Sursum Ad Quotes & Sayings

You do a lot of concatenating when you're an Oulipian — Daniel Levin Becker

Foolish wise folk sneer at you; foolish wise folk would pull up the useless lilies, the needless roses, from the garden, would plant in their places only serviceable wholesome cabbage. But the Gardener knowing better, plants the silly short-lived flowers; foolish wise folk, asking for what purpose. — Jerome K. Jerome

Listening to and understanding our inner sufferings will resolve most of the problems we encounter. — Thich Nhat Hanh

I studied Japanese language and culture in college and graduate school, and afterward went to work in Tokyo, where I met a young man whose father was a famous businessman and whose mother was a geisha. He and I never discussed his parentage, which was an open secret, but it fascinated me. — Arthur Golden

More than once Jesus deliberately addressed certain issues that quickly diminished the number of onlookers. It was commitment that thinned the ranks. — Charles R. Swindoll

When I was a child, I was living in the housing projects of Philadelphia. I didn't even have a Christmas tree. — Bill Cosby

He hadn't realized how much it could mean, having someone to talk to like that; he hadn't realized that it could be a kind of lifeline, and that without it, there would be nobody to save you if you started to drown. — Jennifer E. Smith

People are under the illusion that it's easy ... Technically, it is complex. You have a million options with equipment to distract you. I tell my students to simplify their equipment. — Brett Weston

One way of grounding the magic is by putting in lots of stuff about street lamps, carriages, and how difficult it is to get good servants. — Susanna Clarke

We have a big appetite for putting people down but, at the heart of everyone, there's enough room for all of us to succeed. — Matthew McConaughey

Someone ought to invent a tool, a kind of plane to shave the lies away from stories and deception away from memories. I'm a collector of shavings. — Sasa Stanisic

Personally, I had a great education. My mum was a trained teacher, a Montessori teacher, and I know that I could not have written 'Eragon' if I had gone into a public school system because I would have just been too busy attending classes and doing homework - I wouldn't have had the time to write. — Christopher Paolini