Once I began doing stand-up, I didn't get a kick out of the applause or being the centre of attention; but I did get a kick out of the jigsaw puzzle aspect of it, searching for the right bit, adding another few pieces each night until the bigger picture appears. That's the appeal: the challenge of it. ~Stephen Merchant
#quotes #stephen-merchant #comedy #attention

He knew he should have counted. It was the rule to count to ten in his head before he opened his mouth. It was the rule to count to ten if he wanted to smash a man in the face for saying something he didn't like. It was the rule to count to ten if instinct wasn't needed, but common sense was. ~Melina Marchetta
#quotes #melina-marchetta #men #common-sense #speaking

Fire, water, and government know nothing of mercy. ~Proverb
#proverbs #government #mercy

If the knitter is weary the baby will have no new bonnet. ~Irish Proverb
#proverbs #irish-proverbs

We get stuck in old thought and behavior patterns that may have been effective when we were twelve months or twelve years old, but now only serve to hold us back. And, while those around us may have no problem correcting our minor flaws, they let the big ones slide, because it would mean attacking who we are. ~Neil Strauss
#quotes #neil-strauss #childhood #behavior

I've done a lot of Shakespeare as a young man; I was involved with Shakespeare and Company. ~Courtney B. Vance
#quotes #courtney-b-vance #shakespeare

Hope is a risk that must be run. ~Georges Bernanos
#quotes #georges-bernanos #hope #risk

The harm that theology has done is not to create cruel impulses, but to give them the sanction of what professes to be lofty ethic, and to confer an apparently sacred character upon practices which have come down from more ignorant and barbarous times. ~Bertrand Russell
#quotes #bertrand-russell #theology

The Korean economic miracle was the result of a clever and pragmatic mixture of market incentives and state direction. ~Ha-Joon Chang
#quotes #ha-joon-chang #economy

Brilliant. A very funny and concise explanation of why we men are as we are. If you are male, you should read it and then make your partner read it, so they will no longer hate you but pity you instead. ~Harry Enfield
#quotes #harry-enfield #men

The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. The next best time is now. ~Chinese Proverb
#proverbs #chinese-proverbs #trees

A man should choose a friend who is better than himself. There are plenty of acquaintances in the world, but very few real friends. ~Chinese Proverb
#proverbs #chinese-proverbs #friendship

The first assumption of an art critic is that the artist meant to paint something else. ~Robert Breault
#quotes #robert-breault #art #critic

What did the taxpayers get out of the Obama stimulus? More debt. That money wasn't just spent and wasted; it was borrowed, spent, and wasted. ~Paul Ryan
#quotes #paul-ryan #taxation

Sorrow is brief but joy is endless ~Friedrich Schiller
#quotes #friedrich-schiller #sorrow #happiness

An ounce of cheerfulness is worth a pound of sadness to serve God with. ~Thomas Fuller
#quotes #thomas-fuller #god #wisdom #happiness

U.S. exports to China have more than quintupled since China entered the WTO and have grown more quickly than imports. In fact, China is America's fastest-growing export market. ~Henry Paulson
#quotes #henry-paulson #economy #united-states #china

Sometimes the personality or just the particular process of a director can really affect your quality of life as a composer in terms of how much time you spend away from your family or the amount of time you spend doing the type of work that you maybe don't consider as fun to do as other type of work. ~Christophe Beck
#quotes #christophe-beck #music

The representational-image urge is actually a kind of heightened perception, and I don't stop to think. I don't freeze up, it's actually a kind of letting-go. It's like dancing. At a certain point it's conscious, unconscious, everything is kind of coming together. ~Michael Light
#quotes #michael-light #thinking

I feel very strongly that the Democratic Party has, in the past, been the party of the future. I think when you look at Social Security and Medicare, when you look at the civil rights movement, the women's movement, I think the Democratic Party has always been in the forefront of change. ~Richard Lamm
#quotes #richard-lamm #democrat #politics

The people of Chicago are a proud people; and for good reason. ~Jane Byrne
#quotes #jane-byrne #pride #chicago

Experience is a comb which nature gives to men when they are bald. ~Chinese Proverb
#proverbs #chinese-proverbs #experience

I did my homework and didn't go out much, and had a very highly developed kitsch fantasy life where I dreamed of being a dancing girl. ~Emily Mortimer
#quotes #emily-mortimer #dance #life

Those who begin many things finish but a few. ~Italian Proverb
#proverbs #italian-proverbs #focus

Do not rejoice at my grief, for when mine is old, yours will be new. ~Spanish Proverb
#proverbs #spanish-proverbs #sorrow