Maria Semple Quotes

I try to begin with a strong grasp of my characters. Even if it's schematic, I need it clear in my head who these people are.

Maria Semple

• People
• Strong

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Quotes to Explore

• I see my daft surname as a positive thing. It first dawned on me that I had a comical name when someone called me 'Fishface' on my first day at school. I've heard all the fish jokes since then, many times over.

  

  Laura Haddock
  • School
  • Day
  • Positive

• My family loves to take me out, and we do regular things like go to the movies. My friends do that as well. At the same time, I love work and I want to be busy all the time!

  

  Olivia Holt
  • Time
  • Work
  • Family

• Trump wants to build a wall at the border of Mexico, while Clinton wants to tear down all walls.

  

  Fabrizio Moreira
  • Wall
  • Trump
  • Down

• 'Glee' is one of the very few mainstream outlets that is giving a voice to communities of people that don't necessarily have a loud voice, specifically the gay community. It gives a really positive and forward statement.

  

  Jack Antonoff Fun.
  • People
  • Giving
  • Community

• Recruiting is the hardest part of any business, but in charity, it is 10 times harder.

  

  Manoj Bhargava
  • Business
  • Charity
  • Hardest

• My life has been a dream. If someone had to write a story about it, it would seem a little unreal. It's the kind of story I would read and say, 'Nah, that's not possible.'

  

  Ralph Lauren
  • Life
  • Dream
  • My Life

• I plan to go to university - but for sure, acting is what I want to do. It's a hard business, but I believe in my heart that I'll be doing it for a very long time.

  

  Natasha Calis
  • Time
  • Believe
  • Long

• I really don't see a reason why you wouldn't want to have a relationship with Jesus Christ. I mean, not only was He the greatest human being to ever walk the earth, He's everything that I want to strive for. He's everything that anyone should ever want to strive for.

  

  Sam Bradford
  • Why
  • Earth
  • Relationship

• I have never taken myself that seriously as an actor.

  

  Owen Wilson
  • Myself
  • Taken
  • Never

• There are lots of reasons for that gap between men's and women's wages but to me, the big one is the work-family issue. Trying to juggle children and a job is tough under any circumstances, but especially if you're shooting for the kind of career that involves long hours at work and being on call 24-7.

  

  Gail Collins
  • Work
  • Men
  • Long

• I'm not a Democrat.

  

  Aaron McGruder
  • Democrat

• All people, regardless of whether they're athletes or not, should treat people the way they want to be treated.

  

  Walter Payton
  • People
  • Want
  • Treat

• I suspect I was not the first 21-year-old who thought he knew more than he did. And one of the virtues of age, one of the virtues of getting married and becoming a father, is it often leads one to take a more measured approach to life.

  

  Ted Cruz
  • Life
  • Age
  • Father

• You don't have to have a great voice to sing, just a distinctive one. But make sure you say the words clearly and tell a story.

  

  Randy Bachman The Guess Who
  • Great
  • Words
  • Voice

• I could probably name thousands of albums that I want.

  

  Jack Antonoff Fun.
  • Want
  • Name
  • Albums

• It might be useful to distinguish between pleasure and joy. But maybe everybody does this very easily, all the time, and only I am confused.

  

  Zadie Smith
  • Joy
  • Pleasure
  • Confused

• I like to write in a shroud of secrecy because I have to keep finding ways to scare myself.

  

  M. Night Shyamalan
  • Myself
  • Finding
  • Secrecy

• Whatever you see - any good results - are all from the pressure.

  

  Ziyi Zhang
  • Good
  • You
  • Pressure

• Make injustice visible.

  

  Mahatma Gandhi
  • Injustice
  • Visible

• When you are really in love, you become vulnerable, and insecurities come out of nowhere.

  

  Laz Alonso

• Ever since reading Jean Plaidy's 'Queen in Waiting,' I've felt deep admiration for Caroline of Ansbach.

  

  Lauren Willig
  • Reading
  • Deep
  • Waiting

• I disagree with the followers of Marx and those of Adam Smith: the reason free markets work is because they allow people to be lucky, thanks to aggressive trial and error, not by giving rewards or 'incentives' for skill.

  

  Nassim Nicholas Taleb
  • People
  • Work
  • Free

• Nature-pitiless in a pitiless universe-is certainly not concerned with the survival of Americans or, for that matter, of any of the two billion people now inhabiting this earth. Hence, our destiny, with the aid of God, remains in our own hands.

  

  J. William Fulbright
  • People
  • God
  • Nature

• I try to begin with a strong grasp of my characters. Even if it's schematic, I need it clear in my head who these people are.

  

  Maria Semple
  • People
  • Strong