Claire Messud Quotes
The effort to create a work of art that is true and potentially lasting, that is the very best work of art you can create at that point in your life - a book that may only reach or move a few people but will seem to those people somehow transformative. That's the ideal; that's always the motivation.
Quotes to Explore
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My mother has been a wonderful model for the professional woman - a loving mother dedicated to both her family and her work. She inspired me, made me proud, and developed in me an enormous respect for women in general.
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We need to find the courage to say no to the things and people that are not serving us if we want to rediscover ourselves and live our lives with authenticity.
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Art is the window to man's soul. Without it, he would never be able to see beyond his immediate world; nor could the world see the man within.
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Getting into the residential investment business entails lots of renovation work.
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I work out, I go to pilates, I walk and I eat everything I can get my hands on.
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There's more to life than cheek bones.
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Every well-written book is a light for me. When you write, you use other writers and their books as guides in the wilderness.
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People don't blame the act of driving for auto accidents.
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Weight training and working on being explosive helped me gain a few yards of pace. Even when I was small, I was stocky. Even if people pushed me, I managed to stay on my feet.
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I was in New York doing musicals in the theater and on Broadway before 'Orange,' so people always ask, 'Are you ever going to get to sing? Does she even sing?' But people who know me know I actually do sing.
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I'm quite adept at writing two or sometimes even three stories at once. So if I get stuck on one story, I switch the next and let my subconscious work on unraveling any plot problems from another story.
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You know, people call mystery novels or thrillers 'puzzles.' I never understood that, because when I buy a puzzle, I already know what it is. It's on the box. And even if I don't, if it's a 5,000-piece puzzle of the 'Mona Lisa', it's not like I put the last piece in and go, 'I had no idea it's the 'Mona Lisa'!'
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It makes me happy to think that this world of art-as-investment is a minuscule fraction of the art world overall. Most people who create, trade and own art do it for a much simpler reason. They just like it.
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I don't really know what the Great American Novel is. I like the idea that there could be one now, and I wouldn't object if someone thought it was mine, but I don't claim to have written that - I just wrote my book.
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Our games are not always the best, but they are exciting, which is what people love to see.
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My most firmly held value is what Albert Schweitzer termed 'reverence for life.' I take this seriously; many would say that because I extend it to nonhumans, I take it too far.
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I always say, one way to connect with a working mother is to ask her what she has done before work that day!
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People think that their world will get smaller as they get older. My experience is just the opposite. Your senses become more acute. You start to blossom.
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I've never seen hard work fail.
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People are going to assume whatever they want to assume.
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When a work lifts your spirits and inspires bold and noble thoughts in you, do not look for any other standard to judge by: the work is good, the product of a master craftsman.
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At 30 I thought my life was over. I thought I'd have made something of myself by then, that life would somehow have made the necessary arrangements - but actually I had nothing.
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The first song I wrote was called 'You,' and it was a love song about somebody who didn't even exist.
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The effort to create a work of art that is true and potentially lasting, that is the very best work of art you can create at that point in your life - a book that may only reach or move a few people but will seem to those people somehow transformative. That's the ideal; that's always the motivation.
