Colm Toibin Quotes

I write with a sort of grim determination to deal with things that are hidden and difficult, and this means, I think, that pleasure is out of the question. I would associate this with narcissism anyway, and I would disapprove of it.

Colm Toibin

• Question
• Determination

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Quotes to Explore

• We've come a long way since Nixon's first visit to China, or Carter's reestablishment of diplomatic relations.

  

  Gary Locke
  • Long
  • First
  • China

• I appreciate cooperation with Turkey on many issues. We are grateful for the support we receive for E.U. and NATO integration for Montenegro.

  

  Igor Luksic
  • Support
  • Grateful

• One of the biggest lessons I've learned during my time on 'Oprah' is that everyone wants to be heard. We all want to have our humanity acknowledged - to have others see us for who we truly are. We all want to know that we are valued, we are heard, we are understood.

  

  Nate Berkus
  • Time
  • Want
  • Humanity

• 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.

  

  Yair Lapid
  • Live
  • Country
  • Heart

• The Schindler Jews were off-limits in Brunnlitz.

  

  Oskar Schindler
  • Jews
  • Were

• My favorite soundtrack is 'Avatar.' It's the best thing in the world. I love it.

  

  Sam Smith
  • World
  • Love
  • Best

• The relationship between violence and nonviolence in this country is interesting. The fact of the matter is, you know, people do respond to riots. The 1968 Housing Act was in large response to riots that broke out after Dr. Martin Luther King was killed. They cited these as an actual inspiration.

  

  Ta-Nehisi Coates
  • Violence
  • Inspiration
  • Respond

• I went from being a jock to a hippie. It was a very clear-cut decision. I had to be one or the other. I had to forsake that other aspect of myself. Or thought that I had to, which is regrettable. Quickly, I was back in the pine trees with the hippies, listening to my Jimi Hendrix and my Janis Joplin and turning on, tuning in, and dropping out.

  

  J. K. Simmons
  • Myself
  • Decision
  • Listening

• I'm guilty of eating Magnum bars before I go to sleep at night.

  

  Madonna Breakfast Club
  • Night
  • Sleep
  • Guilty

• The other aspect of American identity worth focusing on is the concept of America as a nation of immigrants. That certainly is a partial truth. But it is often assumed to be the total truth.

  

  Samuel P. Huntington
  • Truth
  • American
  • America

• Let not him who is houseless pull down the house of another, but let him work diligently and build one for himself, thus by example assuring that his own shall be safe from violence when built.

  

  Abraham Lincoln
  • Work
  • House
  • Violence

• My great inspiration has always been Studs Terkel, who is a wonderful American oral historian. He was a radio DJ at first, interviewed a lot of jazz musicians, and at some point started to interview Americans about work.

  

  Hans-Ulrich Obrist
  • Work
  • Inspiration
  • Musicians

• The trend in the world right now is - not just in developed countries, but in developing countries including China and India - there is a movement to build more and more nuclear plants.

  

  Naoto Kan
  • World
  • Now
  • Plants

• Cambridge was a joy. Tediously. People reading books in a posh place. It was my fantasy. I loved it. I miss it still.

  

  Zadie Smith
  • People
  • Reading
  • Joy

• We get a lot of raps as Americans for being small-minded, but in fact, when you really drill down to the core of the culture, there's an enormous amount of compassion and forgiveness and support.

  

  Bartlett Sher
  • Culture
  • Small
  • Support

• I'm trying to work, be diverse and multi-talented.

  

  Fat Joe
  • Work
  • Trying
  • Diverse

• Dad likes my food, but he probably thinks it's too busy. He is a wonderful cook but only uses three ingredients. My mum rips out my articles and makes my recipes.

  

  Yotam Ottolenghi
  • Food
  • Dad
  • Three

• Show me someone who never gossips, and I will show you someone who is not interested in people.

  

  Barbara Walters
  • People
  • Interested
  • Gossips

• I don't feel any older now than when I was 70.

  

  John Patrick

• The hungry sheep look up, and are not fed,But, swoln with wind, and the rank mist they draw,Rot inwardly, and foul contagion spread:Besides what the grim wolf with privy pawDaily devours apace, and nothing said;But that two-handed engine at the doorStands ready to smite once, and smite no more.

  

  John Milton
  • Up
  • Wind
  • Wolf

• Besides great climates and lovely beaches, California and Greece share a fondness for dysfunctional politics and feckless budgeting.

  

  James Surowiecki
  • Great
  • California

• I was brought up west southwest coast of Scotland and my mother and father had a music shop, and so I was surrounded by pianos and drums and guitars, and music, of course.

  

  Colin Hay Men at Work
  • Up
  • Music
  • Mother

• I write with a sort of grim determination to deal with things that are hidden and difficult, and this means, I think, that pleasure is out of the question. I would associate this with narcissism anyway, and I would disapprove of it.

  

  Colm Toibin
  • Question
  • Determination