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Although Most Of Us Know Vincent Van Gogh In Arles And Paul Gauguin In Tahiti As If They Were Neighbors -- Somewhat Disreputable But Endlessly Fascinating -- None Of Us Can Name Two French Generals Or Department Store Owners Of That Period. I Take Enormous Pride In Considering Myself An Artist, One Of The Necessaries.

-James A. Michener

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Although Most Of Us

James A. Michener

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Although Most Of Us Know Vincent Van Gogh In Arles And Paul Gauguin In Tahiti As If They Were Neighbors -- Somewhat Disreputable But Endlessly Fascinating -- None Of Us Can Name Two French Generals Or Department Store Owners Of That Period. I Take Enormous Pride In Considering Myself An Artist, One Of The Necessaries.

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The Dead Are Dead But They Rely On Us To Fulfill Their Hopes.

The Arrogance Of The Artist Is A Very Profound Thing, And It Fortifies You.

The Decent Thing To Do Is To Get Rid Of Some Of This Money.

I Think Young People Ought To Seek The Experience That Is Going To Knock Them Off Center.

First Buy A Cowboy Hat And Boots. Then You're On Your Way To Being A Texan.

I Am Terrified Of Restrictive Religious Doctrine, Having Learned From History That When Men Who Adhere To Any Form Of It Are In Control, Common Men Like Me Are In Peril.

It Is Difficult To Be King When The Gods Are Changing.

I Thought That Perhaps The Most Creative Mix For A Society Would Be Nine Parts Solid Worker From Institutions Like Mit To One Part Poet From Marrakech, But In Spite Of The Fact That I Myself Had Been Trained To Be One Of The Solid Workers, Which Meant That All Of My Sympathies Lay With That Group, I Would Not Surrender The Poet. The Problem Was To Find Him.

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In Six Pages, I Can't Even Say "hello.

During My Lifetime I Have Met Dozens Of Writers And Photographers In Dozens Of Different Countries. But I Have Encountered No One Who Could Both Write And Photograph With The Artistry Of Robert Vavra.

I Was Born To A Woman I Never Knew And Raised By Another Who Took In Orphans. I Do Not Know My Background, My Lineage, My Biological Or Cultural Heritage. But When I Meet Someone New, I Treat Them With Respect.... For After All, They Could Be My People.

Public Libraries Have Been A Mainstay Of My Life. They Represent An Individual's Right To Acquire Knowledge; They Are The Sinews That Bind Civilized Societies The World Over. Without Libraries, I Would Be A Pauper, Intellectually And Spiritually.

I Am Always Interested In Why Young People Become Writers, And From Talking With Many I Have Concluded That Most Do Not Want To Be Writers Working Eight And Ten Hours A Day And Accomplishing Little; They Want To Have Been Writers, Garnering The Rewards Of Having Completed A Best-seller. They Aspire To The Rewards Of Writing But Not To The Travail.

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I Was Once Asked If I'd Like To Meet The President Of A Certain Country. I Said, "no, But I'd Love To Meet Some Sheepherders." The Sheepherders, Farmers And Taxi Drivers Are Often The Most Interesting People.

I Had Been Educated With Free Scholarships. I Went To Nine Different Universities, Always At Public Expense, And When You Have That Experience, You Are Almost Obligated To Give It Back. It's As Simple As That.

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I've Spent My Life Trying To Be Better Than I Was, And I Am A Brother To All Who Share The Same Aspiration.

The Job Of A Storyteller Is To Tell Stories, And I Have Concentrated On That Obligation.

I Love Writing. I Love The Swirl And Swing Of Words As They Tangle With Human Emotions.

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Character Consists Of What You Do On The Third And Fourth Tries.

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A Writer Can Make A Fortune In America, But He Can't Make A Living.

There Are No Insoluble Problems. Only Time-consuming Ones.

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Religious Hatreds Ought Not To Be Propagated At All, But Certainly Not On A Tax-exempt Basis.

I Never Wrote Anything That Was Published Until I Was Forty.

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