Surprising Quotes - Page 30

• A surprising number of people - including many students of literature - will tell you they haven't really lived in a book since they were children.

  A. S. Byatt

  Children, Book, Numbers

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• To an American, that which deprives him of his freedom he regards as injustice, and that which allows him to enjoy that freedom he regards as justice. The concept of justice is as central to the totality of his being as freedom is, and this is not surprising, since the motivating idea behind the American Declaration of Independence was the fervent desire for justice.

  Ndabaningi Sithole

  Ideas, Justice, Independence

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• You can learn a lot from children because they see things new every day. That's the beauty of what you want to achieve as an artist - seeing things in a different way. Kids are constantly saying things that are funny and surprising and their observations are just... you know, they're like little artists themselves.

  Tim Burton

  Children, Kids, Artist

  "Alice in Wonderland - Tim Burton interview". Interview with Rob Carnevale, www.indielondon.co.uk.

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• Shakespeare says, we are creatures that look before and after; the more surprising that we do not look around a little, and see what is passing under our very eyes.

  Thomas Carlyle

  Eye, Looks, Littles

  Sartor Resartus Book I, Chapter 1

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• With respect to duels, indeed, I have my own ideas. Few things in this so surprising world strike me with more surprise. Two little visual spectra of men, hovering with insecure enough cohesion in the midst of the unfathomable, and to dissolve therein, at any rate, very soon, make pause at the distance of twelve paces asunder; whirl around, and simultaneously by the cunningest mechanism, explode one another into dissolution; and, offhand, become air, and non-extant--the little spitfires!

  Thomas Carlyle

  Distance, Insecure, Men

  Thomas Carlyle (2015). “Sartor Resartus: The Life and Opinions of Herr Teufelsdrockh”, p.161, The Floating Press

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• The consideration and kindness shown by unfortunates to each other are surprising to those who have no experience with this class of men. Often to find real sympathy you must go to those who know what misery means.

  Clarence Darrow

  Kindness, Real, Mean

  Clarence Darrow (2015). “Crime: Its Cause and Treatment”, p.127, Sheba Blake Publishing

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• If we mammals don't get something to eat every day or two, our temperature drops, all our signs fall off, and we begin to starve. Living at biological red alert, it's not surprising how obsessed we are with food; I'm just amazed we don't pace and fret about it all the time.

  Diane Ackerman

  Fall, Two, Mammals

  Diane Ackerman (2011). “Moon By Whale Light: And Other Adventures Among Bats,Penguins, Crocodilians, and Whales”, p.77, Vintage

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• It is axiomatic among writers that no one ever sues the writer of an unsuccessful book. Just let a book go over twenty-five thousand copies and it is surprising how many people's feelings are hurt, how many screwballs think their brain children have been stolen, and how many people feel that they have been portrayed in a manner calculated to bring infamy upon them.

  Margaret Mitchell

  Hurt, Children, Book

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• In The Moon, Come to Earth Philip Graham takes us on the best kind of journey, as he simultaneously reveals the fascinating city of Lisbon--its neighborhoods, its writers, its customs, its cuisine--and offers an intimate portrait of his beloved family. With his far-reaching intellect Graham is the ideal travelling companion, and The Moon, Come to Earth is a beautiful and surprising book.

  Margot Livesey

  Beautiful, Book, Moon

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• It is not surprising that Venice is known above all for mirrors and glass since Venice is the most narcissistic city in the world, the city that celebrates self-mirroring.

  Erica Jong

  Glasses, Mirrors, Self

  Erica Jong (2013). “Shylock's Daughter: A Novel of Love in Venice”, p.7, Open Road Media

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• it is a surprising thing that the largest city in the world should have a population as gentle and pleasant and intimate and considerate and comforting as a little bit of a place where everybody knows everybody and everything, but astonishing or not it is perfectly true and the inhabitants of New York are just like that, and they are like that and this thing is a delightful, natural and gentle and sweet and comforting thing.

  Gertrude Stein

  Sweet, New York, Should Have

  Gertrude Stein (1974). “How Writing Is Written”

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• What is surprising is not that oppression should make its appearance only after higher forms of economy have been reached, but that it should always accompany them.

  Simone Weil

  Oppression, Appearance, Economics

  Simone Weil (2013). “Oppression and Liberty”, p.59, Routledge

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• The camembert with its venison scent defeats the Marolles and Limbourg dull smells; It spreads its exhalation, smothering the other scents under its surprising breath abundance.

  Emile Zola

  Food, Smell, Cooking

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• It's surprising how soon you can get used to having money. It's much easier than getting used to not having it.

  Patricia Wentworth

  Money, Easier, Used

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• Drama and comedy, to me ,are all about being surprising, coherent, and true, all at once.

  Tim Blake Nelson

  Drama, Comedy

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• I love playing music as much as if not more so than I did when I was 19; that compared to most of my peers is pretty surprising. I wake up every day and get really excited about doing stuff that I have been doing for the last 30 years. I just love it.

  Slash

  Years, Stuff, Lasts

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• I live in the land of delight - of just walking in the street, and the sun is shining, and I'm on my way to Starbucks and I'm feeling good. I also live for those aha! moments when you understand something new, when you see two things fitting together to make a surprising third. There's actually a chemical that's produced in the brain by learning that gives you that little ecstatic moment of, Oh, that's why.

  Gloria Steinem

  Land, Two, Giving

  Interview with Maria Shriver, www.interviewmagazine.com. July 11, 2011.

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• I became the voice of a generation in a very surprising way, because many Iranians recognize themselves in it. But that is not what I wanted.

  Marjane Satrapi

  Voice, Generations, Way

  "Never Mind the Mullahs". Interview with Vivienne Walt, www.motherjones.com. January/February 2008.

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• I don't like the phrase shock value. Surprise is essential in comedy, and if people are shocked by what I consider merely surprising, then that's their shock. But there is no joke without surprise.

  George Carlin

  People, Essentials, Phrases

  Interview with Sam Merrill, reprints.longform.org. January 1982.

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• One of the surprising things that Brezhnev said when we were in our talks, was - when I proposed that we make these changes in nuclear weaponry, he said, "God will never forgive us if we don't succeed." And, you know, coming from the leader of an atheistic communist country, this surprised everyone.

  Jimmy Carter

  Country, Leader, Forgiving

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