I read somewhere once that in the 1960s, fiction writers were troubled by the notion that life was becoming stranger and more sensational than made-up stories could ever hope to be. Our new problem - more profound, I think - is that life no longer resembles a story. Events intersect but don't progress. People interact but don't make contact.
Walter Kirn
Related I certainly don't delude myself that there aren't certainly more important things to do in l... BOB NEWHART I seem to turn out stories that violate the discipline of the short story form and don't obey th... ALICE MUNRO Sometimes I regret that the wonderful children's stories that have been made into movies were - ... ROBIN HOBB During the 1960s, I think, people forgot what emotions were supposed to be. And I don't think th... ANDY WARHOL I don't always want to read serious fiction. But when I read fiction that's not serious, I d... DOROTHEA BENTON FRANK When you think you are ready you are not ready. When you are not ready you are ready... DEYTH BANGER I don't know that any writing comes easily, but I certainly get more immersed in novels. I don... JESS WALTER I can't complain that I've had a public all through my writing life, but people don't qu... ALAN BENNETT We are chained, but you just don't realise it... DEYTH BANGER I have no interest in non-fiction. I don't read it and don't watch it and don't write it... W. P. KINSELLA I don't think, generally speaking, people become writers because they were the really good, real... STEVEN MOFFAT I don't consider myself a gangsta rapper. But I'm probably more qualified to be a gangsta ra... COOLIO I don't believe in fairies floating around, and I don't believe in telepathy, but there are ... ISOBELLE CARMODY I think most fiction writers naturally start by writing short stories, but some of us don't. Whe... ANDREA BARRETT I hope the fans have enjoyed listening as much as I've enjoyed doing the games. I don't ever... BOB UECKER I no longer feel attracted to the well-made novel. I want to write the story that will zero in and g... ALICE MUNRO I think she has more gospel style than I do. I think I'm more, umm, you know mainstream I guess.... LATOYA LONDON I don't understand why people don't use improvisation, especially in comedy films, but also,... ALICE LOWE I don't think there's ever been a team that ever scored more layups than that Blazers team. JACK RAMSAY I don't feel uncomfortable in America, but every once in a while, I'm reminded that people d... CHANG-RAE LEE People tell me I'm dancing better than ever. I don't know what happened, but I have new enth... NATALIA MAKAROVA I think it's always interesting to make sensational stories where, if these people don't mak... DANIEL ESPINOSA I was a complete, total nerd... I loved the idea that the underdog wins more often than not. And I d... ELIZABETH MITCHELL I don't know if there's any change more significant that a human being can make than that of... ERIC DANE I could put a sudoku at the end of every chapter and you'd have to solve it to progress through ... DAVE MORRIS I'm not ambitious. I don't want to get anywhere, I don't want anything more. I sometimes... ARUNDHATI ROY I almost always do things that I like, in some form or fashion. Every once in awhile that means that... BILLY CAMPBELL Don't let the incidents which take place in life bring you low. And certainly don't whine. Y... MAYA ANGELOU The Jetsons had them in the 1960s. They were the defining element of 'Knight Rider' in the 1... SEBASTIAN THRUN The truth is that the writers who most influenced me weren't people categorized as crime writers... ELMORE LEONARD Acting is something I love. It's a great craft that I have a lot of respect for. But I don't... HUGH JACKMAN Life would be very dreary if there were no magic. If the real world were only that veil of tears, I ... VICTORIA MORAN Don't get too set on becoming an actor at an early age. I think that's where some people get... FREDDIE HIGHMORE I don't think public life in and of itself can destroy you. I think it's the way people reac... PATTI SMITH I do get credit for having a California sound to my music, but I don't think people really know ... ARIEL PINK It could be that people just want to be connected to something that's bigger than they are that ... DWIGHT SCHULTZ I don't find it uncomfortable that I'm recognized and liked by so many people. If that were ... SONG HYE-KYO Life is always going to be stranger than fiction, because fiction has to be convincing, and life doe... NEIL GAIMAN I don't think that people accept the fact that life doesn't make sense. I think it makes peo... DAVID LYNCH Some people, I think, think that because I don't take it as seriously as a lot of the girls do, ... CHRISSY TEIGEN I don't read the magazines that make things up about people. I know what the truth is. I don'... ASHTON KUTCHER I lead a very conventional life. I don't lead a writer's life. And I think that can be a sou... JOAN DIDION I don't read other science fiction. I don't read any at all. JACK VANCE I realise few people get to live the