Quote

Survival starts by paying attention to what is close at hand and immediate. To look out with idle hope is tantamount to dreaming one's life away.

Yann Martel

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Yann Martel
Age: 61
Born: 1963
Born: June 25
Author
Novelist
Prosaist
Screenwriter
Writer
Hands
Paying
Dream
Starts
Survival
Look
Close
Looks
Hand
Tantamount
Life
Attention
Dreaming
Hope
Idle
Away
Immediate

More quotes by Yann Martel

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My suffering left me sad and gloomy.
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The animals might embody certain traits. We think of tigers as being ferocious, etc. But to my mind, it was the other way around: the humans embodied certain animal traits.
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In my youth, it was my good luck to have a few good teachers, men and women, who came into my head and lit a match.
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Words are cold, muddy toads trying to understand sprites dancing in a field-but they're all we have.
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My life is like a memento mori painting from European art: there is always a grinning skull at my side to remind me of the folly of human ambition.
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Even when God seemed to have abandoned me, he was watching. Even when he seemed indifferent to my suffering, he was watching. And when I was beyond all hope of saving, he gave me rest. Then he gave me a sign to continue my journey.
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It is pointless to say that this or that night was the worst of my life. I have so many bad nights to choose from that I've made none the champion.
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Work, work, work, but what mark do we leave, what point do we make? People who are too beholden to work become like erasers: as things move forward, they leave in their wake no trace of themselves.
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Socially inferior animals are the ones that make the most strenuous, resourceful efforts to get to know their keepers. They prove to be the ones most faithful to them…it is a fact commonly known in the trade.
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There are animals we haven't stopped by. Don't think they're harmless. Life will defend itself no matter how small it is.
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A movie tends to box you in, at least as far as the aesthetics. You have an incredibly kinetic experience, which is the joy of cinema.
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Quickly you make rash decisions. You dismiss your last allies: hope and trust. There, you've defeated yourself. Fear, which is but an impression, has triumphed over you.
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If you stumble at mere believability, what are you living for? Isn't love hard to believe?
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I felt I was beating a rainbow to death
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The language of prose is very different than the language of cinema, so the movie has to successfully translate what was in the book.
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Truth is a nebulous thing. There are certain, definite truths, but the truth of our lives goes far beyond facts.
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Nothing beats reason for keeping tigers away. But be excessively reasonable and you risk throwing out the universe with the bathwater.
Yann Martel
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Much hostile and aggressive behaviour among animals is the expression of social insecurity.
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The tennis challenger starts strong but soon loses confidence in his playing. The champion racks up the games. But in the final set, when the challenger has nothing left to lose, he becomes relaxed again, insouciant, daring. Suddenly he's playing like the devil and the champion must work hard to get those last points.
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Any writer will be happy and good only if they know what they're doing and why they're doing it.
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