Shalamov Varlam Quotes & Sayings

Most of us don't get what we want because we don't know what we want. Here's our secondary problem: Most of us don't get what we want because we quit circling. — Mark Batterson

Life repeats Shakespearian themes more often than we think. Did Lady Macbeth, Richard III, and King Claudius exist only in the Middle Ages? Shylock wanted to cut a pound of flesh from the body of the merchant of Venice. Is that a fairy tale? — Varlam Shalamov

If the Royal Variety Show was put in a matter transportation machine with the Royal Institution Christmas lectures, this is what you'd get. — Robin Ince

From the moment I start a new novel, life's just one endless torture. The first few chapters may go fairly well and I may feel there's still a chance to prove my worth, but that feeling soon disappears and every day I feel less and less satisfied. — Emile Zola

There is a much that a man should not see, should not know, and if he should see it, it is better for him to die. — Varlam Shalamov

Tragedy is not deep and sharp if it can be shared with friend. — Varlam Shalamov

If bones could freeze, then the brain could also be dulled and the soul could freeze over. And the soul shuddered and froze- perhaps to remain frozen forever. — Varlam Shalamov

Terrorism will spill over if you don't speak up. — Malala Yousafzai

I had never really done something that was more of a horror film, and its funny, because those are the kind of movies that I like probably more than any other genre. The script had images in it that I liked. — Tim Burton

It's a war of truths; everyone has his own truth, his own vision of the world. The truth with more firepower will win the day and reign supreme — Bangambiki Habyarimana

Alone, condemned, deserted, as those who are about to die are alone, there was a luxury in it, an isolation full of sublimity; a freedom which the attached can never know — Virginia Woolf

I had come to Charleston as a young boy, a lonely visitor slouching through its well-tended streets, a young boy, lean and grassy, who grew fluent in his devotion and appreciation of that city's inestimable charm. I was a boy there and saw things through the eyes of a boy for the last time. The boy was dying and I wanted to leave him in the silent lanes South of Broad.I would leave him with no regrets except that I had not stopped to honor his passing. I had not thanked the boy for his capacity for astonishment, for curiosity, and for survival. I was indebted to that boy. I owed him my respect and my thanks. I owed him my remembrance of the lessons he learned so keenly and so ominously. — Pat Conroy

Justice is like a great home cooked meal; it may not come at the ideal time, but when it does it is served and delicious. — Robert J. Braathe

I quite clearly remember driving home at 9 a.m., after shooting all day, in a bathrobe, with bodypaint all over my face, and going through McDonald's drive-thru. I ordered a coffee to make sure I didn't crash on the way home. And the girl working there, she didn't even bat an eyelid. I guess it's a regular thing down in Hastings McDonald's. — Gotye

Enjoy the day as if it were your last. — James De La Vega

When in doubt, initiate. Say yes - to love, to life, to joining in with others. That is how we stay on the right path and, at the same time, elevate humanity. — Philip Toshio Sudo

I remember the old northern legend of how God created the taiga while he was still a child. There were few colors, but they were childishly fresh and vivid, and their subjects were simple. Later, when God grew up and became an adult, he learned to cut out complicated patters from his pages and created many bright birds. God grew bored with his former child's world and he threw snow on his forest creation and went south forever. — Varlam Shalamov

We realized that life, even the worst of life, consists of an alternation of joys and sorrow, successes and failure more than the successes. — Varlam Shalamov

There is something to me very softening in the presence of a woman, some strange influence, even if one is not in love with them, which I cannot at all account for, having no very high opinion of the sex. But yet, I always feel in better humor with myself and every thing else, if there is a woman within ken. — Lord Byron

A human being survives by his ability to forget. Memory is always ready to blot out the bad and retain only the good. — Varlam Shalamov

The hardest thing is to go to sleep at night, when there are so many urgent things needing to be done. A huge gap exists between what we know is possible with today's machines and what we have so far been able to finish. — Donald Knuth