life they always wanted, but I'm so neurotic, I don't r... CHARLIE HUNNAM I don't recall having a gun. I really don't. I don't think I ever pulled a gun on anyone... DARRELL ISSA I don't know what drives me, I don't have a clue, but I'm driven more today than I ever ... VINCE MCMAHON New Year's resolutions generally don't work for me. Or I don't work for them. I make the... PAUL HOLLYWOOD I don't travel and tell stories, because that's not the way these days. But I write my books... LOUIS L'AMOUR I couldn't give away my husband's shoes. I could give away other things, but the shoes - I d... JOAN DIDION I don't think I've ever frightened myself before when writing, but there were areas where th... ALAN GARNER I'm not going to write any more novels. I don't want to end up being one of these angry, bit... JIM CRACE I would say I'm more traditional than I am superstitious. I don't, for example, have to do t... TROY POLAMALU I read a quote by James Dean when I was 17; he said, 'I'd rather starve than do a whole bunc... MEHCAD BROOKS I don't want to play everyone's best friend. I don't want to play the role of a girl str... ZOE KRAVITZ I certainly grew up seeing more movies and television than I read books, but when it came time to do... JOHN SAYLES I regard myself as an actress but, obviously, not in the Dame Judi Dench league. That isn't a pr... KELLY BROOK I mean, I feel like you get more bees with honey. But that doesn't mean I don't get frustrat... BEYONCE KNOWLES No one in my family was a reader of literary fiction. So, I didn't have encouragement, but I did... AMY TAN I befriend people too quickly - I don't think that's wrong, but I get told that I should be ... NICOLE APPLETON I really like playing good guys, of course. Although, people make mistakes in their lives, and you c... LANCE HENRIKSEN I really don't want to do anything that resembles stand-up comedy. But I will agree to say that ... LUCAS NEFF I don't think I'll ever lose the feeling that I had when I read 'To Kill a Mockingbird... CHRIS CRUTCHER I've been hit in the head a lot, but I don't think I have any problems, but I can't, for... T. J. PERKINS I feel even old people can do a nice love story, but here we don't make that kind of films. In t... OM PURI We may claim to believe in God, but we don't want to believe so much that it makes us different. CRAIG GROESCHEL Sometimes I regret that I don't have a bit more fun with money. I should have spoilt myself a bi... DARCEY BUSSELL Never say never, but I don't think I'll ever get Botox because we don't know the long-te... KRISTIN CAVALLARI Life can be a lot broader... when you realize one simple thing: And that is that everything around u... ASHTON KUTCHER I have never been offended. I don't know what it means. It's not that I disagree with it. I ... MILO YIANNOPOULOS I don't know what I've done that has made people so interested in me, more than anyone else. RACHEL LAMBERT MELLON I read a lot of news online, but I like buying a paper because I'll read an article I wouldn'... EDDIE KAYE THOMAS I don't believe truth is conveyed by style and presentation. I don't think that if it was gr... ERROL MORRIS I used to forget that I was an Indian woman. I would even forget that I was a woman. I don't thi... MINDY KALING I care about the people I know and love the most, but I also care about what the people I don't ... MARILYN MANSON I don't know if I practiced more than anybody, but I sure practiced enough. I still wonder if so... LARRY BIRD I got interested in the question of literacy because writers are always moaning about why more peopl... ROBERT HASS I don't want to do stories that don't have a heart. I'm just not going to be satisfied w... AARON HUEY People want a beautiful story. Hopefully my life story is still beautiful, but that metro stuff does... BENJAMIN CLEMENTINE I think that people that are not sensitive, who seem to bang through life, do survive, but I don'... FANNIE FLAGG I don't know that human beings were meant to mate for life or be monogamous. But, for me, the as... LAURA WASSER I'm an old guy. I don't hustle and I don't bustle. So sometimes you're behind, but t... KUMAR PALLANA Somebody once asked me what my theory of life was, and I said, 'Don't try.' That fits th... CHARLES BUKOWSKI Truth may be stranger than fiction on a plot and narrative basis, but fiction can investigate tone i... RAY MCKINNON I do know that I've read somewhere that it's been statistically proven that in times of war,... AARON STANFORD I don't know what to do or where to turn in this taxation matter. Somewhere there must be a book... WARREN G. HARDING The story was such that I couldn't make a graceful ending and then make a graceful new beginning... JACK VANCE I'm a hybrid, from a cultural perspective, but I don't think in these terms. I'm more si... ASHRAF BARHOM The funniest people I know were, not necessarily troubled, but had a harder time in school or were s... KAITLIN OLSON And people who take risk intelligently can usually actually make a lot more progress than people who... REID HOFFMAN I don't