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Elif Batuman Quotes


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Quotes by Elif Batuman

Showing 1-10 of 86 Quotes by Elif Batuman

One of the most painful parts of a breakup is having the feeling that your life is a story, and then the other person leaves and takes the story with them. And you're left there without it. You're left in this version of life that's basically a succession of events and interactions that don't seem to be going anywhere.

~Elif Batuman

Topics: Anywhere Basically Breakup Events Feeling Going Having Interactions Leaves Left Life Life Is A Most Other Painful Parts Person Seem Story Succession Takes Them Then Version Without You Your

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Read enough about the dung beetle, and a picture of its character emerges: patient, optimistic, uncomplaining.

~Elif Batuman

Topics: About Character Emerges Enough Optimistic Patient Picture Read

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When I was growing up, many of my relatives had never seen a black person before. Today, hundreds, maybe thousands of Africans live in Istanbul's old city alone. It's hard to imagine their lives in their human totality.

~Elif Batuman

Topics: African Alone Before Black City Growing Growing Up Had Hard Human Hundreds Imagine Istanbul Live Lives Many Maybe Never Old Person Relatives Seen Thousands Today Totality Up

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Many books have changed my life, but only one has the word 'life-changing' in the title: Marie Kondo's 'The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying.'

~Elif Batuman

Topics: Books Changed Life Life-Changing Magic Many Marie My Life Only Title Word

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When in doubt, it is better to do the less conservative thing and to err on the side of the more colorful, possibly terrible mistake. That comes from thinking of yourself as a writer.

~Elif Batuman

Topics: Better Colorful Conservative Doubt Err Less Mistake More Possibly Side Terrible Thing Thinking When In Doubt Writer Yourself

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I like to think that I know a lot of words, but I definitely don't know all of them.

~Elif Batuman

Topics: Definitely Know Like Lot Them Think Words

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For a Nabokov fan, paging through 'Fine Lines,' which includes a critical introduction and several essayistic evaluations of Nabokov's scientific oeuvre, can feel a bit like reading the second half of 'Pale Fire': one is confronted by a content-rich, almost dementedly tangential commentary on an increasingly inscrutable work.

~Elif Batuman

Topics: Almost Bit Commentary Confronted Critical Fan Feel Fine Fire Half Increasingly Introduction Like Lines Pale Reading Scientific Second Several Through Which Work

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Reading Epictetus, I realized that most of the pain in my life came not from any actual privations or insults but, rather, from the shame of thinking that they could have been avoided.

~Elif Batuman

Topics: Actual Any Avoided Been Came Could Insults Life Most My Life Pain Rather Reading Realized Shame Thinking

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When I read that nobody should ever feel ashamed to be alone or to be in a crowd, I realized that I often felt ashamed of both of those things.

~Elif Batuman

Topics: Alone Ashamed Both Crowd Ever Feel Felt Nobody Often Read Realized Should Things Those

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For much of my adult life, I believed, inaccurately, that I knew the story of Charles Dickens's 'A Christmas Carol' - that I remembered it from childhood.

~Elif Batuman

Topics: Adult Adult Life Believed Carol Charles Childhood Christmas Dickens Knew Life Much Remembered Story

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Biography

Nationality: American

Type: Author

Born: Unknown

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