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I Learned Quickly That If The Student’s Perception Is That You’re Not Listening To Them, And Not Understanding Them, They Discredit You.

-Tim Gunn

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I Learned Quickly That

Tim Gunn

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I Learned Quickly That If The Student’s Perception Is That You’re Not Listening To Them, And Not Understanding Them, They Discredit You.

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I Believe That It's Very Important To Get To Know People With Whom You Can Have A Substantive Dialogue About Design And Its Development. In Addition, Read Everything About Fashion That You Can Get Your Hands On. A Palpable Point Of View Is What Makes A Designer, So You Need To Be Confident About Yours.

I've Worn A Suit And Tie For Most Of My Life. And I Believe (for Me), It Makes Me More Confident Navigating The World.

There’s One Thing I Will Not Do, Ever: I Will Never Talk To You About Things You Cannot Change. It Plants A Negativity In The Head Of A Designer Or The Student, And It’s A Distraction.

With Fashion, You Really Need To Understand The Aspects Of Construction. Not Just Design On An Ipad.

I'm Doing All That I Can To Prod The Industry And Get Them To Pay More Attention [to Larger Women And Petite Women]. Because I Find It To Be Reprehensible And Repugnant That Two Populations That Are So Pervasive In This Nation Should Be So Badly Neglected.

I Always Say I Have A Socratic Approach To Most Things That I Do. I Pummel People With Questions, Because I Need To Know What They're Thinking, What They're Trying To Achieve, What They Believe The Final Outcome Is Going To Be.

As Long As We Have Netfix, Turner Classic Movies, Amazon, Youtube, And Bookstores, There Is No Excuse Ever To Lack Inspiration.

Trying And Acheiving Are Two Different Things.

I Don't Believe In The Scraping Of Stuff. Take The Existing Condition, Offer Up A Diagnosis For What's Wrong, And A Prescription For Making It Work.

Does A Man Need To Know What A Peplum Is? Probably Not.

I'm Much More Of A Leo Than I Am A Cancer.

I Am A Stickler For Good Manners, And I Believe That Treating Other People Well Is A Lost Art. In The Workplace, At The Dinner Table, And Walking Down The Street--we Are Confronted With Choices On How To Treat People Nearly Every Waking Moment. Over Time These Choices Define Who We Are And Whether We Have A Lot Of Friends And Allies Or None.

Mood Has A Scuba Section? Who Knew?

I Learned Quickly That If The Student’s Perception Is That You’re Not Listening To Them, And Not Understanding Them, They Discredit You.

I Don't Know Why I've Always Been So Captivated By Architecture.

I Haven't Had A Date In 26 Years.

I've Been In Situations Where I've Said To Young People: "you're So Personable, You're So Articulate, You're Clearly So Bright, You're So Good-looking - Feel Better About Yourself!" But If At The Core If You Don't, All Those Words Mean Nothing. Absolutely Nothing.

Most Designers Want To Show Apparel That Makes The Wearer Look As Long And Lean As Possible. And Most People Who Buy Clothes Want To Look As Long And Lean As Possible.

I Pretty Much Stay True To Myself And Try To Find The Good In People And Not Be Snarky.

My Favorite Meal To Make For Myself Is Meatloaf.i Prepare The The Ground Beef (i Don't Use Anything Else) And Flatten It Out So It's About 1/2 Inch Thick, Then I Spread Shredded Cheddar All Over It, Then I Roll It Up. It's Amazing. Like A Big Cheeseburger.

We Shop Out Of Boredom, For Release, For Excitement, For A Sense Of Achievement, For A Sense Of Control Over Our Unruly Existences. And Every So Often, We Shop Because We Need Something To Wear.

What's Important To A Fashion Designer? It's Much More Than Learning How To Make Clothes. In Fact, That Merely Makes You A Dressmaker. It Doesn't Make You Into A Fashion Designer.

Staples Are Only Good If They Truly Suit Our Lifestyle.

The Pervasive Idea Is That If You're A Man In The Fashion Industry, You're Gay Until Proven Otherwise. And Of Course There Are Lots Of Men Who Aren't. But People Make Certain Assumptions.

But If Fashion Were Easy, Wouldn't Everybody Look Great ?

