Abrams Quotes & Sayings

He's just ... " I tried, wanting to say "sweet" or "caring" or "funny" - because they're all totally true. But instead, I said, "He's just a normal boy."
"Hmph," Macey scoffed. "I know lots of normal boys."
I looked at her. "I don't. — Ally Carter

I think that the success of the film is as much about it being something that families could share as anything else. — J.J. Abrams

What can we expect from this latest crop of indie directors who have been sucked into the franchise factory? I'm especially curious about 'Star Wars,' which will feature an all-indie crew after J. J. Abrams finishes with 'Episode VII.' — Annalee Newitz

In Arab capitals, the failure of the United States to stop Iran's nuclear program is understood as American weakness in the struggle for dominance in the Middle East, making additional cooperation from Arab leaders on Israeli-Palestinian issues even less likely. — Elliott Abrams

President Bush met repeatedly with human rights activists and freedom fighters from all over the world to give them encouragement and protection and to advance their cause. — Elliott Abrams

Barack Obama's military triumphs will come neither in long wars nor even short ones, but in a series of raids. — Elliott Abrams

Pitching is always a weird, difficult thing. — J.J. Abrams

I've had the same friends since I was in kindergarten. — J.J. Abrams

I wasn't trying to write a corrective novel - that would just end up tasting like medicine, and I tried to stay away from polemics as best I could. I think that, if anything, Fobbit is my way of showing readers there's another side to war - the backstage of combat, if you will. If you play a word association game with Americans and say "war," what's the first thing that comes to mind? Soldiers running across a battlefield through a hail of bullets, right? Rambo, smoke, explosions. In Fobbit, I hope readers will see something a little different — Dave Abrams

We're living at a time where if you do a Google search for a 'show, review and network,' you'll get 'The New York Times' and Pete Billingsley from a town you've never heard of on the same results page. It's kind of democratizing the process so that everyone has access to a distribution system to express themselves. — J.J. Abrams

The Sacred Bombshell knows that her creative feminine energy is a catalyst. She remembers her womb wisdom. — Abiola Abrams

I like kissing people because it's funny. — Casey Abrams

It has something to do with the facts and the law and who the judges are. So I think lawyers sometimes exaggerate their role in winning and losing. Lawyers do have a role, and a major role, but they're not the only players in this game. — Floyd Abrams

Oil policy, policy toward the United States, policy toward Iran, Bahrain, Yemen, very unlikely, I think, to see significant change. These policies were the policies that had a wide family consensus. The question I think would be if the king becomes sick, whether you have weak Saudi leadership in the Arab world and the Middle East rather than strong Saudi leadership, but I think the fundamental policies will continue, the ones we're familiar with under King Abdullah. — Elliott Abrams

I think admitting youre an addict is the first step towards recovery. — J.J. Abrams

We could have simply passed like ships in the night, with serendipity eluding us. — Matt Abrams

There are examples of fraternal dictatorships, or one, anyway: the passing of power from Fidel to Raul Castro. — Elliott Abrams

Since 'A Dangerous Method,' I've had meetings with everyone from J.J. Abrams to the producers of 'Drive.' And they all have the same thing in common; they say: 'Wow you worked with Cronenberg.' He gave me instant film cred. — Sarah Gadon

I feel like in telling stories, there are the things the audience thinks are important, and then there are the things that are actually important. — J.J. Abrams

I don't try and write strong female characters or strong male characters, I just try and write, hopefully, strong characters and sometimes they happen to be female. — J.J. Abrams

Does anyone believe that Kofi Annan scares Bashar Assad? — Elliott Abrams

The armored vehicle manufacturing base is not a light switch that can be turned on and off at will. If we mothball production of systems like the Abrams tank, it will take time and money to get this capability back. — Sander Levin

When I began we did not really have a lot of First Amendment law. It is really surprising to think of it this way, but a lot of the law - most of the law that relates to the First Amendment freedom of the press in America - is really within living memory. — Floyd Abrams