really know the story of the Pied Piper. I don't read stories, first of all. I just ... R. KELLY I like stories that leave you wanting more, leave you wondering, but don't tell you everything. VIGGO MORTENSEN I'm actually no longer a strict vegan. I don't hang out in the cheese section - I don't ... JASON MRAZ I don't think we can go back to the old days. But I think that what the government needs to do i... DAN GLICKMAN I believe that stories find writers, writers don't find stories. With the 'Pendragon' se... D. J. MACHALE It's just my natural way - to be funny. I don't know why that is. But as I've said, humo... T. C. BOYLE It's possible that we could change a human gene and double our life span. I don't know if th... CYNTHIA KENYON We all want to live forever, but we don't want to suck blood to do it, right? I think people lik... MELISSA DE LA CRUZ I don't feel drawn to lightness, I need something more. I feel that - oh, I hate saying this, it... KATE DICKIE I don't think geometric art is... I don't like to call it that. I don't think it's a... DONALD JUDD I think the new generations in America, the America's youth, no longer care about Vietnam. They ... ALEXANDER HAIG
More Walter Kirn
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WALTER KIRN The jurors appear vaguely stranded and at loose ends, uprooted from their routines and livelihoods. WALTER KIRN Every day, God grants us the precious gift of life. Yet every day, we squander it with our selfish, ... KIRN HANS Gifts must affect the receiver to the point of shock. WALTER BENJAMIN America's health care system is neither healthy, caring, nor a system. WALTER CRONKITE I look forward to making tangible and inspirational contributions to the Houston Technology Center... WALTER O'BRIEN Every passion borders on the chaotic, but the collector's passion borders on the chaos of memori... WALTER BENJAMIN All human knowledge takes the form of interpretation. WALTER BENJAMIN I can never believe how much time and energy and money and talent and everything else is being poure... WALTER BECKER There are some things that I write that I know are personal in a way, or the gag is so obscure that ... WALTER BECKER We have been fortunate enough to do something that has always been out of the mainstream and yet hav... WALTER BECKER All our wives are experimental psychologists. WALTER BECKER If there's a strange way to do something, I would certainly like to know about it. I feel that I... WALTER BECKER I always look for the weirdest note to land on. I felt that that was the least I could do for the gr... WALTER BECKER From a linguistic point of view, you can't really take much objection to the notion that a show ... WALTER BECKER That's sort of what we wanted to do: conquer from the margins, sort of find our place in the mid... WALTER BECKER You have a kid, and it's like, 'He's gotta go to college! Gotta have some clothes!' WALTER BECKER '8 Miles to Pancake Day' is a reconciliation of the classic space-time dilemma. WALTER BECKER It seemed like the more complex the music we were playing, the less able we were to guarantee its co... WALTER BECKER There was a film called 'FM,' and we were asked to do the title song. And I said, 'Does ... WALTER BECKER 'Deacon Blues' was special for me. It's the only time I remember mixing a record all day... WALTER BECKER The protagonist in 'Deacon Blues' is a triple-L loser - an L-L-L Loser. It's not so much... WALTER BECKER There's a great freedom in writing by yourself. You can write anything you want. WALTER BECKER I spent a couple of years not doing any music or anything, just here in Hawaii trying to get healthy... WALTER BECKER I'm not interested in a rock/jazz fusion. WALTER BECKER It's great fun to play with a really good band. WALTER BECKER People are really exercised about one particular thing, and that is themselves. They will bore you e... WALTER BECKER Rock music is being systematically merged with fashion. WALTER BECKER Cynicism, I contend, is the wailing of someone who believes that things are, or should be, or could ... WALTER BECKER When you start to work with someone, there's a negotiation that takes place involving what's... WALTER BECKER My primary influences were the best jazz players from the 50's and 60's and later some of th... WALTER BECKER I listen to a mixture of old jazz, contemporary, pop, some world beat stuff and various odds and end... WALTER BECKER I'm a self-taught musician aside from what I've been able to pick up from other players. WALTER BECKER Honor sinks where commerce long prevails. WALTER BAGEHOT You may talk of the tyranny of Nero and Tiberius; but the real tyranny is the tyranny of your next-d... WALTER BAGEHOT An influential member of parliament has not only to pay much money to become such, and to give time ... WALTER BAGEHOT No real English gentleman, in his secret soul, was ever sorry for the death of a political economist... WALTER BAGEHOT The being without an opinion is so painful to human nature that most people will leap to a hasty opi... WALTER BAGEHOT No great work