When I was young, an eccentric uncle decided to teach me how to lie. Not, he explained, because he wanted me to lie, but because he thought I should know how it's done so I would recognise when I was being lied to.
I don't know who explained this rule to me; maybe it was the product of my own speculations and fantasies. That would have been typical: I was always inventing stories and machinations to make sense of things I didn't understand, and I understood alm...
I've occasionally wished I had Caller ID. Even telemarketers, I hate to hang up on them. I try to explain I'm not interested, but they have all these canned responses so I end up having to hang up on them anyway.
When I see people with an interesting gap year, if they can explain it, if they can justify it, if they can show what they've learnt from it, it's sometimes more profitable or more intelligent than having been through a traditional, continuous race f...
Students often approached me about state-paid tuition while I was out campaigning. After I explained to them that if the state pays their tuition now, they will pay higher taxes to pay other people's tuition for the rest of their lives, most of them ...
As much as they deny it, I think people want to be scared. It's a phenomenon, why people want to be scared when there is so much violence and craziness in the world. People still really enjoy being scared. It's a conundrum to me. It's hard to explain...
I really found this campaign odious. I couldn't get up for it. The quality of the candidates and the campaign, I just found the whole thing second-rate. I didn't know how to explain to my granddaughter that I was spending my dotage writing about Al G...
Lorraine Warren: She ran out to that tree by the dock, climbed up, proclaimed her love to Satan, cursed anyone who tried to take her land, and hung herself. Time of death was pronounced at 3:07 in the morning. Ed Warren: Well, that explains a few thi...
[the German camp commandant explains why so many incorrigible Allied prisoners were placed in the place Stalag] Von Luger: We have in effect put all our rotten eggs in one basket. And we intend to watch this basket carefully.
Admiral James Greer: [after the meeting where Jack Ryan has just explained - quite boldly - his theory that Capt. Raimus is defecting] I told you to speak your mind Jack, but Jesus [laughing a little] Admiral James Greer: ...!
Older Scout: [narrating] There just didn't seem to be anyone or anything Atticus couldn't explain. Though it wasn't a talent that would arouse the admiration of any of our friends, Jem and I had to admit he was very good at that - but that was *all* ...
Sir Bedevere: ...and that, my liege, is how we know the Earth to be banana-shaped. King Arthur: This new learning amazes me, Sir Bedevere. Explain again how sheep's bladders may be employed to prevent earthquakes.
Basher: That poxy demo crew haven't used a coaxial feed to batten the main line, have they? Instead they've gone and nosed up the backup grid, nosed it right up! Reuben: [to Livingston] Do you understand any of this? Livingston: I'll explain later.
Grandpa: She doesn't get eaten by the eels at this time. The Grandson: What? Grandpa: The eel doesn't get her. I'm explaining to you because you look nervous. The Grandson: I wasn't nervous. Maybe I was a little bit concerned, but that's not the same...
[Borden is explaining how he used a double in his act] Alfred Borden: What I didn't count on was that, when I incorporated this bloke into my act, he had complete power over me. Gerald Root: Complete power, you say?
Capt. Oskar Steiger: [explaining Patton's attitude toward war] Sir, do you not see? General Alfred Jodl: What? Capt. Oskar Steiger: Don Quixote battles six merchants from Toledo and saves Dulcinea's virtue! General Alfred Jodl: Who the devil is Dulci...
Jeff: I've seen bickering and family quarrels and mysterious trips at night, and knives and saws and ropes, and now since last evening, not a sign of the wife. How do you explain that? Lisa: Maybe she died. Jeff: Where's the doctor? Where's the under...
Manolo Ray: [at Frank's house, explaining to Frank in the background what happened at the hotel in Miami Beach] I ran out of bullets, like an asshole. Manolo Ray: And while I'm standing there changing the clip, the little mother fucker, who I had kil...
Bromhead: [Adendorff has explained the classic Zulu 'buffalo' battle formation] It looks er... jolly simple, doesn't it? Adendorff: It's, er, jolly deadly, old boy. Bromhead: [laughs] Well done, Adendorff, we'll make an Englishmen of you yet!
I make a playlist for every character I portray. Music plays a huge part in helping me understand a character. Every time I get a new role, I will take a chunk of time to just sit and listen to a bunch of songs and select the ones that make sense in ...
[Explaining to Elaine why they shouldn't be married] Mortimer Brewster: You wouldn't want to have children with three heads, would you? I mean, you wouldn't want to set up housekeeping in a padded cell. Oh, it would be bad.