On the human rights side, administration policy has been marked by indifference. When the people of Iran flooded the streets to protest the theft of their presidential election in June 2009, President Obama was silent for 11 days. — Elliott Abrams

Pessimism is rife in Israel. — Elliott Abrams

The good Jew is ritually observant and resists assimilation, in some sense living apart, never fitting comfortably into American or any other society. — Elliott Abrams

I'm actually a huge fan of digital as well. I appreciate how that technology opens the doors for filmmakers who never had access to that level of quality before. However, I do think film itself sets the standard for quality. You can talk about range, light, sensitive, resolution
there's something about film that is undeniably beautiful, undeniably organic and natural and real. — J.J. Abrams

The ability of a television series to make adjustments is something you've got to take advantage of. — J.J. Abrams

Sometimes the results of a first free election will find the moderates so poorly organized that extreme groups can eke out a victory, as Hamas did when it gained a 44-to-41 percent margin in the Palestinian election of 2006. — Elliott Abrams

From its earliest days in the nineteenth century, and until the Holocaust, the Orthodox rabbinate in eastern Europe was not enthusiastic about the Zionist movement, which at the time was led by irreligious Jews. — Elliott Abrams

There was a time when I was offered two episodes of 'Alias,' that show with Jennifer Garner which J.J. Abrams did back before he became the mega producer and super successful director. I instead decided I wanted to play this family guy on a short-lived UPN 'Second Time Around.' It starred Boris Kodjoe and Nicole Ari Parker. — Ian Anthony Dale

For the entire first term, Obama and his people blamed Bush for everything - which is another way of saying they felt Bush and the Bush years were the inescapable reference point for everything they were themselves doing. — Elliott Abrams

The Archbishop cradled his right hand in his left. He hung his head in concentration. The goal was meditation, but I've never been quite sure where meditation ends and prayer begins, or where prayer ends and meditation begins. I have heard it said that prayer is when we speak to God, and meditation is when God answers. — Douglas Abrams

We believed that to understand literature, you had to understand its place in history and culture. — M.H. Abrams

I hope America sees I am a goofy guy andI'm kind a crazy, I hope they see that I am a musician aswell, that I have music all around my body - I'm just exfoliating music, and I just hope America sees that. — Casey Abrams

I feel like the beauty of this age of filmmaking is that there are more tools at your disposal, but it doesn't mean that any of these new tools are automatically the right tools. And there are a lot of situations where we went very much old school and in fact used CG more to remove things than to add things. — J.J. Abrams

I never said I had no idea about most of the things you said I said I had no idea about. — Elliott Abrams

I personally would not talk to a Jew for Jesus. — Elliott Abrams

For decades, the Arab states have seemed exceptions to the laws of politics and human nature. While liberty expanded in many parts of the globe, these nations were left behind, their 'freedom deficit' signaling the political underdevelopment that accompanied many other economic and social maladies. — Elliott Abrams

When a deeply sympathetic American president asks for concessions and compromises and appears able to cajole some from the Palestinians, which was the Clinton/Rabin and Bush/Sharon combination, Israel must respond. — Elliott Abrams

I would love to work with Guillermo del Toro and J.J. Abrams. I think they are creative geniuses that are constantly producing great work, and they're two people that I would just love to work with. — Fiona Gubelmann

The raids on Freedom House, the National Democratic Institute and International Republican Institute, the Adenauer Foundation, and other groups helping Egyptians move toward respect for democratic politics and human rights were of a piece with the practices of Hosni Mubarak - only bolder and more repressive. — Elliott Abrams

I first met Kim Dae Jung when he was a Korean dissident whose life was threatened by the military regime ruling in Seoul. I was Ronald Reagan's Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights, and Kim was directed to me because the East Asia Bureau at the State Department had long shunned him. — Elliott Abrams

Terrorists that kill Americans don't get released. — Elliott Abrams

The intersection of religion and world politics has often been a bloody crossroads. — Elliott Abrams

J.J. Abrams is an all-time hero of mine, really lovely to be working with him. — Andy Serkis

