#ture

Gore Vidal, for instance, once languidly told me that one should never miss a chance either to have sex or to appear on television. My efforts to live up to this maxim have mainly resulted in my passing many unglamorous hours on off-peak cable TV. It was actually Vidal's great foe William F. Buckley who launched my part-time television career, by inviting me on to Firing Line when I was still quite young, and giving me one of the American Right's less towering intellects as my foil. The response to the show made my day, and then my week. Yet almost every time I go to a TV studio, I feel faintly guilty. This is pre-eminently the 'soft' world of dream and illusion and 'perception': it has only a surrogate relationship to the 'hard' world of printed words and written-down concepts to which I've tried to dedicate my life, and that surrogate relationship, while it, too, may be 'verbal,' consists of being glib rather than fluent, fast rather than quick, sharp rather than pointed. It means reveling in the fact that I have a meretricious, want-it-both-ways side. My only excuse is to say that at least I do not pretend that this is not so. ↗

— Christopher Hitchens

#cable-television #cable-television-in-the-us #conservatism #conservatism-in-the-us #gore-vidal

The man who has sufficient power over himself to wait until his nature has recovered its even balance is the truly wise man, but such beings are seldom met with. ↗

— Giacomo Casanova

#beings #even #himself #his #man

I try not to be overly literal. When I'm writing songs, I write down a lot of words, and then I try to simplify it. I like to give people hints or words that make visual pictures for them. ↗

— Neko Case

#give #hints #i #i write #like

I always wanted to make motion pictures, ever since I was a wee boy, and I was 32, and time was marching on. I met a guy who said, 'Come out to Hollywood for 10 days, and I'll get you a deal.' So I figured, 'OK, 10 days.' On the 10th day, he got me a development deal with Disney, not for a lot of money, but it allowed me to make the move. ↗

— Craig Ferguson

#always #boy #come #day #days

Your past is not your potential. In any hour you can choose to liberate the future. ↗

— Marilyn Ferguson

#choose #future #hour #liberate #past

Real progress in understanding nature is rarely incremental. All important advances are sudden intuitions, new principles, new ways of seeing. ↗

— Marilyn Ferguson

#important #incremental #intuitions #nature #new

Roosevelt's humor was broad, his manner friendly. Of wit there was little; of philosophy, none. What did he possess? Intuition, inspiration, love of adventure. ↗

— Emanuel Celler

#broad #did #friendly #his #humor

I spin around and give him the finger down low, hoping Monsieur Boutin can't see. St. Clair responds by grinning and giving me the British version, the V-sign with his first two fingers. Monsieur Boutin tuts behind me with good nature. I pay for my meal and take the seat next to St. Clair. "Thanks. I forgot how to flip off the English. I'll use the correct hand gesture next time." "My pleasure. Always happy to educate. ↗

— Stephanie Perkins

#flipping-off #hand-gesture #education

To cultivate an English accent is already a departure away from what you are. ↗

— Sean Connery

#already #away #cultivate #departure #english

An instant-read thermometer is your best bet for making sure that meat and fish are cooked to the proper temperature. ↗

— Bobby Flay

#bet #cooked #fish #making #meat