Trying quotes

Trying

18.3K quotes on this topic — from poets, philosophers, and thinkers across history.

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Trying quotes (page 130 of 917)

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Trying

"I'm not putting any of this well. I am not and never have been an intellectual. I am not articulate, and the subjects that I am trying to describe and discuss are beyond my abilities. I am trying, however, the best I can, and will go back over this as carefully as possible when I am finished, and will make changes and corrections whenever I can see a way to make what I'm discussing clearer or more interesting without fabricating anything."

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Trying

"My whole life I've been a fraud. I'm not exaggerating. Pretty much all I've ever done all the time is try to create a certain impression of me in other people. Mostly to be liked or admired. It's a little more complicated than that, maybe. But when you come right down to it it's to be liked, loved. Admired, approved of, applauded, whatever. You get the idea."

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Trying

"When I say or write something, there are actually a whole lot of different things I am communicating. The propositional content (i.e., the verbal information I'm trying to convey) is only one part of it. Another part is stuff about me, the communicator. Everyone knows this. It's a function of the fact there are so many different well-formed ways to say the same basic thing, from e.g. "I was attacked by a bear!" to "Goddamn bear tried to kill me!" to "That ursine juggernaut did essay to sup upon my person!" and so on."

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David Simon Television Producer
Trying

"Most of TV works this way: You try to get something up and running, and once you do, you just try to keep it going, because there's a lot of money involved."

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Delta Burke Actress
Trying

"A lot of women say that they want to get to feeling about themselves the way I feel, because when I'm on a roll, I'm hot, I'm really good. I try to tell them, I don't have a fix."

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Demetri Martin Comedian, Actor
Trying

"I have an air mattress. It's great because if someone tries to suffocate me in bed I can just poke a hole in it and use it to stay alive."

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Demetri Martin Comedian, Actor
Trying

"There are jokes I know I want to tell, and there's sort of a rough order, but usually I try to change it up every show, to improvise and talk with the audience. I think when you tell jokes, if you're not careful, you can end up telling the whole list of jokes and then that's it. And that can get a little boring."

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Demetri Martin Comedian, Actor
Trying

"I call it 'new forms'. When you're starting out, they ask you to do four or five minute sets, but once you're a headliner, you do like 90 minutes. I try to think of different things to divvy up the show, like doing drawings, playing music... I gotta carry the show, that's the problem."

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Demetri Martin Comedian, Actor
Trying

"When I was younger, I'd get very empirical with myself. "I have a hypothesis about myself. I'll put myself in a situation, see what happens, then I'll draw a conclusion based on the empirical evidence. Hypothesis: I can play basketball." So I'd try. "Conclusion: I cannot play basketball.""

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Demetri Martin Comedian, Actor
Trying

"When I trip, I feel like that's the world saying come here for a second. It just pulls me closer for a second, yeah what do you want? I just want to remind you that you're uncoordinated. I'm aware of that, thank you... can I go now? Yeah, you can go, but never ever try to outrun me. Ok, world, see you later. Yeah, I'll see you in about 50 years."

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Demetri Martin Comedian, Actor
Trying

"I am completely attracted to the idea of simplicity, or at least removing things that seem unnecessary when trying to get an idea out there."

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Derrek Lee Baseball Player
Trying

"As a first baseman, hitting home runs is what's expected of me. But I don't really try to hit home runs."

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Desmond Tutu Theologian, Activist
Trying

"Each of us has a God-shaped space within us. Only God can fill that space. But we run ourselves ragged trying to find things other than God to fill it with."

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