The Saudis and Emiratis blame all of this on Iran. I think they'd have to grant, that as has been said, that the Houthis are an internally generated movement in Yemen and the Saudis were supposed to be dealing with the Houthis, who started out in essence along their border. So one of the things that we're seeing is a complete failure of Saudi policy toward Yemen over the past 10 years, but the Saudis totally believe that the reason the Houthis are able to succeed militarily is the amount of money, advice, and guns they are receiving from Iran. — Elliott Abrams

Henry M. Jackson, congressman and senator from 1941 until his death in 1983, achieved far greater renown than most legislators, ran for president in 1972 and 1976, and was for much of the 1970s and 1980s one of the most powerful men in America. — Elliott Abrams

Here we have a situation where a defendant in a case agrees to an interview with Dan Rather. It happened to be not confidential. But it was an interview with Dan Rather. — Floyd Abrams

Gadhafi's vicious regime has left Libya far worse than he found it on the day of his coup in 1969. — Elliott Abrams

This is where his life - his remade life - has brought him. Each strange juncture has led to the next and now he is here. He is here, and it is nowhere. — J.J. Abrams

America was not founded to improve health care or housing; it was founded for freedom. — Elliott Abrams

That doesn't necessarily mean that the story isn't true, ... But what it does mean, then, is that at this moment we simply do not have enough evidence, in my view, for any conclusion to be reached - that the presidents have been lying to us for all these years and that what we've been told was just a pack of lies. — Floyd Abrams

The ultimate goal is to change Syria's behaviour on a variety of issues - on its interference in Lebanese internal affairs, on its support for Palestinian terrorist groups that oppose the Palestinian Authority, on, most importantly, acting as a land bridge between Iran and Hezbollah, where Hezbollah gets all its arms. — Elliott Abrams

In the Philippines, Gloria Arroyo is the daughter of Diosdado Macapagal - but his term ended in 1965, and she was elected in 2001. Hardly a hand-off. — Elliott Abrams

I think that it is important for people to understand that whether a good-guy or a bad-guy wins a case is less important than what the law is that the case results in. — Floyd Abrams

When I first learned about Abrams and saw the types of books they were making, I knew I wanted my books to be published by them. Abrams books are special-when you hold one in your hands, you have the feeling that this book needed to be made. I once heard an artist say that books are fetish objects-I think Abrams gets that, because their books demand to be treasured. So who better to give comics art its proper due? I feel privileged to have found a home with Abrams. — Jeff Kinney

My mother is the coolest, most amazing person I know. — J.J. Abrams

I think President Obama views Israel as a problem that needs to be solved. — Elliott Abrams

I thought I could do that by telling stories of some of the cases that established those principles on a real life on the ground basis. — Floyd Abrams

just because my path is different doesn't mean I'm lost... out there 'do'in it — Gerard Abrams

Whatever is being investigated, created or produced now, in movies or TV, needs to consider the context in which it is being distributed. It's not a vacuum. There are certain universal themes of love, conflict, loyalty or family that are everlasting and that need to be presented in a way that makes it feel relevant, even if it's a period piece. You need to consider what context that film, that story and those characters are being seen in. — J.J. Abrams

While we use American power to fight hard for democracy against extremism on both left and right, our critics seem suspicious of any assertion of United States power or influence against any government or group that claims to be on the left. — Elliott Abrams

What Israel wants is peace with - and the acknowledgment of - all the Arab countries. — Elliott Abrams

Obviously, every dictator pays a great deal of attention to who is running the army. There's always a base right outside the capitol to protect the head of government. — Elliott Abrams

The ransoming of captives has been practiced by Jews for many centuries and has been regarded as a greater obligation than charity for the poor. — Elliott Abrams

China has concluded that trade trumps all. — Elliott Abrams

You can be a great reporter and not be such a great talk show host. — Dan Abrams

I think that in the end, a talk show is a very different animal. — Dan Abrams

I'm literally open to any medium that will have me. — J.J. Abrams

All I know is that I've made some big screw-ups, and I've done some things that have done all right. I just keep trying to learn from the mistakes I've made. — J.J. Abrams

