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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The fact that we elected Obama was a sign that the black struggle inherent in the blues and so much of the music I have loved can triumph.
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Doing it your own way, not having to go exactly by the book to be successful.
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I started singing very early. I was six or seven years old, and I was singing along to TV commercials and figuring out, 'Oh, hey, I can sing in tune. This is really cool.' But the songwriting thing came much much later, when I was 19 years old.
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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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My entire career has been built on the understanding that I am not only not the smartest person in the room, I am definitely not the smartest person in the world. And I am instead going to try to create as many opportunities to connect those great ideas and help them be great.
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Anytime I mentioned I wanted to be an actress, my friends were not that supportive.
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You sang in church, you know, and you didn't act at all. You tried not to act, you tried to tell the truth. The idea of being a troubadour on the road singing for your supper was very disturbing to him.
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Poverty is not inevitable. It is a human ill that we can fight if we decide to do so together.
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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.'
