Dutch Literature Quotes & Sayings

Be strong. Live honorably and with dignity. When you don't think you can, hold on. — James Frey

Something in me - probably a small, nationalist dwarf part of my brain - something in me would like to feel proud of Dutch literature. But its hard to when the annual 'book week gift' year in year out is granted to a male. I dont like being part of an unjust system. But let me say this: it is the election method that is the real problem here. The 'vergadering' (meeting) that employs a simple flagging system - the basic way almost everything is decided here, from literary prizes to how much money is divided - it is a system based on the destruction of subtle values. You cannot ever ever say: I didnt understand this book. You can only say 'yes' or 'no'. And that system, that annihilates all forms of subtlety, that system is patriarchal in all its essence. So its useless to simply maintain the method, and try alter the outcome. — Martijn Benders

...Sigerius realized that every academic looked like every other academic."
- Bonita Avenue, p.49 — Peter Buwalda

Nothing ruins the flow of conversation more quickly than refusing a compliment you have just received. Never disagree with something nice that is said to you or about you. — Letitia Baldrige

Problems cannot be solved by thinking within the framework in which the problems were created. — Albert Einstein

The Federal Reserve Act requires the Federal Reserve to report annually on its operations and to publish its balance sheet weekly. — Ben Bernanke

The most surprising thing, honestly, is that so few Americans know about the orphan trains. I was also surprised at the resilience and fortitude of the riders I met, their pragmatism and grace. I don't know whether this is a Midwestern trait or simply a human one. — Christina Baker Kline

A writer should always feel like he's in over his head — Michael Cunningham

The Carpet was full of life, but it did not know it was alive. It could be, but it could not think. It did not even know what it was. And so from the dust came us, the Carpet People. We gave the Carpet its name, and named the creatures, and the weaving was complete. — Terry Pratchett

I actually believed that after living as fully as humanly possible, one should then die violently. I expected then as I still expect today — Malcolm X

The thing I love about diving is the flowing feeling. I like a sport where the whole point is to move as little as humanly possible so your air supply will last longer. That's my kind of sport. Where the amount of effort spent is absolutely minimal. — Linus Torvalds