Could Have Been Quotes - Page 3

• Everywhere I go, I'm asked if I think the universities stifle writers. My opinion is that they don't stifle enough of them. There's many a best seller that could have been prevented by a good teacher.

  Flannery O'Connor

  Education, Teacher, Women

  Mystery and Manners: Occasional Prose "The Nature and Aims of Fiction" (1969)

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• I could have been a cult writer if I'd kept writing surrealistic novels. But I wanted to break into the mainstream, so I had to prove that I could write a realistic book.

  Haruki Murakami

  Book, Writing, Realistic

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• He who could have been a torch and stoops to being a pair of jaws is a deserter.

  Jose Marti

  Torches, Pairs, Stoops

  "Martí : Thoughts/Pensamientos" edited by Carlos Ripoll, 1994.

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• I'm not sure what the future holds but I do know that I'm going to be positive and not wake up feeling desperate. As my dad said 'Nic, it is what it is, it's not what it should have been, not what it could have been, it is what it is.'

  Nicole Kidman

  Positive, Break Up, Heartbroken

  FaceBook post by Nicole Kidman from Nov 25, 2016

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• I really don't think life is about the I-could-have-beens. Life is only about the I-tried-to-do. I don't mind the failure but I can't imagine that I'd forgive myself if I didn't try.

  Nikki Giovanni

  Inspirational, Life, Inspiring

  Nikki Giovanni (1988). “Sacred cows-- and other edibles”, William Morrow & Co

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• I've been a sports fan all my life, and like most other actors, I'm convinced I could have been a pro athlete if Hollywood hadn't come calling.

  Jamie Foxx

  Sports, Athlete, Hollywood

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• Not that I regret saying what I believed to be the truth, but I regret anything that I might have written or spoken that could have been used in a way to help to foster that atmosphere out of which came the loss of life of Brother Malcolm.

  Louis Farrakhan

  Brother, Regret, Loss

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• What each must seek in his life never was on land or sea. It is something out of his own unique potentiality for experience, something that never has been and never could have been experienced by anyone else.

  Joseph Campbell

  Inspirational, Life, Unique

  Joseph Campbell, Bill D. Moyers (1988). “The Power of Myth”, Harmony

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• If I could have been a marine biologist I would have, but I didn't have that kind of intelligence. Numbers were never my strong point.

  Nicolas Cage

  Strong, Marine, Numbers

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• The P.A.S.T. preventative screening and treatment programs are a must for all players. We can extend our lives and live a healthy and pain free life. The programs are very comprehensive. We have lost several players at a young age, maybe the loss of some of our players could have been prevented with the prevention, knowledge, and treatment that P.A.S.T. provides.

  James Worthy

  Pain, Loss, Player

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• How many a dispute could have been deflated into a single paragraph if the disputants had dared to define their terms

  Aristotle

  Argument, Disputes, Term

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• I pulled out the manuscript [from the envelope] and a great big stiff cardboard finger sprung up. This is someone that was so certain they would be rejected, they would be getting their revenge in advance. I was lucky - it could have been a pipe bomb.

  Gardner Dozois

  Revenge, Sprung Up, Would Be

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• I'm never a person who likes anything I've done. It's just the way it is. Twenty years later, I can look at something I did, and I'm still thinking, 'You know, that could have been better if you had done it this way or that way.

  Robert Guillaume

  Thinking, Years, Done

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• 

  Sometimes I'm scared of being Ozzy Osbourne. But it could have been worse. I could have been Sting.

  Ozzy Osbourne

  Scared, Sometimes, Has Beens

  "The Osbournes". TV Series, 2002-2005.

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• There was a time I could have been mistaken for Burt Reynolds. I had a moustache and so did he. But he was the number one star in the world, so there wasn't really much confusion

  Tom Selleck

  Stars, Numbers, Confusion

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• My father could have been a great comedian, but he didn't believe that that was possible for him, and so he made a conservative choice. Instead, he got a safe job as an accountant. When I was 12 years old, he was let go from that safe job, and our family had to do whatever we could to survive. I learned many great lessons from my father, not the least of which was that you can fail at what you don’t want, so you might as well take a chance on doing what you love.

  Jim Carrey

  Letting Go, Jobs, Father

  "Jim Carrey's inspiring commencement speech" by Lisa Respers France, www.cnn.com. May 28, 2014.

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• These days, I find I'm applying a little more patience to my process. If I look back on my work, I can see those songs I bailed on could have been better, that had those great two verses and then I kind of coasted from there. These days, if a song is giving me trouble, I put it aside and pick it up later, and keep doing that, for a year if I have to, until it takes shape.

  Ani DiFranco

  Song, Writing, Years

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• People spend a lifetime thinking abouthow they would really like to live. I asked my friends and no one seems to know very clearly. To me, it's very clear now. I wish my life could have been like the years when I was writing 'Love in the Time of Cholera.'

  Gabriel Garcia Marquez

  Writing, Thinking, Years

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• They found out about him in July and stayed angry all through August. They tried to kill him in September. It was way too soon. They weren't ready. The attempt was a failure. It could have been a disaster, but it was actually a miracle. Because nobody noticed.

  Lee Child

  July, August, Miracle

  Lee Child (2001). “Echo Burning: A Jack Reacher Novel”, p.292, Penguin

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• But that quickly faded, and he frowned. "You're bleeding," he said. "What happened?" Claire sighed and held up her wrist to show him the bandage. "Man, you would be so embarrassed if I said it was something else." Michael looked blank. "I'm a girl, Michael, it could have been all natural, you know. Tampons?

  Rachel Caine

  Girl, Men, Bleeding

  Rachel Caine (2007). “Midnight Alley: The Morganville Vampires”, p.84, Penguin

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• What if she was meant to be, or could have been, someone important in my life? I think that's what scares me: the randomness of everything. That the people who could be important to you might just pass you by. Or you pass them by.

  Peter Cameron

  Thinking, Walking Away, People

  "Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You".

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• I want you to be happy, you're my best friend. But it's so hard to let you go now with all that could have been. I'll always have the memories. She'll always have you. Fate has a way of changing just when you don't want it to. Throw away the chains, let love fly away. Till love comes again, I'll be okay.

  Amanda Marshall

  Memories, Lost Love, Fate

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• It was not perfect but I'm very happy. It could have been better, but I'm now looking forward to my second race of the season.

  Usain Bolt

  Motivational, Race, Track

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• I was afraid of last place, ... There were a lot of fears. Below .500 - I never thought I'd see that here. Then, losing 100 games seemed like a possibility, then 90 games. All of those things could have been a reality here. The grave seemed like a reality here, but the guys didn't let it happen.

  Felipe Alou

  Reality, Games, Guy

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• My folks tried to make a preacher of me and missed by a narrow margin… I would have made a good one if I hadn’t fallen into the fatal folly of reading anything I could lay hands on. With just a touch more self confidence and a liberal helping of ignorance I could have been a famous evangelist.

  Robert A. Heinlein

  Reading, Ignorance, Self Confidence

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