Colm Toibin Quotes

All writing is a form of manipulation, of course, but you realize that a plain sentence can actually do so much.

Colm Toibin

• Writing
• Manipulation

• Previous
• Next

Quotes to Explore

• You can be an Olympic champion in 9.5 secs, but to be the greatest, there's more to it. It takes a bit of forethought and a lot of mental application.

  

  Daley Thompson
  • You
  • Champion
  • Greatest

• I was always interested in the kind of history they didn't teach you in school.

  

  Sally Watson
  • School
  • History
  • Teach

• You can't win if you don't play as a unit.

  

  Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
  • You
  • Play
  • Win

• Looking up and out, how can we not respect this ever-vigilant cognizance that distinguishes us: the capability to envision, to dream, and to invent? the ability to ponder ourselves? and be aware of our existence on the outer arm of a spiral galaxy in an immeasurable ocean of stars? Cognizance is our crest.

  

  Vanna Bonta
  • Up
  • Dream
  • Knowledge

• As with lemon juice, the more sorrel you use, the more it has to be balanced with something sweet, starchy or creamy - it's a yin-yang approach to cooking that I find rather calming.

  

  Yotam Ottolenghi
  • Sweet
  • Find
  • Cooking

• To me, a critic is some loser who has no idea... someone with an opinion. We all have opinions. No offense, but what makes them dictate what is cool and what is not.

  

  Vanilla Ice
  • Me
  • Cool
  • Opinion

• I was a very physical child... I was a tree-climber; I was a tomboy.

  

  Natalie Dormer
  • Child
  • Tree
  • Physical

• You know, I've had an incredible career and I'm blessed.

  

  Malcolm McDowell
  • Career
  • Know
  • Blessed

• There was one man in the Labour government, Robin Cook, whom I had a very high regard for. He had the courage to speak out and to resign over Iraq. He was an admirable man. But resignation over a matter of principle is not a very fashionable thing in our society.

  

  Harold Pinter
  • High
  • Society
  • Man

• A plan is always successful if the plan is good.

  

  Zig Ziglar
  • Good
  • Successful
  • Plan

• The Arab states don't seem to do a good job of providing for their own people, so I am not sure why they would suddenly develop an ability to help the Palestinians.

  

  Walter Russell Mead
  • People
  • Good
  • Why

• The emperor is in the Church, not above the Church.

  

  Saint Ambrose
  • Church
  • Emperor
  • Above

• 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.

  

  Florence Welch Florence and the Machine
  • Together
  • Church
  • Myself

• Love cures people - both the ones who give it and the ones who receive it.

  

  Karl A. Menninger
  • People
  • Love
  • Give

• I don't trust Santa Barbara as far as I can spit. I am afraid that if I went back there, it's possible that I could be run through their system, their judicial system, and wind up in some county jail where I could be killed and I'm not gonna take that chance.

  

  Randy Quaid
  • Up
  • Trust
  • Chance

• As a 17-year-old, I remember positively dreading dance sequences. I would come to shoots, quaking with nervousness at the idea of making other artistes do retakes due to my mistakes.

  

  Hansika Motwani
  • Remember
  • Dance
  • Mistakes

• I save everything. I have these carefully organized file boxes. Somewhere in there is a section of the 'New York Times' where I wrote 'The Border Guard' in the margin.

  

  J. D. Souther
  • Everything
  • New
  • New York

• I used to get a shiver if I thought about holding balloons, because I was scared of floating away.

  

  Fiona Apple
  • Thought
  • Scared
  • Floating

• The substance of what it means to be a geek is essentially someone who's brave enough to love something against judgment. The heart of being a geek is a little bit of rejection.

  

  Felicia Day
  • Heart
  • Brave
  • Judgment

• I'm always on the phone because I'm usually not with the people I want to be with.

  

  Natalie Portman
  • People
  • Want
  • Always

• So - here I am in the dark alone, There's nobody here to see; I think to myself, I play to myself, And nobody knows what I say to myself; Here I am in the dark alone, What is it going to be? I can think whatever I like to think, I can play whatever I like to play, I can laugh whatever I like to laugh, There's nobody here but me.

  

  A. A. Milne
  • Thinking
  • Alone
  • Dark

• Weirdly, my nickname was Lady. I didn't get Stretch, or Stilts, or Spider Legs - I got Lady. I guess I was always a bit ladylike.

  

  L'Wren Scott
  • Always
  • Lady
  • Spider

• All writing is a form of manipulation, of course, but you realize that a plain sentence can actually do so much.

  

  Colm Toibin
  • Writing
  • Manipulation