Ben Okri Quotes

When I write a poem, I go into a state of self-forgetfulness, and something higher takes over; I like to call it my best self.

Ben Okri

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Quotes to Explore

• I would say that my fatal flaw, as a human being, is that I need people to like me, and if they don't like me, I will obsess over it - and try to change my personality until they like me - even if they don't like me for reasons that have nothing to do with me, and even if they're strangers.

  

  Damon Lindelof
  • People
  • Change
  • Personality

• Lately I've been feeling like 50 percent of the great content I read comes from Twitter conversations.

  

  Cameron Russell
  • Great
  • Feeling
  • Content

• Often people would mistake me for white when I was younger, and I didn't correct them; there would be a period of time that they just thought I was.

  

  Natasha Trethewey
  • People
  • Time
  • Mistake

• The democratic system is challenged by the failure in television because our evening news programmes have gone for an attempt to entertain as much as to inform in the desperate fight for ratings.

  

  Walter Cronkite
  • Failure
  • Fight
  • Television

• With cult foods, there is an underlying assumption that the best cooking ideas came generations ago. Yet culinary innovation is nothing to be ashamed of. When a chef tells me he is cooking with his grandmother's recipe, I always wonder why. Did talent skip the past two generations?

  

  Nathan Myhrvold
  • Why
  • Past
  • Best

• They call David O. Russell the actor whisperer because he can get stuff out of actors that maybe some other directors can't.

  

  Jacki Weaver
  • Actor
  • Call
  • Maybe

• Humor can bring people under the tent. And a good joke can deflect some of the intensity surrounding a serious subject.

  

  Ted Danson
  • People
  • Good
  • Serious

• It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child.

  

  Pablo Picasso
  • Me
  • Child
  • Paint

• I have the reputation of being easygoing. But inside, I'm like nails. I will kill.

  

  Calvin Klein
  • Like
  • Inside
  • Reputation

• Tell me, I forget, show me, I remember, involve me, I understand.

  

  Carl Orff
  • Remember
  • Me
  • Understand

• I don't think I am that tough, actually. Well, tough in the sense that I don't take any rubbish, and that doesn't make me very popular, frankly. I mean, because some people say something to me, and I just tell them off. I mean, why should I put up with it?

  

  Zaha Hadid
  • Popular
  • Tough
  • Frankly

• I honestly believe that history will be kinder to me than the contemporary media, or for that matter, the Opposition parties in Parliament.

  

  Manmohan Singh
  • Believe
  • History

• Mother, mother There's too many of you crying. Brother, brother, brother There's far too many of you dying. You know we've got to find a way To bring some lovin' here today.

  

  Marvin Gaye
  • Mother
  • Today
  • Brother

• This is just what human beings do-turn objects into people, people into objects. Back and forth. Tit for tat.

  

  Chuck Palahniuk
  • People

• As a guest, Emily Price had three main drawbacks: she was incapable of saying please, incapable of saying thank you and incapable of saying sorry, all the while creating a surge in the demand for these expressions.

  

  Edward St Aubyn
  • She
  • Sorry

• I've never moved. I've never ever wanted to.

  

  Mick Jones The Clash

• I like to joke that if I had a dollar for everybody who slapped me on the back and said, 'Hey Jeb, you're all set,' I'd be retired now.

  

  Jeb Bradley

• I listened to a lot of Amy Winehouse: her albums 'Frank' and 'Back to Black'. She was such an incredible artist. She was just so raw and had her unique sound; she paired jazz with pop and was so soulful at the same time. So I pulled from her a lot in the beginning.

  

  Grace Martine Tandon
  • Time
  • She
  • Black

• In George Bush you get experience, and with me you get – The Future!

  

  Dan Quayle
  • Experience
  • Future
  • Get

• Our first record, 'Huey Lewis And The News', was seen by no one - it sold 25 copies.

  

  Huey Lewis Huey Lewis

• An actor basically likes to be asked to do something, no matter what position he's in. It feels more natural. Sitting and waiting is more gratifying.

  

  Al Pacino
  • Waiting
  • Actor
  • Natural

• With the proper motivation, you can do anything. I was just a poor kid that ate pork and beans out of a can and apple sauce. I went from rags to riches. But it does take a lot of determination, inner strength, drive, and discipline.

  

  Lee Haney
  • Discipline
  • motivation
  • Determination

• A good general is ready for every option.

  

  Conn Iggulden
  • Option
  • Ready
  • General

• When I write a poem, I go into a state of self-forgetfulness, and something higher takes over; I like to call it my best self.

  

  Ben Okri