I Guess The Most Famous Person I Was So Extremely Exhilarated By Being With - And Actually Sat Next To Her At A Luncheon At The White House - Was Mrs. Obama.

When I'm Working In The Real World With Real Women And We're Shopping, We Find That Fashion Seems To End When You Get Any Larger Than A Size 12. How Ridiculous Is That?

It Was Very Challenging To Mentor The Mentors, And Yes, You Do See More Sides Of My Personality.

My Manners Also Came From When I Was In College And Began Participating In Critiques. You Have To Speak With Someone Respectfully About Their Work And Be Honest And Open, Without Hurting Them.

People Put On Certain Clothes For Certain Reasons, I Assume, When Their Closet Is Filled With Clothes.

I Will Always Be There In The Wings Saying, 'you Need To Be Good To People. You Need To Take Your Work Seriously. You Need To Have Integrity. You Need To Work With What You've Got.

I've Made More Bad Decisions At 3 In The Morning Than I Can List!

I'm Frequently Introduced As A Fashion Designer, And I Quickly Say I'm Not, And Instantly People Are Incredibly Disappointed And Think That I'm Some Sort Of Charlatan Who's Been Perpetuating This Falsehood.

Models Come In All Sizes And Shapes.

I Have Heard Women Complain About Men Holding Doors For Them,, As If It Is Inherently Offensive And Implies That They Are Weak. ... I Would Hold A Door For Anyone. ... It Has To Do With Noticing Our Fellow Human Beings And Saying, "i Recognize That You're On This Planet, And I Don't Want A Door Hitting You In The Face.

I Learned Early On In Teaching How Easy It Is To Hurt A Young Person And That's Never My Intention.

I Will Say That The High Road Can Get So High That You Can Get A Nose Bleed, In Which Case You Have To Get Off The High Road.

People Believe That If You're Concerned About The Clothes You're Wearing And The Larger Aspects Of Your Appearance, That It's Anti-intellectual. I Say "hogwash!" The Clothes We Wear Send A Message About How The World Perceives Us.

Take The High Road. No Matter How Much Strife, And Consternation, Frustration And Anger You Might Be Confronted With - Don't Go To That Level.

I Really Believe Things Happen For A Reason, And Sometimes That Reason Isn't Revealed Until Much Much, Much, Much Later.

It's Man's Impact On Our World That Appeals To Me More Than Just Nature Running Wild.

Things Are Recalibrated According To New Perspectives And Perceptions. It's Fascinating To Me.

It's Not An Area Where Designers Want To Focus Or Pay Attention - Women Who Are Larger Than A Size 12.

The Color, The Shape, And The Texture--none Of It Is Accidental. Every Item We Wear Has A Glorious (or Sometimes Not So Glorious) History, And That History Extends Back Years--centuries, Even--before Oscar De La Renta's 2002 Collection.

Success Needs To Be Measured According To The Ambitions And The Resources Of Each Designer. And Many Aren't Interested In Being A Megabrand.

I Had This Wonderful Career And Thought I Would Retire As A Teacher.

All The Magazines Contradict Each Other Because It Is So Diverse. Know What You Like, Know What Looks Good On You And Keep Doing It, No Reason To Chase Trends.

So Perhaps The Real Secret To Style Is Filling Yourself To The Absolute Brim With Engagement. Loving Not Wisely, But Too Well And All That.

If You Told Me When I Was A Teen That I Would End Up Being A Teacher, I Would Have Said You're Out Of Your Mind, Because Quite Frankly I Hated School.

I Just Don't Like Conspicuous Consumption. I Find It Distasteful.

Conspicuous Consumption

If You Don't Have Experience Sewing, Start With That, Because That Will Inform What You Are Able To Design.

I'm Constantly Reminding Myself That The World Owes Us Nothing. We Have To Make Our Way And We Have To Work Hard, Persevere And Make Our Own Way In The World Because The World Isn't Waiting For Us, So Let's Let The World Know We Are Here.

If I Think About Most Of America, And Maybe I'm Terribly Wrong...but I Think Most Of America Would Say That They're Not In Favor Of Gay Marriage. But There Is Certainly A Large Cohort, Not A Majority But A Large Number Of People, Who Are Articulate And Vocal And They'd Rally Behind This. They're Making Their Opinion Known.

