Being The Other Sherman Alexie Quotes & Sayings

Come here, image. — Albert Camus

They truly mourn, that mourn without a witness. — Lord Byron

I don't think there's a whole lot of class literature at all. I think most of that has become racially based, and people don't think of it as being class literature. — Sherman Alexie

People are always looking for me to be a freak, weird. — Barry White

Mick had once come across one of Wilson't books and was surprised to see his face on the back cover. Mick was even more surprised when he read the book. It was pretty good, although Mick was kind of tired of hearing about Indians. Still, Mick thought, Aristotle Little Hawk was a good Indian, even if he was just some character in a book. He wished more Indians like Little Hawk hung out in the bar. He knew Wilson claimed he had some Indian blood, said so inside the book. But Mick did not buy that shit. Mick's great-grandmother was a little bit Indian, but that did not make him Indian. Besides, who the hell would want to be Indian when you could just as easily be white? — Sherman Alexie

And I know there has never been a human being or a television show, no matter how great, that could measure up to a great book. But — Sherman Alexie

So the world ended.
And the next one began.
They were infinite.
They were the beginning and the ending; they were eternity. — Sarah J. Maas

I know a lot about being white - because I have to, I live in the white world. A white person doesn't live in the Indian world. I have to be white every day. — Sherman Alexie

If you go down as a comedian's comedian, that's basically meaning other comedians are hopefully feeling that you're doing okay. — Eddie Izzard

I'm loving doing Outlander. We've got a great cast and we're up in the Scottish Highlands. [ ... ] It's big budget, they're spending a lot of money on it. They're going for a very gritty and realistic portrayal of the Highlands and I play Dougal MacKenzie, the War Chieftain of Clan MacKenzie. As that implies, he's quite the serious character. There's lots of political intrigue, there's romance, there's adventure and action and there's time-travel. — Graham McTavish

Sometimes I became so permeable, so porous, that I would absorb too much, until a valve yielded, and everything rushed out in a quick drain. — Ellen Miller

I didn't literally kill Indians. We were supposed to make you give up being Indian. Your songs and stories and language and dancing. Everything. We weren't trying to kill Indian people. We were trying to kill Indian culture. — Sherman Alexie

Being colonized automatically makes you bipolar. — Sherman Alexie

Ballet Beautiful is really good for me, and it doesn't hurt my back, and it's a way for me to kind of get my heart moving and tone every part of my body. — Erin Heatherton

Sir, in your thirty-nine years as a parent, you broke your children's hearts, collectively and individually, 612 times and you did this without ever striking any human being in anger. Does this absence of physical violence make you a better man than you might otherwise have been? — Sherman Alexie

[F]rank knew he was guilty of arrogance and misanthropy, but he compensated by being kind to strangers and tipping really well at restaurants. — Sherman Alexie

You have to treat your car with love. And I don't mean love of an object. You see, that's just wrong. That's materialism. You have to love your car like it's sentient being, like it can love you back. Now, that's some deep-down agape love. — Sherman Alexie

Life is a constant struggle between being an individual and being a member of the community. — Sherman Alexie

If the doctor of today does not become the dietician of tomorrow, the dietician of today will become the doctor of tomorrow. — Alexis Carrel

What if I told you every single person in America - every single person on Earth - is African? With a small scrape of cells from the inside of anyone's cheek, the science of genetics can even prove it. — Spencer Wells

At least half the country thinks the mascot issue is insignificant. But I think it's indicative of the ways in which Indians have no cultural power. We're still placed in the past. So we're either in the past or we're only viewed through casinos. I know a lot more about being white than you know about being Indian. — Sherman Alexie

I live now on borrowed time, waiting in the anteroom for the summons that will inevitably come. And then - I go on to the next thing, whatever it is. One doesn't, luckily, have to bother about that. — Agatha Christie

I had left the tribe, and I was being punished for that. — Sherman Alexie

I knew I was being an idiot. But I figured if I kept being an idiot, if I didn't actually accept the truth, then the truth would become false. — Sherman Alexie

My grandmother's greatest gift was tolerance. Now, in the old days, Indians used to be forgiving of any kind of eccentricity. In fact, weird people were often celebrated. Epileptics were often shamans because people just assumed that God gave seizure-visions to the lucky ones. Gay people were seen as magical too. I mean, like in many cultures, men were viewed as warriors and women were viewed as caregivers. But gay people, being both male and female, were seen as both warriors and caregivers. Gay people could do anything. They were like Swiss Army knives! My grandmother had no use for all the gay bashing and homophobia in the world, especially among other Indians. "Jeez," she said, Who cares if a man wants to marry another man? All I want to know is who's going to pick up all the dirty socks?" (155) — Sherman Alexie

Non-Indian writers usually say "Great Spirit," "Mother Earth," "Two-Legged, Four-Legged, and Winged." Mixed-blood writers usually say "Creator, "Mother Earth," "Two-Legged, Four- Legged, and Winged." Indian writers usually say "God," "Mother Earth," "Human Being, Dog, and Bird." — Sherman Alexie

You wouldn't think there is anything life threatening about speech impediments, but let me tell you, there is nothing more dangerous than being a kid with a stutter and a lisp. — Sherman Alexie

I got hundreds of emails insulting me, accusing me of being some caveman. I am by no means a Luddite. I have two iPods. I have a cell phone. I have cable TV, HDTV! — Sherman Alexie

Had she been hanging on to her dream of being a writer, but only barely hanging on, and something made her let go? — Sherman Alexie

But I'm also addicted to books. And I know there has never been a human being or a television show, no matter how great, that could measure up to a great book. — Sherman Alexie

I fantasize about going back to high school with the knowledge I have now. I would shine. I would have a good time, I would have a girlfriend. I think that's where a lot of my pain comes from. I think I never had any teenage years to go back to. — Spalding Gray

Traveling between Reardan and Wellpinit, between the little white town and the reservation, I always felt like a stranger. I was half Indian in one place and half white in the other. It was like being Indian was my job, but it was only a part-time job. And it didn't pay well at all. — Sherman Alexie

I thought maybe if you wore different clothes at school,' Paul said, 'maybe you could start a trend. You'd be original.' 'Oh, my God,' she said. 'It's high school, Dad. People get beat up for being original. — Sherman Alexie

You have to get very comfortable with the idea of being lonely. For all of human history, we've always run away from being lonely and now there are even more distractions. But that's the thing - if you're going to make the decision to rebel against your tribe, you're going to get very lonely. — Sherman Alexie

Enjoy the silence, because one wrong action cost more than a million words. — R. Martinez

Environmentalism is a luxury. Just like being a vegetarian is a luxury. When you have to worry about eating - you're not going to be worried about where the food's coming from, or who made your shoes. Poverty, whether planned or not planned, is a way of making environmentalism moot. — Sherman Alexie

She had lost him. Lost him because she'd let him go. And she could not allow herself to regret that decision. — Harriet Evans