Maria Semple Quotes
Much of the time in the writer's room is spent working on story, and I was always challenging myself to make it more interesting, tighter and more surprising: to come at it sideways in a way that the audience wasn't expecting.

Quotes to Explore
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So yeah, I play the piano for most of the show, but I like rock and roll.
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The winner of the hoop race will be the first to realize her dream, not society's dream, her own personal dream.
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I'm a huge historical fiction and non-fiction fan.
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Sandy Koufax went to the same school as me. I graduated two years ahead of Sandy.
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My primary influences were the best jazz players from the 50's and 60's and later some of the pop people from the same time period along with the better of the well known blues musicians.
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I never personally complained; everybody else complained for me.
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A lot happens in 20 years.
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The mullahs are part of the past in Iran, not its future. But change in Iran will come through engagement, not through confrontation.
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In the year 3000, everything will be instant.
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I love dogs. I have a Golden Doodle and an Alaskan Klee Kai.
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I'm not going to be lectured by Nathan Deal, who is a former Clinton Democrat. I will stack up my conservative credentials against his any day of the week.
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Stevie Wonder and Diana Ross and the Jackson 5, that's what I grew up on.
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I was a curious child. I'd debate with anyone who came to the door - people from the Islamic community... Jehovah's Witnesses... anyone.
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I have reached the conclusion that those who have physical courage also have moral courage. Physical courage is a great test.
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If I'm saying a universal truth, but maybe it's something that people don't feel comfortable saying... It's a strange take, but at the same time, what you're hitting on is kind of right. You can relate. That's the heart of comedy. You have to have a point of view. You gotta commit. And the more you commit to it, sometimes the funnier it gets.
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I certainly never saw myself as posh.
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Working with Bill Cosby was incredible. I was lucky to be a part of that.
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I will do as I usually do. Tomorrow is going to be a day like any other day.
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Of course, it's imperative that we stabilize Iraq and quickly reduce our armed role there.
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I think it would be so much fun to be in the White House.
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You forget that sometimes comedy is just a big night out for people. Almost every show, people come up to me and go, 'This is the first comedy show I've ever seen,' so you want to do well. If you do horribly at somebody's first time seeing live stand-up, well, you've not only tainted yourself, you've tainted a whole art form.
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If society fits you comfortably enough, you call it freedom.
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I now attend non-orthodox synagogues, and study little during the secular week.
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Much of the time in the writer's room is spent working on story, and I was always challenging myself to make it more interesting, tighter and more surprising: to come at it sideways in a way that the audience wasn't expecting.