has ever been produced except after a long interval of still and musing meditation. WALTER BAGEHOT Public opinion is a permeating influence, and it exacts obedience to itself; it requires us to drink... WALTER BAGEHOT The habit of common and continuous speech is a symptom of mental deficiency. It proceeds from not kn... WALTER BAGEHOT All the best stories in the world are but one story in reality - the story of escape. It is the only... WALTER BAGEHOT Life is a school of probability. WALTER BAGEHOT It is unsound for an independent editor to be a financial contributor to any cause which would cause... WALTER ANNENBERG I have very little respect for Nancy Reagan. There is something about her that is very petty. WALTER ANNENBERG I cannot compromise or inhibit my independence. WALTER ANNENBERG Your Majesty, I took the liberty because I was so desirous of visiting alone with you for a few minu... WALTER ANNENBERG God grant you the strength to fight off the temptations of surrender. WALTER ANNENBERG You will not be satisfied unless you are contributing something to or for the benefit of others. WALTER ANNENBERG What matters is that you are doing what you think is right based on the standards which you hold. WALTER ANNENBERG The greatest happiness comes from being vitally interested in something that excites all your energi... WALTER ANNENBERG Live rich, die poor; never make the mistake of doing it the other way round. WALTER ANNENBERG I shall participate, I shall contribute, and in so doing, I will be the gainer. WALTER ANNENBERG Adversity tests us from time to time and it is inevitable that this testing continues during life. WALTER ANNENBERG Accomplish something every day of your life. WALTER ANNENBERG People who think about art as an investment are pathetic. WALTER ANNENBERG The test of character is having the ability to meet challenges. WALTER ANNENBERG In the world today, a young lady who does not have a college education just is not educated. WALTER ANNENBERG Never buy four C-plus paintings when you can buy one A. WALTER ANNENBERG My country has been very good to me; I must be good to my country. WALTER ANNENBERG Some people find an interest in making money, and though they appear to be slaving, many actually en... WALTER ANNENBERG Many activities and team play participation will give you a training that will prove invaluable late... WALTER ANNENBERG Too much work, too much vacation, too much of any one thing is unsound. WALTER ANNENBERG The greatest power is not money power, but political power. WALTER ANNENBERG I am responsible. Although I may not be able to prevent the worst from happening, I am responsible f... WALTER ANDERSON Good listeners, like precious gems, are to be treasured. WALTER ANDERSON We're never so vulnerable than when we trust someone - but paradoxically, if we cannot trust, ne... WALTER ANDERSON I'm not afraid to learn from my coaches. WALTER ALSTON I put myself through college playing pool. WALTER ALSTON I always liked Casey Stengel as a manager because he seemed to have a grasp of so many things. WALTER ALSTON The toughest thing about managing is knowing your personnel and what it can give you under all condi... WALTER ALSTON I do worry about tomorrow's game, but never about next year's job. WALTER ALSTON I've won plenty of games by knowing when to take out my pitcher; whom to replace him with; or ho... WALTER ALSTON I think for being not unsympathetic that their appearance may also appear, so differently it, must; ... ULRICH WALTER Every astronaut flew into space for a living. But while NASA has not solved the security problems, I... ULRICH WALTER Judgment comes from experience - and experience comes from bad judgment. WALTER WRISTON She's been on more laps than a napkin. WALTER WINCHELL Nothing recedes like success. WALTER WINCHELL Hollywood is where they shoot too many pictures and not enough actors. WALTER WINCHELL Broadway is a main artery of New York life - the hardened artery. WALTER WINCHELL The best way to get along is never to forgive an enemy or forget a friend. WALTER WINCHELL The only ones who like Milton Berle are his mother - and the public. WALTER WINCHELL Today's gossip is tomorrow's headline. WALTER WINCHELL I never lost a friend I wanted to keep. WALTER WINCHELL What I would like to be remembered for is that Walter Washington changed the spirit of the people of... WALTER WASHINGTON Mine has been a concern for the people, a concern to maintain stability, a concern to get people wor... WALTER WASHINGTON I passed the Bar on the first shot, But I have never practiced law. WALTER WAGER I always liked spy stories. WALTER WAGER I use the city because it saves time, I don't have to do a lot of research on the setting. WALTER WAGER In France, I learned about wine and cheese. WALTER WAGER I keep working under the delusion that someday a library will ask for my manuscripts. WALTER WAGER The government of the German Democratic Republic rejects secret policies. It works for the people, a... WALTER ULBRICHT May we soon enjoy the fruits of our labor in a peaceful and united