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I don't have to participate in another culture's ceremonies in order to respect that culture.

Sherman Alexie

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Sherman Alexie
Age: 58
Born: 1966
Born: October 7
Film Director
Film Producer
Novelist
Poet
Screenwriter
Writer
Wellpinit
Washington
Sherman Joseph Alexie
Jr.
Ceremonies
Ceremony
Participate
Respect
Culture
Another
Order

More quotes by Sherman Alexie

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In the middle of the night, when you're ambiguously ethnic, like me, when you're brown, beige, mauve, siena, one of those lighter browns in the Crayola box. You have to be careful of the cops and robbers, because nobody's quite sure what you are, but everybody has assumptions.
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There are all kinds of addicts, I guess. We all have pain. And we all look for ways to make the pain go away. (107)
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He made me realize that hard work--that the act of finishing, of completing, of accomplishing a task--is joyous
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In the middle of a crazy and drunk life, you have to hang onto the good and sober moments tightly.
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Everyone I have lost in the closing of a door the click of the lock is not forgotten, they do not die but remain within the soft edges of the earth, the ash of house fires and cancer in sin and forgiveness huddled under old blankets dreaming their way into my hands, my heart closing tight like fists. - Indian Boy Love Song #1
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Religious fundamentalists are unaware that freedom of religion necessarily brings with it the freedom to mock religion.
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I write books for teenagers because I vividly remember what it felt like to be a teen facing everyday and epic dangers. I don't write to protect them. It's far too late for that. I write to give them weapons-in the form of words and ideas-that will help them fight their monsters. I write in blood because I remember what it felt like to bleed.
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Poverty doesn’t give you strength or teach you lessons about perseverance. No, poverty only teaches you how to be poor.
Sherman Alexie
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I love to scare the already terrified assholes.
Sherman Alexie
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I felt so conflicted about having fled the rez as a kid that I created a whole literary career that left me there.
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I realized that I might be a lonely Indian boy, but I was not alone in the loneliness. There were millions of other Americans who had left their birthplaces in search of a dream. (217)
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I used to think the world was broken down by tribes, I said. By black and white. By Indian and white. But I know that isn't true. The world is only broken into two tribes: The people who are assholes and the people who are not.
Sherman Alexie
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When you resort to violence to prove a point, you’ve just experienced a profound failure of imagination.
Sherman Alexie
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We're all travelling heavy with illusions.
Sherman Alexie
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[F]rank knew he was guilty of arrogance and misanthropy, but he compensated by being kind to strangers and tipping really well at restaurants.
Sherman Alexie
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Estranged from the tribe that gives no protection, What happens to the soul that hates its reflection?
Sherman Alexie
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The percentage of Indian kids doing some sort of artistic work is much higher than in the general population - painting, drawing, dancing, singing. The creation of art is still an everyday part of Indian culture, unlike the dominant culture, where art is sort of peripheral.
Sherman Alexie
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Like any good shaman, professional baseball player, or politician, my mother always answered questions with questions.
Sherman Alexie
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When you construct a mix tape, the first song you come out with has to be a barnburner.
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Sometimes it's called passing out and sometimes it's just pretending to be asleep
Sherman Alexie