Neal Stephenson Quotes
'They knew many things but had no idea why. And strangely this made them more, rather than less, certain that they were right.'
Quotes to Explore
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I have 179 children that I take care of full-time: close to 40 in Uganda and the rest in Sudan.
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I was very influenced by movies; I was very influenced by a world that had a sense of dream.
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Don't most of us agree that providing school meals to kids who need them is an overwhelmingly good thing? After all, nutrition is essential to proper cognitive development.
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I don't mean to offend anybody, but I think that we get a lot of scientists now who are bent into a system, and we lose some of their boldness by that. Obviously, you have to learn the ropes, but I think it's important to do that without hammering out the radicalness that makes innovation happen.
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I'm quite fluent in Telugu now, but there's a difference between talking and dubbing. While dubbing, the diction must be in sync with the emotion in the scene and would impact my performance.
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To me hair dressing means shape. It's very important that the foundations should be right.
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I spent years studying the teachings of Patanjali, and he reminded us several thousand years ago that when we are steadfast - which means that we never slip in our abstention of thoughts of harm directed toward others - then all living creatures cease to feel enmity in our presence.
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Leeks, like other oniony things, reach a certain peak when fried. It's the subtle sweetness that suddenly becomes evident and works so well with their creamy texture.
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I learn something not because I have to, but because I really want to. That's the same view I have for performing. I'm performing because I really want to, not because I have to bring bread back home.
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As for my own music, I've never written a book about it. I'm not pedagogical... When I write an abstract piano sonata or a concerto, I write what I feel. I'm not a self-conscious composer.
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I know that John Adams has had a very hard time directing French ensembles.
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There's obviously nothing wrong with selling your art - only an idiot with a trust fund would tell you otherwise. But it's confusing to know how far you should take it.
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There is nothing more exciting than having a life devoted to fundamental knowledge and to contributing to advance the borders of knowledge.
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There's usually one piece in 'Vanity Fair' every month that grabs me, but when it presents hatchet jobs without substantiation to impress its liberal friends, I laugh first, then toss.
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A woman's mind is cleaner than a man's: She changes it more often.
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My dad grew up in a mud hut and studied by candlelight. He was 14 when he got a scholarship to Russia. He was super clever - the cleverest person. He landed in 5ft of snow, and was alone at 14, studying science and engineering. He didn't have a bed, and he slept on a table.
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I had an idea when I was 18 or 19 to start tutoring people, like the way that people get tutored in saxophone or guitar, but for production. I really enjoyed it, but I don't have time for that any more.
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So, for instance, if you came to me, I'd ask, 'Do you want to write? Do you want to improvise? Why do you want to play this instrument? What do you want to do?'
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I might have to do the London Marathon. I like crowds, so that is why I like the big marathons.
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Various justifications for lower capital-gains rates have been proffered over the years, none of them self-evident. But even conceding the wisdom of lower capital-gains rates, why should they never be taxed at all, even as they are passed from generation to generation?
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I'm very political without being political. I don't know how to speak proper political language.
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All flight is based upon producing air pressure, all flight energy consists in overcoming air pressure.
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… imaginary things were often the only items of real substance in people's lives.
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'They knew many things but had no idea why. And strangely this made them more, rather than less, certain that they were right.'