When Someone New Walks Into A Room, The First Thing We Notice About That Person Is Probably Their Gender. And The Second Things Is What They're Wearing. And Based On What They're Wearing, We Start Making Certain Assumptions About Them.

From My Own Experience, There Are So Many People Who Believe That The Individual Can Change. The Individual Doesn't Have To Be Lgbt.

I Love Shopping On A Budget. I Believe That More Fashion Mistakes Are Made By People With Deep Pockets Than By Those Who Shop On A Budget.

A Couple Of Things For The Not-so-diminutive Man: Avoid Any Prints That Are Large Scale, Because You Will Look Like The Print Is Wearing You, As Opposed To You Wearing The Print.

We Need To Treat Each Other With Consideration. In My World, The Squeaky Wheel Does Not Get The Grease.

I'm Not Sure What The Moral Is Here...i Really Just Wanted To Tell That Story.

In A Manner Of Speaking. I Certainly Never Want To Lose My Voice As An Educator.

I Believe In The Semiotics Of Clothes. They Send A Message About How The World Perceives Us. For Me It Goes Beyond Clothes, It's Grooming. It's Accessories. It's The Whole Head To Toe Look.

Life Is Not A Solo Act. It's A Huge Collaboration, And We All Need To Assemble Around Us The People Who Care About Us And Support Us In Times Of Strife.

Life Is A Collaboration, It's Not A Solo Act.

I Hate The Word "eclectic" .i'm A Classicist, And I Like Comfort. Lots Of Books, Lots Of Artwork, Pieces Of Family Furniture, And Newer Upholstery.

Why Must She Dress That Way? I Think She's Confused About Her Gender.

Go To Lord & Taylor On Fifth Avenue, I Think It's The Eighth Floor, And It's Just A Department Called 'woman.' It's Rather Devastating. You've Never Seen Such Hideous Clothes In Your Entire Life. I Mean, It's Simply Appalling. Thank God There Are No Windows On That Floor, Because If I Were A Size 18, I'd Throw Myself Right Out The Window [after Seeing Those Clothes]. It's Insulting What These Designers Do To These Women.

I Understand The All Black Or All White Look (to Be Perfectly Blunt, It's Easy And You Don't Have To Think About It Very Much) But Would Any Of Us Really Want To Be One Of Those People?

As I've Matured, I've Developed More Confidence In Pattern Mixing And In Having A Slimmer Fit And In Taking Some Risks, And I Enjoy It!

Frankly, From My Perspective, The Bomber Jacket Is Such A Classic Item You Can Wear It Even When It's Not On Trend.

Call Me A Schoolmarm, But Few Things Make Me Angrier Than People Not Taking Good Care Of Library Materials.

Remember, Channel Your Inner Winner.

If I Had To Choose A Single Destination Where I'd Be Held Captive For The Rest Of My Time In New York, I’d Choose The Metropolitan Museum Of Art.

I Love The History Of The Sport, I Love The Culture That Surrounds It, And I Never Dreamed I'd Become A Fanatic. I'm Such A Fanatic Now That I'm Committed To Competing.

Everyone Has A Best Feature, So Find Clothes And Accessories To Accentuate Those, Whether It’s Your Shoulders Or Your Long Legs!

If I Could Predict The Trends, They Would Already Be There.

The Fashion Industry At Large Has Been The Worst Public Relations Vehicle For Larger Women And Petite Women, They Are Both Maligned And Neglected. And I Honestly Do Believe It's Getting Better.

You Have No Control Over Other People's Taste, So Focus On Staying True To Your Own.

Whenever People Tell Me They Don't Know How To Get Inspired, I Say "what's The Matter With You?! I Could Stay In My Apartment And Be Inspired!"

If You're Wearing A Jacket, As I Always Am, The Sweater Vest Always Needs To Be Buttoned, With The Exception Of The Bottom Button. But If You're Going Sans Jacket, You Can Leave It Open.

I'm Constantly Correcting Young People And Fashion Students In This Nation When They Say "well, I Do Couture." By Definition, You Don't. You Have To Be Licensed By The Government Of France To Do Couture. So Don't Use That Term. You Can Say That You Do One-of-a-kind, You Can Say It's Custom, But You Can't Say It's Couture - Because It's Inaccurate.

