Ben Fountain Quotes
I think if you spend much time dwelling on influence you can get self-conscious about every line you write. That's a great way to freeze up.
Quotes to Explore
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People take things so seriously.
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After the success of my first album and the success of 'Flow Joe' kind of faded, I was struggling to make some money and make ends meet.
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A hen is only an egg's way of making another egg.
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My father's a Southern Baptist minister. I wasn't lighting cars on fire; I just wasn't.
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I kind of found a niche for myself after 'Firefly'. I found something that I enjoyed doing and that I did well, but as far as how I seek out a part, it's always different. It's always something that lights you on fire when you read it. It might be just one scene, it might be one line that defines the character for you.
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I vehemently deny that I was born a cynic and a pessimist.
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Some players are more physical than others, some play with more finesse. Some are just really great all-around players. So you have to change your game.
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Waste no time with revolutions that do not remove the causes of your complaints but simply change the faces of those in charge.
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Unless you are Stephen King, a book signing is attended by maybe 40 or 50 people.
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Whatever life may really be, it is to us an abstraction: for the word is a generalised term to signify that which is common to all animals and plants, and which is not directly operative in the inorganic world.
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Life started getting good when I started making money.
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We are quite rich enough to defend ourselves, whatever the cost. We must now learn that we are quite rich enough to educate ourselves as we need to be educated.
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You must never throw away things that are worth good money.
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That's what I've wanted to do my whole life, just act. When I was younger, I loved to entertain people. I always used to make up dance routines, do little plays. I love to perform, basically.
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If your kitchen smells good, your food lost something.
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Ironically, my paintings don't photograph well.
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Being a showrunner meant writing and producing a television show, period, but with 'Lost,' suddenly it became part of the job to promote and be the face of the brand. In a weird way, the story was as much the star as any of the actors, so people wanted to hear from us.
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The point of college is more to acquire skills than to acquire domain knowledge. One of the skills that is going to be most necessary: you have to be able to read with rigor and write with clarity. You have to be able to communicate. To make an argument, whether it's in a written piece or in front of a group of people.
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You have to ask a lot of questions and listen to people, but eventually, you have to go by your own instincts.
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Growing up, me and my brother, we were kind of exact opposites. We were completely yin and yang. He was more rough and tumble, and I just wanted to play with my girlfriends.
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Having one of the highest IQs ever measured is as much a curse as it is a blessing. My parents were great, though: they were always seeking the most difficult presents possible for me - Rubik's cubes and things like that.
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For a justice of this ultimate tribunal [the U.S. Supreme Court], the opportunity for self-discovery and the occasion for self-revelation is great.
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I really want to write a novel. I also want to learn to play the mandolin.
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I think if you spend much time dwelling on influence you can get self-conscious about every line you write. That's a great way to freeze up.
