Sometimes people who look different from you are scary. Maybe they are ugly. Maybe they are loud. Maybe they are big. Maybe they are green. Maybe they are all those things. But you should not be afraid of them just because of how they look. You may f...
The imagination is our final advantage as a species, a place to safely (and happily) explore experiences that are far from safe and far from happy. “Dracula” and “The Fly” may delight and appall in equal measure, but they also gently prepare ...
I recall the story of the philosopher and the theologian... The two were engaged in disputation and the theologian used the old quip about a philosopher resembling a blind man, in a dark room, looking for a black cat — which wasn't there. ‘That m...
No engineer can go upon a new work and not find something peculiar, that will demand his careful reflection, and the deliberate consideration of any advice that he may receive; and nothing so fully reveals his incapacity as a pretentious assumption o...
My downtime tends to resemble my uptime. Weekends are workdays, but toned down. Over the whole weekend, I may have five meetings, as opposed to six on a weekday. I used to play piano for 30 minutes at night, but I had to pull that out of my schedule....
I'm not resigned, but I'm realistic too. The statistics in my case are very poor. Not many people come through esophageal cancer and live to talk about it, or not for long. And the other wager is, the part of the wager, it's a certainty you'll have a...
Scott Brown may be the last Republican to win a statewide fight in Massachusetts for a very long time. He caught the machine flat-footed in January 2010 when he out-hustled Martha Coakley and stole the Senate seat Ted Kennedy held all those years. An...
You can't please everyone. When you're too focused on living up to other people's standards, you aren't spending enough time raising your own. Some people may whisper, complain and judge. But for the most part, it's all in your head. People care less...
It's kind of a mysterious process, but something will catch my attention, and I'll make a note about it. I may even write a few pages about it, and then I'll put it aside, but I'll sort of keep it in mind. Then as time goes on, other things will gath...
My ultimate crush may be Judith McNaught - I met her once more than 20 years ago, and she was incredibly kind and encouraging to me. I adore that woman. But I also fangirl over aspiring or beginning authors, because every time I talk with them, I'm s...
[as he goes to hand Renault a bribe] Jan Brandel: Captain Renault... may I? Captain Renault: Oh no! Not here please! Come to my office tomorrow morning. We'll do everything businesslike. Jan Brandel: We'll be there at six! Captain Renault: I'll be th...
John Murdoch: I was just thinking, what you do seems kind of dangerous right now. I mean, how do you know I'm not the killer? May: I don't. Why, you feeling any urges I should know about?
Joseph Goebbels: I feel no sympathy. I repeat, I feel no sympathy! The German people chose their fate. That may surprise some people. Don't fool yourself. We didn't force the German people. They gave us a mandate, and now their little throats are bei...
Arthur: I have often thought that in the hereafter of our lives, when I owe no more to the future and can be just a man, that we may meet, and you will come to me and claim me as yours, and know that I am your husband. It is a dream I have...
Tyler Durden: All right, if the applicant is young, tell him he's too young. Old, too old. Fat, too fat. If the applicant then waits for three days without food, shelter, or encouragement he may then enter and begin his training.
Tevye: Thank you, your honor. You are a good man. If I may say so, it's too bad you're not a Jew. Constable: [laughs] That's what I like about you, Tevye. You're always joking.
[speaking to himself, practicing his speech] Luca Brasi: Don Corleone, I am honored and grateful that you have invited me to your home on the wedding day of your daughter. And may their first child be a masculine child. [then, starting over]
Mikael Blomkvist: I may have found something. Frode: You're joking! What have you found? Mikael Blomkvist: The last time I reported on something without being absolutely sure I lost my life savings.
Elwood P. Dowd: Years ago, my mother used to say to me, she'd say "In this world, Elwood, you can be oh so so smart, or oh so pleasant." Well, for years I was smart... I recommend pleasant. You may quote me.
Parvus: It doesn't matter! You're all going to die in a day or two. Gregory: It may not matter to you, Roman, but it certainly matters to us. Doesn't it, darling? Mrs. Gregory: Oh, rather. Gregory: Under the terms of the Roman occupancy, we're entitl...
Sarah: I can bear it no longer! Goblin King! Goblin King! Wherever you may be take this child of mine far away from me! Goblin: That's not it! Where did she get that rubbish? It doesn't even start with "I wish!"
