#nw

As Titanic began production, there was an immediate chemistry between Barbara and myself—a lot of looks across the room. At this point Barbara Stanwyck was a legendary actress, universally respected for her level of craft and integrity. She also had the most valuable thing a performer can have: good taste. Besides a long list of successful bread-and-butter pictures, Barbara had made genuine classics for great directors: The Bitter Tea of General Yen and Meet John Doe for Frank Capra, Stella Dallas for King Vidor, The Lady Eve for Preston Sturges, Ball of Fire for Howard Hawks, and Double Indemnity for Billy Wilder. Barbara carried her success lightly; her attitude was one of utter professionalism and no noticeable temperament. As far as she was concerned, she was simply one of a hundred or so people gathered to make a movie—no more, no less. ↗

— Robert Wagner

#attitude

Take the risk of thinking for yourself, much more happiness, truth, beauty, and wisdom will come to you that way. (Closing statement of the debate with William Dembski at Prestonwood Baptist Church, Plano, Texas, November 18, 2010) ↗

— Christopher Hitchens

#critical-thinking #independent-thought #truth #wisdom #beauty

I live in a world were businesses have become "private corporations." Assassinations have become "target neutralisations." Being unfaithful now is "to sleep around..." How cute. The banks taking your money is now called a "stimulus package." I can go on and on and on...and that really saddens me. ↗

— Non Nomen

#business

Change is good - that’s the credo Evan Handler reinvigorates with the hard won wisdom of this hard luck story. Handler’s prose style is disarmingly funny and smoothly conversational. He writes like a guy who's just happy to be here, and a little pissed off at you if you're not. As he has worked hard to shape himself into a good actor, life has shaped him into a good man. The cover photo is worth the price alone. ↗

— David Duchovny

#director #screenwriter #change

A man will be imprisoned in a room with a door that's unlocked and opens inwards; as long as it does not occur to him to pull rather than push. ↗

— Ludwig Wittgenstein

#door #him #imprisoned #inwards #long

In the end the Party would announce that two and two made five, and you would have to believe it. It was inevitable that they should make that claim sooner or later: the logic of their position demanded it. Not merely the validity of experience, but the very existence of external reality, was tacitly denied by their philosophy. The heresy of heresies was common sense. And what was terrifying was not that they would kill you for thinking otherwise, but that they might be right. For, after all, how do we know that two and two make four? Or that the force of gravity works? Or that the past is unchangeable? If both the past and the external world exist only in the mind, and if the mind itself is controllable—what then? ↗

— George Orwell

#perspective #totalitarianism #experience

You...you lost your faith?" "No...just my convictions. I still very much believe in God- just not a god who condones human tithing." Lev begins to feel himself choking up with an unexpected flood of feeling, all the emotions that had been building up throughout their talk- throughout the weeks- arriving all at once like a sonic boom. "I never knew there was a choice. ↗

— Neal Shusterman

#unwind #faith

Karl Marx: "Religion is the opiate of the masses." Carrie Fisher: "I did masses of opiates religiously. ↗

— Carrie Fisher

#addiction #alcoholism #celebrities #dysfunctional-families #fiction

Benton had a strong interest in helping to ensure that Warren's home life wasn't greatly disturbed: his wife was Cornish, and that morning Warren had arrived with six Cornish pasties of remarkable flavour and succulence. ↗

— P.D. James

#food #pastry #food

In a society... so madly in love with oxymoron's... ask yourself this... ...when was the last time you ever bought anything for free? ↗

— Non Nomen

#social #the-unwords #unauthor #inspirational