Frankly, I Think That Fur On A Man Is Difficult To Pull Off. If It's The Warmth You're After, Then I'd Go With A Fur-lined Coat - It Won't Show.

Whether It's Fashion Or It's Home, It's All About Style. The Clothes We Wear Send A Message About How We Are Perceived, And Our Home Does The Same Thing.

Being A Student In An Art & Design School, That Was The Moment For Me, That Was When I Began To Develop A Lot Of Self-confidence And Really Come Into My Own.

Self Confidence

I'm Making The Assumption That After Mrs. Obama Leaves The White House That She Will Continue All Of Her Work Toward Improving Education In This Nation And Childhood Health.

I Have My Mantra About Silhouette, Proportion, And Fit. I Believe That When They Are In Harmony And Balance, You’ll Look Great In Anything.

If You Are Going To Be Catty, You Have To Be Careful With Whom You Do It, And In What Manner! It's The Kind Of Behavior That Is Best Kept Behind Closed Doors.

Few Activities Are As Delightful As Learning New Vocabulary.

I Say Long And Lean As Opposed To Tall, Because You Could Be 5 Four And Look Long And Lean.

I Have A Couple Of Thousand Books In My Personal Library. Choosing A Favorite Is Next To Impossible. But I Do Love The Written Word.

I Have A Very Socratic Approach - I Pummel The Designers With Questions, So When I Get Them To Step Back From The Work And Look At It With Me, They'll Eventually See What I See, Coming To It Fresh And Unencumbered. That's Always Very Gratifying Because They Feel A Responsibility And An Ownership Of A Solution.

You Can Be Too Rich And Too Thin, But You Can Never Be Too Well Read Or Too Curious About The World.

On My First Day Teaching My Own Classroom, I Threw Up Before I Entered The Building.

I've Had My Own Moments In Front Of Designers When I've Actually Said, 'you Know, There's A Market Here For Expanding Your Work, And Here It Is. And Frankly, There Are Two Markets: The Women Who Are Larger Than The 12, And Then There Are Women Who Are Petite. And Most Designers That I Talk To Have Absolutely No Interest In Addressing Either Of Those Populations, Which I Find Repugnant.

It's So Important To Reach Out To People You Trust, And Who Can Give You Honest Feedback, And Keep Those People Close To You. You Don't Want To Surround Yourself With Enablers.

I Just Think The Kardashians Have An Absence Of Taste And I Don’t Think That That Should Be Perpetuated. I’m Sorry I’m Sounding Like An Old Farty, Snob, But It Bothers Me.

The Fit Of Jeans Can Be Worlds Apart From Brand To Brand. If You Can Find The Right Fit, Skinny Jeans Can Be Very Flattering.

I Grew Up With An Absolutely Horrible, Debilitating Stutter, And It Was What Caused Me To Retreat Into Myself And Caused Me To Have Very Few Friends And Not Want To Socialize, And It Made Me Absolutely Terrified Of Giving Reports In School. It Was Awful. It Wasn't Until I Was 19 That I Had Intensive Speech Therapy. I Had It For Two Years And It Really Helped, Though I Will Say When I'm Tired, The Stutter Comes Out, Even Now.

I Love Modern Family But It's Among A Handful Of Favorite Shows.

May I Respond By Merely Saying, "i Hate Crocs. May They Please Go Away."

Men: Don't Wear The Untucked Shirttail. It Cuts You In Half, Which Is A Very Bad Proportion. Think Of Yourself As A Series Of Thirds. So When The Shirt Is Tucked In, You're 1/3 On Top, 2/3 On The Bottom.

I've Never Mentioned This, But When I Was At Parsons Teaching, The Other Design Disciplines, They Don't Like Fashion Design. They See It As Very Nineteenth-century.

If You Want To Write An Angry E-mail, Write It But Don't Send It. It's Based On My Experience That Whenever I Have Acted Out In Some Manner, I Have Always Regretted It.

I'm Very Budget-minded Myself, And It Serves Me Well.

Nothing Makes Me Happier Than Working With Real People In The Real World.

I Learned From Teaching. If You Are Perceived By The Student To Be Belittling Them Or Purely Criticizing Them Without Offering Up Words Of Encouragement And Support, They Shut Down And Discredit You.

And Brooke Elliott Is A Great Actress.

