#race

Too often we only identify the crucial points in our lives in retrospect. At the time we are too absorbed in the fetid detail of the moment to spot where it is leading us. But not this time. I was experiencing one of my dad’s deafening moments. If my life could be understood as a meal of many courses (and let’s be honest, much of it actually was), then I had finished the starters and I was limbering up for the main event. So far, of course, I had made a stinking mess of it. I had spilled the wine. I had dropped my cutlery on the floor and sprayed the fine white linen with sauce. I had even spat out some of my food because I didn’t like the taste of it. “But it doesn’t matter because, look, here come the waiters. They are scraping away the debris with their little horn and steel blades, pulled with studied grace from the hidden pockets of their white aprons. They are laying new tablecloths, arranging new cutlery, placing before me great domed wine glasses, newly polished to a sparkle. There are more dishes to come, more flavors to try, and this time I will not spill or spit or drop or splash. I will not push the plate away from me, the food only half eaten. I am ready for everything they are preparing to serve me. Be in no doubt; it will all be fine.” (pp.115-6) ↗

— Jay Rayner

#apron #courses #crucial-points #cutlery #deafening-moments

Amongst the minds of animals that of man leads, not as a demigod from another planet, but as a king from the same race. ↗

— Edward Thorndike

#another #king #leads #man #minds

I was at the pinnacle of my career one day and the next day I was put out to pasture. I felt like a race horse with a broken leg. ↗

— Jack Klugman

#career #day #felt #horse #i

I'm disappointed that I really haven't been able to race in a way that is reflective of the amount of work that I have done and how I have trained. But I don't regret giving this a go. ↗

— Ian Thorpe

#amount #been #disappointed #done #giving

Sophistication might be described as the ability to cope gracefully with a situation involving the presence of a formidable menace to one's poise and prestige (such as the butler, or the man under the bed - but never the husband). ↗

— James Thurber

#bed #butler #cope #described #formidable

Diana Ross is a big inspiration to all of us. We all grew up watching everything about her - her mike placement, her grace, her style and her class. ↗

— Beyonce Knowles

#big #class #diana #diana ross #everything

I think it's perfectly just to refuse service to anyone based on behavior, but not based on race or religion. ↗

— Dean Koontz

#based #behavior #i #i think #just

I grew up loving actresses or actors who were very classy but who seemed a little bit mysterious because you couldn't grasp what they're really thinking. I mean, Grace Kelly always looked impossibly glamorous, yet you could always see there was something behind her eyes. ↗

— Diane Kruger

#because #behind #bit #classy #could

The human race is a race of cowards; and I am not only marching in that procession but carrying a banner. ↗

— Mark Twain

#banner #carrying #cowards #human #human race

Sometimes it's not even a role that's specifically written for a woman. It could be a role written for a white man or Asian man, or Latino. If it's something that I feel I could do well, I go after it. Especially if it's nothing that has to be gender or race specific, I'm all over it. ↗

— Gabrielle Union

#asian #could #especially #even #feel