The best-armed and best-trained divisions of the Syrian army are Alawite. — Elliott Abrams

Senator Kerry was fooled by Bashar al-Assad. — Elliott Abrams

To be a self rewritten from a lost first draft. — J.J. Abrams

We used to have more references to things that we pulled out because they almost felt like they were trying too hard to allude to something. — J.J. Abrams

I fell in love with 'Star Trek' after J. J. Abrams's movie. I'm so into that. — Tatiana Maslany

It's amazing how, age after age, in country after country, and in all languages, Shakespeare emerges as incomparable. — M.H. Abrams

Secular thinkers have no more been able to work free of the centuries-old Judeo-Christian culture than Christian theologians were able to work free of their inheritance of classical and pagan thought. The process ... has not been the deletion and replacement of religious ideas but rather the assimilation and reinterpretation of religious ideas. — M.H. Abrams

It is soldiers who pay most of the human cost. In war it is extraordinary how it all comes down to the character of one man. — Creighton W. Abrams Jr.

I think by laying it out for the viewer I'm avoiding the issue of bias. — Dan Abrams

The survival of artistic modes in which we recognize ourselves, identify ourselves and place ourselves will survive as long as humanity survives. — M.H. Abrams

I call on the Palestinian people to elect new leaders - leaders not compromised by terror. — Elliott Abrams

The careful choice of words, the scrubbing of language, the calculated images we presented to the external audiences - those were all major parts of my daily life over there. So, some of that is going to seep over into what I showed in the novel and - more importantly - how I showed it. — Dave Abrams

Mystery is more important than knowledge. — J.J. Abrams

I was, throughout school, in the theater program. Through elementary school, junior high, high school, and then J.J. Abrams, my closest friend in the world, we were living together. He was writing, and I was trying writing; I wasn't getting paid for it like he was, but I always had the acting bug. — Greg Grunberg

I work with really hard-working people who are really good at what they do. — J.J. Abrams

I have musical ADD, so I like to switch things up. — Casey Abrams

The debate over same sex 'marriage' has engaged the heartfelt feelings and convictions of millions of Americans. — Elliott Abrams

Well, we knew that we wanted to tell a story that made bold choices, and one of those bold choices was meeting a storm trooper and seeing who this person was. That's something that had never been done. — J.J. Abrams

Libya as a country is a relatively new concept. The period of Libya as a modern nation really starts after World War II. — Elliott Abrams

The first test any poem must pass is no longer, 'Is it true to nature?' but a criterion looking in a different direction: namely, 'Is it sincere? Is it genuine?' — M.H. Abrams

If I shave, I don't have a chin anymore. — Casey Abrams

The way for the Palestinians to get a state is to go ahead and build it. — Elliott Abrams

Dishonoring what we feel is an epidemic that has us self-medicating as a culture and trying to numb ourselves. — Abiola Abrams

I love the idea of anthropomorphizing machines. I love the idea of taking technology and giving it a personality. — J.J. Abrams

Maybe it's a symptom of a small town - and Gentry certainly was that - but for some, even after graduation, high school never really ends. — Matt Abrams

I want to be the first guy to reverse a communist revolution. — Elliott Abrams

One of my favorite things about 'Star Trek' wasn't just the overt banter but the humor in that show about the relationships between the main characters and their reactions to the situations they would face; there was a lot of comedy in that show without ever breaking its reality. — J.J. Abrams

You are magnificent beyond measure, perfect in your imperfections, and wonderfully made. — Abiola Abrams

Table 29.1. "AA" (Avoid/Acquire) of Fighting Cancer. In closing, let me also share my new found philosophy of life: A good life is summarized in three "H's." They are, in order of importance: Happiness, Health, and . . . hmm, I forget the third one!!! Good luck in your fight and remember to stay Happy and Positive. After all, the reason it is said "you can't buy happiness" is that because it is free! — Donald I. Abrams