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Quotes by Writer
"And the inner dynamics of Hollywood are like politics. Say you give a script to a group of executives - they all sit around, afraid to voice an opinion, saying nothing, waiting to know what the consensus is. Just like focus groups, opinion polls or a cabinet."
49
"I have a huge and savage conscience that won't let me get away with things."
49
"The distinction between children and adults, while probably useful for some purposes, is at bottom a specious one, I feel. There are only individual egos, crazy for love."
49
"To answer that I have to describe what I think is my responsibility as a thriller writer: To give my readers the most exciting roller coaster ride of a suspense story I can possibly think of."
49
"I'm sorry I changed, life forced me to grow."
49
"Look at what you've done,' Sanguine said, shaking his head with mock severity. 'You have foiled out insidious little plot. You have emerged triumphant and victorious. Curse you, do-gooders. Curse you."
49
"A return to first principles in a republic is sometimes caused by the simple virtues of one man. His good example has such an influence that the good men strive to imitate him, and the wicked are ashamed to lead a life so contrary to his example."
49
"An Atheist believes that a hospital should be built instead of a church. An atheist believes that deed must be done instead of prayer said. An atheist strives for involvement in life and not escape into death. He wants disease conquered, poverty vanished, war eliminated."
49
"I don't think the author should make the reader do that much work to remember who somebody is."
Work,
49
"Money is not the only commodity that is fun to give. We can give time, we can give our expertise, we can give our love or simply give a smile. What does that cost? The point is, none of us can ever run out of something worthwhile to give."
49
"The first condition for making music is not to make a noise."
49
"Health consists of having the same diseases as one's neighbors."
49
"Television is just one more facet of that considerable segment of our society that never had any standard but the soft buck."
49
"I find to my mixed astonishment that I do dream, but I didn't know it."
49
"If you must speak ill of another, do not speak it, write it in the sand near the water's edge."
49
"Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter."
49
"I think I got off on the wrong planet. Beam me up Scotty, there's no rational life here."
49
"The more one listens to ordinary conversations the more apparent it becomes that the reasoning faculties of the brain take little part in the direction of the vocal organs."
49
"It is economic power that determines political power, and governments become the political functionaries of economic power."
49
"Everybody wants to get enlightened but nobody wants to change."
49
"For those who believe, no proof is necessary. For those who don't believe, no proof is possible."
49
"The beauty of New York rests on a completely different base. It's unintentional. It arose independent of human design, like a stalagmitic cavern. Forms which are in themselves quite ugly turn up fortuitously, without design, in such incredible surroundings that they sparkle with a sudden wondrous poetry."
49
"Instead of a book, what if we're actually writing (or not writing) in the margins of our lives? What if our lives are books? What is the sign of our presence? Are we pressing into the margins our interpretations and questions? Are we circling offending verbs and drawing furious arrows to the margin where we scrawl "irony," "frustration," "voiceless," "unfair!" Or do we simply turn the pages, passively receiving what's given, furiously disagreeing but remaining silent about it?"
49
"One of the pleasures of being a Jew, I don't have to tell you, it allows you anti-Semitism."
49
"Man's life is the standard of morality, but your own life is its purpose . If existence on earth is your goal, you must choose your actions and values by the standard of that which is proper to man-for the purpose of preserving, fulfilling and enjoying the irreplaceable value which is your life."
49
"Whatever else an American believes or disbelieves about himself, he is absolutely sure he has a sense of humor."
49
"I've always been drawn to tormented people full of contradictions."
49
"The best thing about giving of ourselves is that what we get is always better than what we give. The reaction is greater than the action."
49
"As far as I'm concerned, the only difference between fact and what most people call fiction is about fifteen pages in the dictionary."
49
"He crouched at the car window and looked in. 'What a lovely family you have. What a charming family. They're all lovely. Except for that one.' His finger jabbed the glass. 'That one's a bit ugly."
49
"This has always been a man's world, and none of the reasons that have been offered in explanation have seemed adequate."
49
"Life begins at 40 - but so do fallen arches, rheumatism, faulty eyesight, and the tendency to tell a story to the same person, three or four times."
Life,
49
"The novel is born not of the theoretical spirit but of the spirit of humor."
49
"Great novels are always a little more intelligent than their authors."
49
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