#so

By concentrating on what is good in people, by appealing to their idealism and their sense of justice, and by asking them to put their faith in the future, socialists put themselves at a severe disadvantage. ↗

— Ian Mcewan

#asking #concentrating #disadvantage #faith #future

I apologize for being obvious, but every time I watch the curtain come down on even a halfway decent production of a Shakespeare play I feel a little sorrowful that I'll never know the man, or any man of such warm intelligence. ↗

— Ian Mcewan

#apologize #being #come #curtain #decent

I want to live in a place where strangers rush to help someone in distress. ↗

— Ian Mcewan

#help #i #live #place #rush

I was an intimate sort of child who never spoke up in groups. I preferred close friends. ↗

— Ian Mcewan

#close #close friends #friends #groups #i

It's good to get your hands dirty a bit and to test how you see things at a given point. And it's very pleasing after writing something like 'Atonement' or 'On Chesil Beach,' which are historical, to get involved in some plausible re-enactment of the here and now. ↗

— Ian Mcewan

#atonement #beach #bit #dirty #get

My father's drinking was sometimes a problem. And a great deal went unspoken. He was not particularly acute or articulate about the emotions. But he was very affectionate towards me. ↗

— Ian Mcewan

#acute #affectionate #articulate #deal #drinking

My parents were keen for me to have the education they themselves never had. They weren't able to guide me towards particular books, but they encouraged me to read, which I did, randomly and compulsively. ↗

— Ian Mcewan

#acute #affectionate #articulate #deal #drinking

Oh, I've become immune to the Booker. I think we need something a little more like the Pulitzer prize, where there isn't this great race. ↗

— Ian Mcewan

#booker #great #i #i think #immune

Before acting, I wanted to become a journalist. I also toyed with the idea of being a chef - but that's only when people asked me what I wanted to be. In fact, I always used to say I wanted to be an actor, but I didn't ever believe that I was good enough to be come one. ↗

— Ian Mckellen

#actor #also #always #asked #become

There is sorrow in the world, but goodness too; and goodness that is not greenness, either, no more than sorrow is. ↗

— Herman Melville

#goodness #more #sorrow #than #too