Colum McCann Quotes
New York kept going forward precisely because it didn't give a good goddamn about what it left behind. It was like the city that Lot left, and it would dissolve if it ever began looking backward over its own shoulder. Two pillars of salt. Long Island and New Jersey.
Quotes to Explore
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There is nothing people can throw at me to say: 'Do this, do that.'
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I enjoy pushing my characters to the limit. No matter how far out there I go, I look for things that make the characters human.
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Water is the softest of all things, yet it is the most powerful. The ocean patiently allows all things to flow into it. It is always flexible. The Tao is not about grasping, but allowing, like water.
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Once I got married, I started working from an office. I found that having somewhere to go that isn't my house is mentally helpful: 'This is the place where I answer email and write blog posts,' and 'over there is the place where I do the dishes.'
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I like 'The Nightly Show.' People ask me what it is, and I say, 'If you're watching 'The Daily Show,' and it feels like it's getting a little darker, you're probably watching 'The Nightly Show.''
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I'm someone who wears their heart on their sleeve.
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I want to live in a country that is not just a place but also an idea, and Jerusalem is the heart of the idea. There may be practical considerations, but a country cannot exist without an ethos, and Jerusalem is an ethos.
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I had a lot of time to think, and that is not good for your mind. And when it actually happened, it was not so much a celebration but the relief. It was an exorcism anxiety. After each race there is a procedure in which you get taken off to the podium and the TV interviews.
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Because I was a dancer, I started going to auditions for musical theater, which forced me to sing.
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'Saving Grace,' even though fictionally it was set in Oklahoma, we shot it right outside of L.A.
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My father had very little formal education.
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You have succeeded in life when all you really want is only what you really need.
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I started off singing in church as a child. The sound of voices coming together, that was my first moment of touching something outside of myself.
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Right now I'm really happy with how things are going with my chess career, so I'm not thinking of doing anything else.
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I have many good friends, but I tend to keep to myself anyway. It's odd, doing things and having no one to share them with.
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I had a lot of vocal problems when I was younger. I don't know if it's down to leading a healthier lifestyle or what but my range has increased.
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I'm letting inspiration move me, in whatever direction it may, without concern if this sounds too rap or too indie, or there's too many words in it.
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I'm liberal on every social aspect, probably. More liberal than people would even believe. But there's still some of that Texas in me, as far as the gun debate. I wish there were no guns; I'm all for gun restrictions. But I'm also of the mind-set, if nothing changes, I'm getting a gun.
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I've performed in China, France, New Delhi, and Indianapolis, and everybody just allows themselves to go at it and have a good time. I think that's what I'm doing through music. It's not about 'I'm from here and you're from there.' It's about unity.
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I just feel really fortunate to build a career as a writer.
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People who have car collections - I never understood that. I always thought that was unnecessary. It's not beautiful, it's not creative. It's just showing how much money you've got.
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I believe we need to ensure there are no refugees placed in Arizona with connections to terrorist organizations.
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I've always seen my campaigns against corruption as political work of a purer form than what opposition leaders usually do. All they do is hold roundtables and release political statements, which is all well and good. But there are concrete things that need to get done in order to achieve the basic goal of every opposition politician.
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New York kept going forward precisely because it didn't give a good goddamn about what it left behind. It was like the city that Lot left, and it would dissolve if it ever began looking backward over its own shoulder. Two pillars of salt. Long Island and New Jersey.
