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For this is the journey that men and women make, to find themselves. If they fail in this, it doesn't matter much else what they find.

James A. Michener

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James A. Michener
Age: 90 †
Born: 1907
Born: February 3
Died: 1997
Died: October 16
Author
Autobiographer
Military Officer
Novelist
Screenwriter
Writer
New York City
New York
James Albert Michener
James Michener
Women
Find
Matter
Much
Fail
Make
Failing
Men
Journey
Doesn
Else

More quotes by James A. Michener

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a soldier lives always for the next battle, because he knows that before it arrives impossible changes can occur in his favor.
James A. Michener
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If I were a young man, I would not hesitate at writing anything to get into print, except pornography.
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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.
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I think the bottom line is that if you get through a childhood like mine, it's not at all bad. Obviously, you come out a pretty tough turkey, and you have had all the inoculations you need to keep you on a level keel for the rest of your life. The sad part is, most of us don't come out.
James A. Michener
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If a man happens to find himself, he has a mansion which he can inhabit with dignity all the days of his life.
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Every animal that walks the earth, or swims, or flies is precious beyond description, something so rare and wonderful that it equals the stars or the ocean or the mind of man.
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In six pages, I can't even say Hello.
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A writer can make a fortune in America, but he can't make a living.
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The decent thing to do is to get rid of some of this money.
James A. Michener
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No invader has ever conquered the heart of Poland, that spirit which is the inheritance of sons and daughters, the private passion of families and the ancient, unbreakable tie to all those who came before.
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There are no insoluble problems. Only time-consuming ones.
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I wondered how a man ever got an English girl into bed. What did they do with her hockey stick?
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The extreme geniality of San Francisco's economic, intellectual and political climate makes it the most varied and challenging city in the United States.
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The dead are dead but they rely on us to fulfill their hopes.
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If your book doesn't keep you up nights when you are writing it, it won't keep anyone up nights reading it.
James A. Michener
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Things are going to go wrong, and I think we are false to life if we don’t portray it. But there is also the hope that some lucky clown is going to come along and stumble into the gold mine. And I think you are also entitled to hold out that hope.
James A. Michener
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It takes courage to know when you ought to be afraid.
James A. Michener
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As a writer I have persisted in my uncertainty, alternating between novels which could charitably be considered literature and world reporting which by another stretch of objective standards might be called history.
James A. Michener
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I don’t know who my parents were. I know nothing about my inheritance. I could be Jewish I could be part Negro I could be Irish I could be Russian. I am spiritually a mix anyway, but I did have a solid childhood fortunately, because of some wonderful women who brought me up. I never had a father or a man in the house, and that was a loss...
James A. Michener
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No man leaves where he is and seeks a distant place unless he is in some respect a failure.
James A. Michener