E. L. Doctorow Quotes

History is the present. That's why every generation writes it anew. But what most people think of as history is its end product, myth.

E. L. Doctorow

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Quotes to Explore

• Faith may be defined briefly as an illogical belief in the occurrence of the improbable.

  

  H. L. Mencken
  • May
  • Faith
  • Belief

• I took my acting very seriously. I did over 40 films, and naturally, some of them were called B-movies because the woman was at the top of the billing. Women couldn't star in their own movies.

  

  Mamie Van Doren
  • Women
  • Star
  • Woman

• Be polite; write diplomatically; even in a declaration of war one observes the rules of politeness.

  

  Otto von Bismarck
  • War
  • Rules
  • Politeness

• On stage, I like to dress up a bit. I'm not scared to be like a character up there.

  

  Flume
  • Up
  • Character
  • Stage

• I think what 'The Monster' means to me is I find it really hard - like a lot of other people in the world - to really be OK in my own skin. It was a message to myself saying, 'It's OK that you're not perfect.' I'm gonna learn to love myself and accept myself, even though I'm a little crazy.

  

  Bebe Rexha
  • People
  • World
  • Think

• When civilization takes a nose dive, how can you look away? You've got to be there. You've got to be at the bottom of the swimming pool taking notes.

  

  Gary Shteyngart
  • Look
  • Civilization
  • Pool

• When I hear someone, instantaneously, I'm like, 'Who's singing?' You're giving people so much of yourself, and my voice is the most natural, distinctive tool I have. It's up to me to express myself on a wider scale than just writing vocal melodies and lyrics.

  

  Sampha
  • People
  • Up
  • Writing

• When I started making movies, I was pretty young, and at the time I felt like there needed to be more confrontation in cinema - or I needed to make something more disruptive - so in the beginning, those movies were me wanting to play with the rules.

  

  Harmony Korine
  • Time
  • Pretty
  • Beginning

• My mom says that when I was a little kid, I always used to say I wanted to be an actor, but I don't remember that.

  

  Aaron Douglas
  • Remember
  • Mom
  • Always

• Truth is tough. It will not break, like a bubble, at a touch; nay, you may kick it about all day like a football, and it will be round and full at evening.

  

  Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
  • May
  • Truth
  • Day

• We tend in this country to talk about Democrats and Republicans, and think there's little group over there called Independents that's maybe 2%. That is not the case, and it has not been the case for most of modern American history.

  

  Adam Davidson
  • Country
  • American
  • History

• My great-grandchildren will not be able to enjoy the Gulf Coast of Louisiana the way I have.

  

  Ian Somerhalder
  • Great
  • Way
  • Enjoy

• I'm not a babysitter.

  

  Adam Lambert
  • Babysitter

• If you be faithful, you will have that honor that comes from God: his Spirit will say in your hearts, Well done, good and faithful servants.

  

  Adam Clarke
  • Good
  • God
  • Done

• My father was an accountant and his father was a typographer.

  

  Umberto Eco
  • Father
  • His
  • Accountant

• Every man I meet is in some way my superior.

  

  Ralph Waldo Emerson
  • Man
  • Way
  • Superior

• The Wood was about young people and the other one is more of a grown up movie.

  

  Taye Diggs
  • People
  • Up
  • Movie

• I'm probably proudest of being able to lift a lot of us out of the 'hood. That's the biggest thing, that I've been able to employ a lot of people and give them opportunities.

  

  Queen Latifah
  • People
  • Opportunities
  • Hood

• There are people that really live by doing the right thing, but I don't know what that is, I'm really curious about that. I'm really curious about what people think they're doing when they're doing something evil, casually. I think it's really interesting, that we benefit from suffering so much, and we excuse ourselves from it.

  

  Louis C. K.
  • People
  • Live
  • Interesting

• I've gone to normal clubs, straight clubs, and I've gone to gay clubs to party with my friends and fans. There's no difference. I have nothing to prove. I'm very comfortable in my own skin, and I'm thankful to have as many close gay friends as I have, people who have been so supportive in my life and have always been there for me.

  

  Nick Jonas Jonas Brothers
  • People
  • Life
  • Friends

• It probably is harder to fool people when they know they're going to be fooled.

  

  Ricky Jay
  • People
  • Fool
  • Fooled

• If we seek... nature, then love can be informed by truth instead of being based on ignorance or self-deception.

  

  Carl Sagan
  • Truth
  • Nature
  • Ignorance

• Men will not forget that Pancho Villa was loyal to the cause of the people.

  

  Pancho Villa
  • People
  • Men

• History is the present. That's why every generation writes it anew. But what most people think of as history is its end product, myth.

  

  E. L. Doctorow
  • People
  • Why
  • History