David Mitchell Quotes - Page 6

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Folks with most to complain about seldom complain most.

David Mitchell

Complaining, Folks

David Mitchell (2007). “Ghostwritten”, p.350, Vintage

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over 85% of all statistics are made up on the spot.

David Mitchell

Funny, Humor, Statistics

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Memories are their own descendents masquerading as the ancestors of the present.

David Mitchell

Memories, Ancestor

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I'm not a great deep political thinker.

David Mitchell

Political, Thinker

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Spent the fortnight gone in the music room reworking my year's fragments into a 'sextet for overlapping soloists': piano, clarinet, 'cello, flute, oboe, and violin, each in its own language of key, scale, and color. In the first set, each solo is interrupted by its successor; in the second, each interruption is recontinued, in order. Revolutionary or gimmicky? Shan't know until it's finished, and by then it'll be too late.

David Mitchell

Keys, Order, Color

David Mitchell (2008). “Cloud Atlas: A Novel”, p.445, Random House

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I think we think in terms of stories.

David Mitchell

Thinking, Stories, Term

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I think it's natural for youth to be drawn to newness: The world is still new for them.

David Mitchell

Thinking, World, Youth

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Probably" is a word with an emergency ejector seat.

David Mitchell

Emergencies, Seats

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I...asked why purebloods despised me so. He replied, 'What if the difference between social strata stem not from genomics or inherent xcellence or even dollars, but merely differences in knowledge? Would this not mean the whole Pyramid is built on shifting sands?... fabricants are mirrors held up to purebloods' consciences; what purebloods see reflected there sickens them. So they blame you for holding up the mirror

David Mitchell

Mean, Mirrors, Pyramids

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Teachers're always using that "in your own words." I hate that. Authors knit their sentences tight. It's their job. Why make us unpick them, just to put it back together more shonkily? How're you s'posed to say Kapellmeister if you can't say Kapellmeister?

David Mitchell

Teacher, Jobs, Hate

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I have always unswervingly held, that God, in our civilizing world, manifests Himself not in the miracles of biblical age, but in progress. It is progress that leads humanity up the ladder towards the God-head. No Jacob's ladder this, no, but rather Civilization's Ladder, if you will.

David Mitchell

Biblical, Civilization, Miracle

David Mitchell (2008). “Cloud Atlas: A Novel”, p.487, Random House

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The weak are meat the strong do eat.

David Mitchell

Strong, Meat, Weak

David Mitchell (2012). “Cloud Atlas (Enhanced Movie Tie-in Edition): A Novel”, p.501, Random House Group

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Humans live in a pit of cheating, exploiting, hurting, incarcerating. Every time, the species wastes some part of what it could be. This waste is poisonous.

David Mitchell

Cheating, Hurt, Pits

David Mitchell (2007). “Ghostwritten”, p.163, Vintage

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Right, my phone. When these things first appeared, they were so cool. Only when it was too late did people realize they are as cool as electronic tags on remand prisoners.

David Mitchell

Phones, People, Too Late

David Mitchell (2007). “Ghostwritten”, p.70, Vintage

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Faith shall save your Soul from Death. Without Faith, Death is a drowning, the end of ends, and what sane man wouldn't fear that? But with Faith, Death is nothing worse than the end of the voyage we call life, and the beginning of an eternal voyage in a company of our Loved Ones, with griefs and woes smoothed out, and under the capacity of our Creator.

David Mitchell

Love, Grief, Men

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Go to hell, Willy, our souls eat poetry, but one has seven deadly sins to feed!

David Mitchell

Soul, Sin, Hell

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Try this for deviancy: fabricants are mirrors held up to purebloods' conscience; what purebloods see reflected there sickens them. So they blame you for holding the mirror." I hid my shock by asking when purebloods might blame themselves. Mephi replied, "History suggests, not until they are made to.

David Mitchell

Mirrors, Trying, Asking

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Whoever dies with the most stuff wins.

David Mitchell

Winning, Stuff, Dies

David Mitchell (2007). “Number9Dream: A Novel”, p.205, Random House

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Birdsong foamed in the hour-before-dawn garden.

David Mitchell

Garden, Bird, Dawn

David Mitchell (2012). “Cloud Atlas (Enhanced Movie Tie-in Edition): A Novel”, p.84, Random House Group

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What is "poker"? A card game where abler liars take money off less able liars.

David Mitchell

Liars, Games, Cards

David Mitchell (2012). “Cloud Atlas (Enhanced Movie Tie-in Edition): A Novel”, p.213, Random House Group

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If losers can exploit what their adversaries teach them, yes, losers can become winners in the long term.

David Mitchell

Long, Loser, Winner

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I added 'writers' to my list of people not to trust. They make everything up.

David Mitchell

People, Lists

David Mitchell (2007). “Ghostwritten”, p.145, Vintage

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It'll be all right." Julia's gentleness makes it worse. "In the end, Jace." "It doesn't feel very all right." "That's because it's not the end.

David Mitchell

Jace, Ends, Feels

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Implausible truth can serve one better than plausible fiction

David Mitchell

Fiction, Plausible

David Mitchell (2012). “Cloud Atlas (Enhanced Movie Tie-in Edition): A Novel”, p.53, Random House Group

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Don't bemoan your misspent life quite yet. Forgive me for flaunting my experience, but you have no conception of what a misspent life constitutes.

David Mitchell

Forgive Me, Forgiving, Flaunting

David Mitchell (2012). “Cloud Atlas (Enhanced Movie Tie-in Edition): A Novel”, p.98, Random House Group

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Born: January 12, 1969
Occupation: Novelist
Cite this Page: Citation

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