Surprising Quotes - Page 30

• 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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• 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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• 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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• As I say, I have never in all these years thought of the matter in quite this way; but then it is perhaps in the nature of coming away on a trip such as this that one is prompted towards such surprising new perspectives on topics one imagined one had long ago thought throughly.

  Kazuo Ishiguro

  Long Ago, Years, Perspective

  FaceBook post by Kazuo Ishiguro from Aug 10, 2010

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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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• 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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• 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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• 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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• 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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• Indelible, adj. That first night, you took your finger and pointed to the top of my head, then traced a line between my eyes, down my nose, over my lips, my chin, my neck, to the center of my chest. It was so surprising. I knew I would never mimic it. That one gesture would be yours forever.

  David Levithan

  Eye, Night, Forever

  David Levithan (2011). “The Lover's Dictionary: A Novel”, p.114, Macmillan

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• "Well, you've finally got a license to kill. It's about time." I turned and met the amused eyes of Christian Ozera, a onetime annoyance who'd become a good friend. So good, in fact, that in my joyous zeal, I reached out and hugged him - something he clearly didn't expect. I was surprising everyone today. "Whoa, whoa," he said backing up, flushing. "It figures. You're the only girl who'd get all emotional about the thought of killing. I don't even want to think about what goes on when you and Ivashkov are alone."

  Richelle Mead

  Girl, Christian, Eye

  "Spirit Bound". Book by Richelle Mead, May 18, 2010.

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• It's the stupid questions that have some of the most surprising and interesting answers. Most people never think to ask the stupid questions.

  Cory Doctorow

  Stupid, Thinking, People

  Cory Doctorow (2015). “For The Win”, p.69, Booklassic

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• In this dark world where he now dwelt, ugly things and surprising things and once in a long while a tiny wondrous thing spilled out at him constantly; he could count on nothing.

  Philip K. Dick

  Dark, Ugly Things, Long

  Philip K. Dick (2011). “A Scanner Darkly”, p.65, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

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• He does have surprising, secret purposes. I open a Bible, and His plans, startling, lie there barefaced. It’s hard to believe it, when I read it, and I have to come back to it many times, feel long across those words, make sure they are real. His love letter forever silences any doubts: “His secret purpose framed from the very beginning [is] to bring us to our full glory” (1 Corinthians 2:7 NEB).

  Ann Voskamp

  Real, Lying, Believe

  Ann Voskamp (2011). “One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are”, p.17, Zondervan

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• I mean, it's not surprising, really. Once you love something, you always love it in some way. You have to. It's, like, part of you for good.

  Sarah Dessen

  Mean, Way

  Sarah Dessen (2011). “What Happened to Goodbye”, p.155, Penguin

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• Open yourself to an encounter with heaven, be as a little child. Release your desire to the winds of the universe. Trust your angels to catch your wish and bring it to you in a delightfully surprising way.” - Doreen Virtue

  Doreen Virtue

  Children, Angel, Wind

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• Anyone can write five people trapped in a snowstorm. The question is how you get them into the snowstorm. It's hard to write a good play because it's hard to structure a plot. If you can think of it off the top of your head, so can the audience. To think of a plot that is, as Aristotle says, surprising and yet inevitable, is a lot, lot, lot of work.

  David Mamet

  Writing, Thinking, Play

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• But in school I remember hearing that for the second Quarter Quell, the Capitol demanded that twice the number of tributes be provided for the arena. The teachers didn't go into much more detail, which is surprising, because that was the year District 12's very own Haymitch Abernathy won the crown.

  Suzanne Collins

  Teacher, School, Years

  Suzanne Collins (2010). “Catching Fire (The Second Book of the Hunger Games)”, p.37, Scholastic Inc.

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• Knowledge comes as it will. Life's lessons come at the most surprising times.

  Terry Goodkind

  Lessons

  Terry Goodkind (2015). “Stone Of Tears”, p.156, Head of Zeus

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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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