Claire Messud Quotes
Don't go around asking the question, 'Is this character likeable?' and expect that to be compatible with serious literary endeavours. That's not what it's about.
Quotes to Explore
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Figure out what you're good at and start helping other people with it; give it away. Pay it forward. Karma sort of works because people are very consistent. On a long enough timescale, you will attract what you project.
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During the 2008 election, I made clear to the Obama campaign that I don't think it's wise for me to force my personal political agenda on anyone.
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The justice delivery system needs structural change. It needs fresh vision and innovative solutions.
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I like to wear shoes that are cool but also practical. The same goes for bags. Your bag is a big deal in New York. You can't just carry around a little clutch, because you don't have a car or anywhere to stash things during the day, so you need to carry your whole life with you. That's why I like big, chunky bags with lots of compartments.
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Fashion is very tough, and we shouldn't forget that before designers were money-makers, they were artists.
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By nature, I'm a very positive person, and because I'm happy in myself, and in my life, and I've got a great husband, and beautiful children, and I have a job that I love that calls for a certain amount of emotional expression, I get to realise a lot of my dreams and aspirations.
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I've done a lot of drama, and comedy was the one genre I was not being offered. So I became obsessive about getting one.
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I like to write with a lot of emotion and a lot of power. Sometimes I overdo it; sometimes my prose is a little bit too purple, and I know that.
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I started the business as a computer consulting business, which, coupled to my nickname, Scorpion, formed the full name Scorpion Computer Services.
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Yes, politics IS war without bloodshed; and war is an extension of those politics.
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I love hiking in the hills not far from my house. I'm invested in my hikes. Sometimes kids go up there and spray-paint over the signs; I've found a biodegradable paint cleaner, and I'll scrub the signs so they're nice and clean.
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I think everybody goes through things in their life where they're like, 'This does not make any sense,' or 'I don't understand why this is happening,' but that's part of the journey of faith.
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I love sport and will do just about anything. Someone said they'd had a go at skiing off a mountain with a parachute, and that sounds great!
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According to the perverse aesthetics of artistic guilty pleasure, certain books and movies are so bad - so crudely conceived, despicably motivated and atrociously executed - that they're actually rather good.
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Street protests in Saudi Arabia might warm our hearts, but they could easily lead to $250 a barrel oil and a global recession.
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I have a very pragmatic approach to diets. Ones you can't stick to don't do you any good. Some people say, 'Just eat half of what's on your plate,' but I can't do that!
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When you write, you're inside the project. You can't really think about the reception. It has to be worth it even if no one reads it.
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I started out as a dancer as a kid; I've been dancing since I was 4. So, performing was always part of what I was. I don't know if it I enjoyed the response I got from people or if I liked having an audience, but there's something in me that wanted to perform.
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The two most precious things this side of the grave are our reputation and our life. But it is to be lamented that the most contemptible whisper may deprive us of the one, and the weakest weapon of the other.
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It is a novel kind of supremacy, the best that life can offer, to have as servants by skill those who by nature are our masters.
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The serious crimes by the Sudanese government and the government-supported militias must be met with serious consequences. We must work for tough international economic sanctions on the Sudanese government.
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Will we fight or will we retreat? That is the question that is posed to us. Some of my friends on the other side of the aisle often refer to Iraq as a distraction.
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To me I don't deal with stress well at all, and it is stressful enough for me to deal with my own one character. So if I had to deal with all the characters and the special effects, and the editing and make the writing tweaks and do everything the director does, that would drive me to an early grave, and I just can't do it.
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Don't go around asking the question, 'Is this character likeable?' and expect that to be compatible with serious literary endeavours. That's not what it's about.