I Do Things Like Hem A Pair Of Pants, I Do My Own Tailoring But I Wouldn't Attempt A Jacket.

Most People Wear Clothing That Is Too Big Or Too Small For Them. And "oversized" Is The Downfall For Most Of Us. We Have To Be Careful That We Don't Look Like We're Slipcovered!

I'm Really Not A Trend Promoter Because I Feel That People Push Trends On People They Shouldn't.

What's Interesting About Textiles Is That They Are Determined About Three Seasons In Advance, That's Why When You Walk Into A Store You Think "gee, Everything Looks About The Same."

Being In The Moment Is Everything. So Being In The Moment For Me Is Just Letting The Narrative Play Out, Listening To The Designers And Giving Them Helpful Feedback About What They're Doing.

People Come Up To Me And Share Very Personal And Intimate Things With Me, And I Am So Touched By All The Trust They Have In Me.

When It Comes To Project Runway, For Me The Most Memorable Look Ever Presented Goes Back To Season One, Episode One, When Austin Scarlett Created A Ravishing Cocktail Dress Out Of Cornhusks. It Was Really Amazing.

Life Is A Big Collaboration - And When You're Tackling Something That Is Painful And Troubling And Is Causing You Such Desperate Grief That You Think Life's Not Worth Living - You Need To Reach Out. To People Who Will Reach Back.

There's Nothing I Like Better Than Going To My Apartment, Closing The Door, Cooking My Little Dinner For One And Just Tuning Out. My Apartment Really Is My Haven. It's A Nest Where I Go To Heal.

I Want To Say To Anyone Who Works In A Drone Workplace, Raise The Bar! There's No Reason Why You Have To Dress To The Lowest Common Denominator.

I Found Early On In Teaching, If You're Too Blunt An Instrument, The Students Discredit You And Think You're Just Being Mean. They're Not Interested In What You Have To Say.

I Have To Have My Coffee. I Probably Have Three Cups A Day, But Only Before Noon.

When It Comes To Dressing, Comfort Is Overrated. A Little Discomfort Probably Means Your Clothes Fit And They're Not Pajamas.

My Advice To The 10 Year Old Daughter Is: Fashion Happens In A Context. It's Societal, It's Cultural, It's Historic, It's Economic, And It's Political. So All Of Her Studies, Everything That Is Happening In The World, All Needs To Be Channeled Through Her In Order To Be A Good Designer.

The Element Of Fashion I'd Like To See More Often? Clothes That Fit People Well. For Me It's Not So Much About The Clothes.

I've Never Told Anyone This, In An Effort To Run From My Past And Disguise It, I Got Rid Of All Of The Scrapbooks My Mother Kept Going Back To When I Was A Baby. Truly. So That's Why Whenever Talk Show Hosts Or A Producer Asks For These Pictures, There Are Barely Any. My Sister Had A Few, But That's It, And This Was Before Digital. I've Never Told Anyone That, But That's The Truth.

I Believe In Letting Karma Do Its Thing. What Comes Around Goes Around.

I'm One Of The Biggest Introverts You Could Ever Meet.

I'm Honest About Expressing My Opinions. At The Same Time, I'm Diplomatic In How I Do Critique Things If I Have A Negative Response.

At All Costs, Avoid Clothes That Are Too Big. The More Volume Your Clothes Have, The More Volume You Appear To Have.

I Am The Anti-trend Guy? I Don't Believe In Chasing Trends. And Before Anyone Shops, I Believe You Benefit From Doing A Closet Inventory. Ask Yourself What Am I Wearing, What Am I Not Wearing, And You'll Probably Discover Things You Didn't Even Know You Had.

When It Comes To My Vocabulary, I Felt A Responsibility When I Was Teaching To Raise The Bar Of Conversation In My Classroom. And With My Own Students, I Refused To Let Them Use The Phrase "i Like" Or "i Don't Like" When We Were Engaged In A Critique.

I Would Never Dream Of Telling People How To Dress. But I Do Say To Them, However You Are Dressing, Accept Responsibility For It. And Also, Unless Asked, I Don't Judge. And If Asked To Judge - I Would Approach It Socratically, I Would Approach It With Questions.

Whoever's Designing For Plus-size Doesn't Get It. The Entire Garment Needs To Be Reconceived. You Can't Just Take A Size 8 And Make It Larger.

