			
				
					
						 
					 
				
				Karen McCarthy 
			 
		 
	
	
  
	 
	 
		
		
		
	
	
	
	
		The way you talk to yourself sometimes is terrible! I hear myself, and I go, 'I can't believe you're talking to my friend Allison like that!' It's really terrible, the things we say to ourselves. 
	
	 
	
		
			
				
					
						 
					 
				
				Allison Janney 
			 
		 
	
	
  
	 
	
	
	
	
		We protest to our last breath against the purveyors of hatred, cruelty and violence. 
	
	 
	
		
			
				
					
						 
					 
				
				Ephraim Mirvis 
			 
		 
	
	
  
	 
	
	
	
	
		To obtain salvation we must tremble at the thought of being lost, and tremble not so much at the thought of hell, as of sin, which alone can send us thither. He who dreads sin avoids dangerous occasions, frequently recommends himself to God, and has recourse to the means of keeping himself in the state of grace. He who acts thus will be saved; but for him who lives not in this manner it is morally impossible to be saved. 
	
	 
	
		
			
				
					
						 
					 
				
				Alphonsus Liguori 
			 
		 
	
	
  
	 
	
	
	
	
		When one is writing a novel in the first person, one must be that person. 
	
	 
	
		
			
				
					
						 
					 
				
				Daphne du Maurier 
			 
		 
	
	
  
	 
	
	
	
	
		I had wanted to write 'The Possessed' as fiction, but everyone told me that no one would read a novel about graduate students. It seems almost uncivilized to tell someone writing a novel, 'No, you have to call this a memoir.' 
	
	 
	
		
			
				
					
						 
					 
				
				Elif Batuman