Germany. WALTER ULBRICHT The nature of a democracy consists to an important degree in the right of the people to criticize pr... WALTER ULBRICHT The more you participate in our common endeavors, the more successful your work in the factory, mine... WALTER ULBRICHT The West German population would protest passionately if it knew what secret meetings between the fe... WALTER ULBRICHT When has there ever been a government in German history that came to the people and revealed its det... WALTER ULBRICHT The plan shows that the twenty million people in the German democratic Republic and in the democrati... WALTER ULBRICHT In the past, people worked together only when some great disaster threatened. WALTER ULBRICHT The success of each of us benefits us all, and the success of us all benefits each of us individuall... WALTER ULBRICHT Something new has happened: For the first time in German history our fatherland is guided by a plan ... WALTER ULBRICHT The guiding principle is not to manufacture the goods everyone needs, rather to earn profits for a f... WALTER ULBRICHT The victory of the working people over the exploiters and slave holders is at the same time the vict... WALTER ULBRICHT Let us show our fellow countrymen and the entire world what the Germans can do when they work for pe... WALTER ULBRICHT This hunger for profits causes great misery for the people. WALTER ULBRICHT It is the most important contribution we can make to speeding up reunification. WALTER ULBRICHT Let there be great enthusiasm for the plan throughout the entire republic that will overcome all obs... WALTER ULBRICHT Gifts fall from heaven only in fairy tales. WALTER ULBRICHT The Old Firm clubs are not easy clubs to manage and sometimes I think frustration comes in that, in ... WALTER SMITH There are people for whom Rangers Football Club is their entire way of life. WALTER SMITH From my own point of view, I hope everybody would realise that people who work in Scottish football ... WALTER SMITH Paper and ink are all but trash, if I cannot find the thought which the writer did think. WALTER SMITH I started out in Scotland, not as a footballer of any note, and I didn't play to draw the attent... WALTER SMITH If you can achieve winning a league championship, that, to me, is the full test of the team and mana... WALTER SMITH Whether people like it or not, you have to say the Old Firm are a major part of Scottish football. I... WALTER SMITH Our works decay and disappear but God gentlest works stay looking down on the ruins we toil to rear. WALTER SMITH The race of mankind would perish did they cease to aid each other. We cannot exist without mutual he... WALTER SCOTT He is the best sailor who can steer within fewest points of the wind, and exact a motive power out o... WALTER SCOTT A rusty nail placed near a faithful compass, will sway it from the truth, and wreck the argosy. WALTER SCOTT Teach your children poetry; it opens the mind, lends grace to wisdom and makes the heroic virtues he... WALTER SCOTT Faces that have charmed us the most escape us the soonest. WALTER SCOTT Success - keeping your mind awake and your desire asleep. WALTER SCOTT When thinking about companions gone, we feel ourselves doubly alone. WALTER SCOTT One hour of life, crowded to the full with glorious action, and filled with noble risks, is worth wh... WALTER SCOTT Love rules the court, the camp, the grove, And men below, and saints above: For love is heaven, and ... WALTER SCOTT Discretion is the perfection of reason, and a guide to us in all the duties of life. WALTER SCOTT Of all vices, drinking is the most incompatible with greatness. WALTER SCOTT To all, to each, a fair good-night, and pleasing dreams, and slumbers light. WALTER SCOTT What I have to say is far more important than how long my eyelashes are. WALTER SCOTT A lawyer without history or literature is a mechanic, a mere working mason; if he possesses some kno... WALTER SCOTT Success or failure in business is caused more by the mental attitude even than by mental capacities. WALTER SCOTT We build statues out of snow, and weep to see them melt. WALTER SCOTT Look back, and smile on perils past. WALTER SCOTT When I come to London, I always like to see what's playing at the NFT. WALTER SALLES We all knew the book well because it's the cult book in Latin America. For me, this was a sacred... WALTER SALLES The Sundance Institute has been vital to the film communities of Latin America. WALTER SALLES The other aspect is that you become much more aware of the structural problems that pertain to that ... WALTER SALLES The necessity to conceptualise has to come very early on, and defining a vector of development for t... WALTER SALLES The films that I've done before were original stories most of the time, I did two adaptations be... WALTER SALLES That's why I have always admired documentaries, because they open windows that can make you unde... WALTER SALLES So when I was very young, I longed for Brazil. WALTER SALLES So the search for a father in Central Station is also a search for a country. WALTER SALLES