And I'm The First One To Tell People To Break The Rules. But You Can Only Break The Rules Once You Know What The Rules Are. The Other Thing Is, Fashion Is The Last Design Discipline To Actually Have Academic Texts And Historical Analysis.

I Believe Women Do The Best Womenswear.

Exude Unconditional Confidence.

Leggings Are Everywhere, Indeed. Personally, I'm Not Crazy About Them, But They Can Look Great With The Right Look, A Tunic, For Instance, Or A Long Cardigan. Just Don't Try To Dress Them Up!

I'm Conflicted. On One Hand, I Don't Want To Say That Because You Were A Man And Now You're A Woman, You Can't Be In A Women's Fashion Show. But I Feel It's A Dicey Issue. The Fact Of The Matter Is, When You Are Transgender - If You Go, Say, Male To Female - You're Not Having Your Pelvis Broken And Having It Expanded Surgically. You Still Have The Anatomical Bone Structure Of A Man.

I've Never Said I'm A Fashion Designer.

Fashion Designer

Just The Way It Never Rains When You Have An Umbrella, You'll Never Run Into People If You Look Fantastic. But Go Outside In Pajamas, And You'll Run Into Every Ex You Have.

I Have My Flaws And My Issues, Past And Present And Who Knows What Will Happen In The Future. I Want People To Know Im Vulnerable Too And Each One Of Us Is.

My Best Life Advice:take The High Road.no Matter How Much Stress, Or Strain, Or Consternation You Are Facing, Take The High Road.you Will Never Regret It.

I Would Certainly Rather The Industry Not Go Broke, But If That's What It Takes For Everyone To Acquire Some Values And Lose That Sense Of Entitlement, Maybe A Little Belt-tightening Wouldn't Be So Tragic.

I Was A Teacher And An Administrator At Parson's School Of Design, And As An Administrator, I Was Associate Dean. And In That Role, I Went Around Fixing Things That Were Broken. And The Parson's Fashion Program Was Broken.so Fashion Chose Me. It Needed To Be Developed And Evolve. I Don't Know If It Comes Naturally To Anyone.

I Have One Brand I Go To, And It's Suit Supply, And It's Fantastic. I Was Spending $3,500-$4000 On A Suit, And The Suit I'm Wearing Today Was $500. And They Last You Forever. The Shoulders Are Set In By Hand, It's Phenomenal.

I'm So Lucky. I've Met A Lot Of Famous People.

If You Want To, You Can Share My Teaching Refrain: I Can't Want You To Succeed More Than You Do.

We Can Wear Whatever We Want And Get Away With It. Just Be Confident About Being Who You Are And Dressing For That Person.

I Really Cherish Having My Private Time And Being Alone And Being Able To Decompress. It's My Own Version Of Meditating.

The Clothes We Wear Send A Message About How The World Perceives Us.

If You Have To Ask If A Clothing Item Is A Dress Or A Top, It Is Always A Top.

I Believe That Treating Other People Well Is A Lost Art.

I Don't Know If People Have Gotten Ruder Or If My Tolerance Level Has Declined.

My Role As The Chair Of The Fashion Department At Parsons Put Me Face To Face With All The Big Designers, Retailers, And Editors. Since I Was Moving In These New Circles Regularly, I Realized I Needed To Do Something About My Own Personal Style. It Was Really Diane Von Furstenberg Who Gave Me The Nudge.

As I Continue To Mature And Navigate The World, There Are So Many Myths That Are Dispelled For Me.

I Wouldn't Know What To Do On A Date. I Don't Have The Time. To Make A Relationship Work, I'd Have To Give Something Up, And I'm Not So Sure I'm Willing To Do That.

Life Is A Big Collaboration. And We Can't Navigate It Alone.

If You Had Pockets, You Were Associated With A Labor Force. It Meant You Had Things To Carry Yourself. Otherwise, Your Lady's Maid Or Your Manservant Would Have Done It For You.

Remember Someone Is Going To Be Out, So Don’t Make It You.

I Would Say This To My Students All The Time, It's About 30% You As The Teacher And 70% About Them. They Tend To Think That Their Role Is To Be The Baby Bird In A Nest And You're Going To Feed Them? They're Going To Feed Themselves, Or They're Going To Starve.

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