#som

Realize that from the start, every activity that comprises the journey has value and the ability to teach you something. ↗

— Bill Toomey

#activity #comprises #every #journey #realize

Basically you come up with the fictional idea and you start writing that story, but then in order to write it and to make it seem real, you sometimes put your own memories in. Even if it's a character that's very different from you. ↗

— Jeffrey Eugenides

#character #come #different #even #fictional

I had a briefcase at one point, but it was a kind of 1980s New Wave briefcase. It was made of some kind of cardboard and it had metal hinges. It was kind of faux industrial looking, and I used to carry my books in it rather than a backpack. I didn't want to have normal student accoutrements. ↗

— Jeffrey Eugenides

#books #briefcase #cardboard #carry #faux

Love is the most terrible, and also the most generous of the passions; it is the only one which includes in its dreams the happiness of someone else. ↗

— Alphonse Karr

#also #dreams #else #generous #includes

I have a good memory for early life. My visual memory is good about childhood and adolescence, and less good in the last 10 years. I could probably tell you less what happened in the last 10 years. I remember what houses looked like, sometimes they just pop into my head. ↗

— Jeffrey Eugenides

#adolescence #childhood #could #early #early life

When you take a stand out of deep conviction, people know. They may not even agree, but they ask, 'Do I want someone who is willing to take a hard stand and someone I can trust to do that when the chips are down?' They want that. ↗

— Barbara Boxer

#ask #chips #conviction #deep #deep conviction

I studied English literature in the honors program, which means that you had to take courses in various centuries. You had to start with Old English, Middle English, and work your way toward the modern. I figured if I did that it would force me to read some of the things I might not read on my own. ↗

— Jeffrey Eugenides

#courses #did #english #english literature #figured

It was painful, but sometimes you must have these painful moments where you tear yourself away from something that isn't working. ↗

— Jeffrey Eugenides

#moments #must #painful #something #sometimes

One of the reasons that art is important to me is sometimes it actually feels more coherent than life. It orders the chaos. ↗

— Jeffrey Eugenides

#art #chaos #coherent #feels #important

Some Pulitzer winners - novelists - have confided to me that getting the prize screwed them up. It messed with their heads. That hasn't been my experience. ↗

— Jeffrey Eugenides

#confided #experience #getting #hasn #heads