Protagonists Quotes - Page 2

• Look at the Coen brothers. All their minor characters are as interesting as their protagonists. If the smaller characters are well-written, the whole world of the film becomes enriched. It's not the size of the thing, but the detail.

  Brendan Gleeson

  Brother, Character, Interesting

  "Brendan Gleeson: the character actor who steals the show". Interview with Ryan Gilbey, www.theguardian.com. March 18, 2010.

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• Tunisia's responsibility, and especially that of its political and intellectual elites, is enormous. All the protagonists of the nation's social, cultural, economic and political life must work to overcome useless and counterproductive polarisation, and to find solutions to domestic, regional and international problems.

  Tariq Ramadan

  Responsibility, Political, Intellectual

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• Henry Miller wrote novels, but he calls his protagonist Henry, often Henry Miller, and his books are in this gray area between memoir and novel.

  Leslie Fiedler

  Book, Gray Area, Novel

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• It is a commonplace that the League of Nations is not yet-what its most enthusiastic protagonists intended it to be

  Hjalmar Branting

  League, Corny, Enthusiastic

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• I couldn't imagine what Fox thought they were doing, contemplating such a jagged protagonist for a prime-time drama. I only knew that I wanted the role very much.

  Hugh Laurie

  Drama, Roles, Foxes

  FaceBook post by Hugh Laurie from Mar 29, 2012

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• [But] we accept irony through a device called metaphor. And through that we grow and become deeper human beings.

  Haruki Murakami

  Irony, Metaphor, Accepting

  Haruki Murakami (2011). “Kafka On The Shore”, p.215, Random House

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• People are drawn deeper into tragedy not by their defects but by their virtues.

  Haruki Murakami

  People, Tragedy, Virtue

  Haruki Murakami (2011). “Kafka On The Shore”, p.214, Random House

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• We've all seen lots of stories about a young protagonist having adventures, and usually they're all boys, [and] there is sometimes a token female, or two.

  Brian K. Vaughan

  Adventure, Boys, Two

  "Paper Girls: Brian K. Vaughan and Cliff Chiang talk Volume 2". Interview With Nivea Serrao, ew.com. November 29, 2016.

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• It's pretty easy to think of the idea of a story, and maybe even to write a scene or two, but understanding the ebb and flow of a narrative, where to leave the little clues your protagonist (and reader) need, while playing fair, takes a lot more skill and patience than you might think.

  Dennis Green

  Writing, Thinking, Ebb And Flow

  Source: lennoxrandon.com

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• The depth of any story is proportionate to the protagonist's commitment to their goal, the complexity of the problem, and the grace of the solution.

  Steve House

  Commitment, Goal, Grace

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• The more complex and overwhelming the threat to a protagonist, the better the opportunity for the author to create a compelling conflict and a dramatic resolution.

  Terry Brooks

  Writing, Opportunity, Conflict

  Terry Brooks (2003). “Sometimes the Magic Works: Lessons from a Writing Life”, p.102, Del Rey

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• I never regard my characters, my protagonists, as personifications. It's not that I sit by my desk and I pick up a character who will be the spokesperson of the Israeli Left, another one will be the spokesperson of the Right, another one will be the spokesperson of Middle Eastern Jews, European Jews, religions Jews and so on.

  Amos Oz

  Character, Middle, Desks

  "'Everybody comes from somewhere.' An Interview with Writer Amos Oz". Interview with Prashanth Ramakrishna, logger.believermag.com. October 20, 2016.

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• What led me to that was I have never - I mean, I watch movies and I don't care who is the protagonist. I feel what that guy is feeling. You know, if it's Tom Cruise leaping over a building - I want to make it, you know? And I'm going to - yes, I made it. And yeah, so I get that.

  Meryl Streep

  Mean, Guy, Feelings

  "Fresh Air" with Terry Gross, www.npr.org. February 6, 2012.

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• When the machine of a human being is turned on, it seems to produce a protagonist, just as a television produces an image.

  Mohsin Hamid

  Machines, Television, Produce

  Mohsin Hamid (2015). “Discontent and its Civilizations: Dispatches from Lahore, New York, and London”, p.62, Penguin

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• My protagonists, male and female, are me.

  Madeleine L'Engle

  Males, Female

  Madeleine L'Engle (2016). “The Irrational Season”, p.18, Open Road Media

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• In the history of enterprise, most of the protagonists of major new products and companies began their education - not in the classroom, where the old ways are taught, but in the factories and labs where new ways are wrought ... nothing has been so rare in recent years as an Ivy League graduate who has made a significant innovation in American enterprise.

  George Gilder

  Years, Ivy, League

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• The Hawk and the Dove is a wonderful idea for a book, wonderfully carried out. Nicholas Thompson has used illuminating new material to present each of his protagonists in a convincing, respectful, but unsparing way. Even more valuable, he has used the interactions and tensions between Paul Nitze and George Kennan to bring much of American 20th century foreign policy to life, with human richness ever present but with the big issues clear in all their complexity.

  James Fallows

  Book, Ideas, Issues

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• In my career, I've often played the protagonist or the hero of the movie, and there are so many rules inherent to that role. The audience needs to stay with you, identify with you and like you. When you play the bad guy, those rules go out the window. There's so much freedom there.

  Ryan Phillippe

  Hero, Play, Careers

  Source: collider.com

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• Free will is something that people struggle with so much, but it's very simple to me. Carl Jung said at the same moment you're a protagonist in your own life making choices, you also are the spear carrier, or the extra, in a much larger drama. You've got to live with these two opposite ideas at the same time.

  Wayne Dyer

  Drama, Struggle, Simple

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• The Hulk is the most difficult Marvel property because it's always about balance. Is he a monster? Is he a hero? Are you going to root for a protagonist who spends all his time trying to stop the reason you came to the movie from happening? It's always a dance

  Joss Whedon

  Hero, Roots, Balance

  Source: deadline.com

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• Employing women as my primary protagonists has allowed me to step outside of myself, to distance myself from my own personality, far more easily than were I to look at events from a masculine perspective.

  Tom Robbins

  Distance, Perspective, Personality

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• The Greeks were the first intellectualists. In a world where the irrational had played the chief role, they came forward as the protagonists of the mind.

  Edith Hamilton

  Greek, Mind, Firsts

  Edith Hamilton (1987). “The Greek way ; The Roman way”, Random House Value Pub

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• Protagonists are always loners, almost by definition.

  Pauline Kael

  Hero, Loner, Definitions

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• It's not my business to remedy deaths! It's my business to tell stories. Lyra and the other heroines didn't come with placards saying, "Make this a feminist story!" I'm glad people enjoy seeing a female protagonist in a big adventure story, but I didn't do it for political reasons.

  Philip Pullman

  Adventure, People, Feminist

  Source: www.motherjones.com

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• Crime is a very hard genre to feminise. If you have a female protagonist she is going to be looking after her mum when she gets older; she is going to be worried about her brother and sister; she will be making a living while bringing up kids.

  Denise Mina

  Brother, Kids, Female

  "Murder she wrote - and plenty of it: Denise Mina on her career". Interview with Peter Guttridge, www.theguardian.com. July 28, 2007.

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