Quote

We decry violence all the time in this country, but look at our history. We were born in a violent revolution, and we've been in wars ever since. We're not a pacific people.

James Lee Burke

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

James Lee Burke
Age: 88
Born: 1936
Born: December 5
Author
Novelist
Writer
Houston
Texas
History
Pacific
Ever
Wars
Look
Violent
Revolution
Looks
Violence
Country
Since
Time
Born
People
War
Decry

More quotes by James Lee Burke

Image
I feel blessed in the knowledge that I probably belong to the last generation that will remember what we call traditional America.
James Lee Burke
Image
If there is any human tragedy, there is only one, and it occurs when we forget who we are and remain silent while a stranger takes up residence inside our skin.
James Lee Burke
Image
The real gladiators of the world are so humble in their origins and unremarkable in appearance that when we stand next to them in a grocery-store line, we never guess how brightly their souls can burn in the dark.
James Lee Burke
Image
What's the worst thing about getting old? Getting old.
James Lee Burke
Image
..why is it that in problematic situations almost everyone resorts to axioms and societal remedies that in actuality almost nobody believes in?...ask yourself, have you ever known anyone whose marriage was saved by a marriage counselor, whose drinking was cured by a psychiatrist, whose son was kept out of reform school by a social worker?
James Lee Burke
Image
To misuse one's talent, to be cavalier about it, to set it aside because of fear or sloth is unpardonable.
James Lee Burke
Image
Hackberry Holland's greatest fear was his fellow man's propensity to act collectively, in militaristic lockstep, under the banner of God and country. Mobs did not rush across town to do good deeds, and in Hackberry's view, there was no more odious taint on any social or political endeavor than universal approval.
James Lee Burke
Image
I believe the causes that create them [serial killers] are theological in nature, rather than societal. I believe they make a conscious choice to erase God's thumbprint from their souls.
James Lee Burke
Image
Don't let anyone tell you that age purchases your freedom from fear of death.
James Lee Burke
Image
Write for the love of your art. Someplace down the road, the money, the fame, they'll come, but by that time you won't be thinking in terms of money or fame.
James Lee Burke
Image
I could only wonder again at the white race's naïveté in always sending forth our worst members as our emissaries.
James Lee Burke
Image
Age is a clever thief. It takes a little from you each day, so you're not aware of your loss until it'd irreversible.
James Lee Burke
Image
God bless the Reference Librarians
James Lee Burke
Image
We gain no wisdom by imposing our way on others.
James Lee Burke
Image
And every good artist knows that the gift comes from somewhere else, and it's there for a reason, and that's to make the world a better place.
James Lee Burke
Image
Every rejection is incremental payment on your dues that in some way will be translated back into your work.
James Lee Burke
Image
You have two choices in life. You either die or do something with your time. You're going to be doing something - why not write?
James Lee Burke
Image
That's one of the great advantages of age. You can say, I don't want to, I don't care, you can throw temper tantrums, and nobody minds.
James Lee Burke
Image
It has been my experience that most human stories are circular rather than linear. Regardless of the path we choose, we somehow end up where we commenced - in part, I suspect, because the child who lives in us goes along for the ride.
James Lee Burke
Image
One day you'll have a quiet heart.
James Lee Burke