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366 Columnist Quotes

I wonder sometimes if the motivation for writers ought to be contempt, not admiration.
Admiration Contempt IWonder Motivation
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In the moment when I truly understand my enemy, understand him well enough to defeat him, then in that very moment I also love him.

Also Defeat Enemy Enough
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Everything important in sci-fi showed up in the magazines first. It's the proving ground for new writers and new ideas.
Everything First Ground Ideas
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There's a reason why every human society has fiction. It teaches us how to be 'good', to behave in a way that is for the benefit of the whole community.

Behave Benefit Community Every
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Of course, I also hear from critics who detest what I do, and while sometimes I feel rather proud of having made various the loathsome people or groups angry, at other times I wonder why I put up with such grief.

Also Angry Course Critics
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I have never been especially impressed by the heroics of people convinced they are about to change the world. I am more awed by those who struggle to make one small difference.

Never Impressed People Change
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We are told that people stay in love because of chemistry, or because they remain intrigued with each other, because of many kindnesses, because of luck. But part of it has got to be forgiveness and gratefulness.

Told People Stay Love
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Ultimately, time is all you have and the idea isn't to save it, but to savour it.

Ultimately Time Idea Savour it
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There's a trick to the Graceful Exit. It begins with the vision to recognize when a job, a life stage, a relationship is over - and to let go. It means leaving what's over without denying its validity or its past importance in our lives.

Graceful exist Vision Life stage Relationship
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The central struggle of parenthood is to let our hopes for our children outweigh our fears.

The central Parenthood Hopes Children
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Maybe this year, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives not looking for flaws, but looking for potential.
Year Walk Flaws Potential
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We want our children to fit in and to stand out. We rarely address the conflict between these goals.

Children Stand out Conflict These goals
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Our 'mistakes' become our crucial parts, sometimes our best parts, of the lives we have made.

Our mistakes Crucial part Best parts
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This packrat has learned that what the next generation will value most is not what we owned, but the evidence of who we were and the tales of how we loved. In the end, it's the family stories that are worth the storage.

Learned Next generation Value most
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We owned what we learned back there; the experience and the growth are grafted into our lives.

We owned Learned Experience Growth
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We criticize mothers for closeness. We criticize fathers for distance. How many of us have expected less from our fathers and appreciated what they gave us more? How many of us always let them off the hook?

We criticize Mothers Fathers
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Age is an accumulation of life and loss. Adulthood is a series of lines crossed.
Age Accumulation Life Adulthood
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The things we hate about ourselves aren't more real than things we like about ourselves.

The things Real Ourselves
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Women have gained access to the institutions, but not enough power to overhaul them.
Women Gained access Power
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Forty is ... an age at which people have histories and options. At thirty, they had perhaps less history. At fifty, perhaps fewer options.

Forty People Histories Options
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Today, much of journalism and politics are in a kind of collusion to oversimplify and personalize issues. No room for ambivalence. Plenty of room for the personal attack.

Journalism Politics Collusion Oversimplify
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If Mr. Einstein doesn't like the natural laws of the universe, let him go back to where he came from.

Back Came Einstein Go
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I have tried to know absolutely nothing about a great many things, and I have succeeded fairly well.

About Absolutely AbsolutelyNothing Fairly
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A dog teaches a boy fidelity, perseverance, and to turn around three times before lying down.

Around Before Boy Dog
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Tell us your phobias and we will tell you what you are afraid of.

Afraid Phobias Tell Us
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For a nation which has an almost evil reputation for bustle, bustle, bustle, and rush, rush, rush, we spend an enormous amount of time standing around in line in front of windows, just waiting.

Almost Amount Around Enormous
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It took me fifteen years to discover I had no talent for writing, but I couldn't give it up because by that time I was too famous

Because Discover Famous Fifteen
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An ardent supporter of the hometown team should go to a game prepared to take offense, no matter what happens.

Ardent Game Go Happens
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Drinking makes such fools of people, and people are such fools to begin with that it's compounding a felony.

Begin Drinking Fools Makes
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Why don't you get out of that wet coat and into a dry martini?

Coat Dry Get Martini
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In America there are two classes of travel - first class, and with children

America Children Class Classes
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Drawing on my fine command of the English language, I said nothing.

Command Drawing English EnglishLanguage
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I do most of my work sitting down; that's where I shine.

Down Most Shine Sitting
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A boy can learn a lot from a dog: obedience, loyalty, and the importance of turning around three times before lying down

Around Before Boy Dog
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I know I'm drinking myself to a slow death, but then I'm in no hurry.

Death Drinking Hurry Know
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The surest way to make a monkey of a man is to quote him.

Him Make Man Monkey
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The biggest obstacle to professional writing is the necessity for changing a typewriter ribbon

Biggest BiggestObstacle Changing Necessity
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The freelance writer is a man who is paid per piece or per word or perhaps

Freelance Man Paid Per
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Dachshunds are ideal dogs for small children, as they are already stretched and pulled to such a length that the child cannot do much harm one way or the other

Cannot Child Children Dogs
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Even nowadays a man can't step up and kill a woman without feeling just a bit unchivalrous

Bit Even Feeling Just
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Opera is where a guy gets stabbed in the back, and instead of dying, he sings

Back Dying Gets Guy
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A great many people have come up to me and asked how I manage to get so much work done and still keep looking so dissipated.

Asked Come Done Get
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Anyone can do any amount of work, provided it isn't the work he is supposed be doing at that moment.

Amount Any Anyone Doing
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I have been told by hospital authorities that more copies of my works are left behind by departing patients than those of any other author.

Any Author Authorities Been
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Other men wear white suits in summer and it doesn't seem to bother them. But my white suit seems to be a little whiter than theirs. I think also that it may have something written on the back of it, although I can't find it when I take the suit off.

Also Although Back Bother
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We are constantly being surprised that people did things well before we were born.

Before Being Born Constantly
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There seems to be no lengths to which humorless people will not go to analyze humor. It seems to worry them

Analyze Go Humor People
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A real hangover is nothing to try out family remedies on. The only cure for a real hangover is death

Cure Death Family Hangover
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In a house where there are small children the bathroom soon takes on the appearance of the Old Curiosity Shop.

Appearance Bathroom Children Curiosity
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After an author has been dead for some time, it becomes increasingly difficult for his publishers to get a new book out of him each year.

After Author Becomes Been
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