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Quote by Walter Kirn

“We're all impostors to ourselves. By that I mean that we know instinctively, intimately, the difference between whom we are inside and who we appear to be to others. Most of the time - when we aren't flat lying about something or playing a particularly stylized role in some heightened dramatic situation - this difference between the internal and the external is modest and manageable.”

Quote by Walter Kirn

Author

Walter Kirn is an American novelist known for his distinctive narrative style and profound social insights. His works often explore the complexities of modern society and the multifaceted nature of human nature. more

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“There are moments when it frightens us, threatening to expose us as inauthentic. Well, the big-time impostors we read about in literature run this risk constantly, flirting with destruction, not just humiliation or embarrassment. It's a spectacle that we can't help but find compelling, and it involves a certain level of courage that we sneakily admire, perhaps.”

Wells Moments Helping Bigs Running Certain Literature Levels Risk Destruction Admire Compelling Threatening Humiliation Flirting Embarrassment

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“'ve always defined a truly alluring story as a journey we're not equipped to take ourselves with a person we're tempted but afraid to emulate. Impostor narratives are exactly that. When they end in disaster, as Clark's did, or as Gatsby's did, we can congratulate ourselves for our own wisdom. We can also experience, safely, at no cost, the terrible thrill of radical self-invention, of trading who we are for who we might be.”

Persons Ends Self Stories Might Journey Terrible Cost Disaster Invention Defined Radical Narrative Who We Are Thrill Trading Tempted Emulate Alluring

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“realized that at a level I'd never been conscious we'd been engaged in a game of wits for years. I suppose most writer-subject pairings are like that. Of course, I'd set aside my plan to write about him [Clark Rockfeller] as soon as I'd gotten to know him some, but now I'd resumed that intention.”

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“A writer has a use for his experiences that most civilians simply don't; he or she discerns material in situations that others simply live through. Perhaps there are some who disapprove of this, but without this double consciousness, literature would not get made at all.”

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“Some of us seem to be born with a drive to try to make the world kinder. In my twenties, living in New York City, I worked in a soup kitchen every Sunday for many years, just trying to do my part. Then I read Animal Liberation and learned about factory farming and the killing of animals for oven cleaner and realized nobody needed my help as badly as the animals did.”

“It is important to meet people where they are. It reminds me of yoga, to which people may flock for the physical benefits, often to find that the spiritual benefits match or even outweigh them.”

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“Many people will first be attracted to veganism for their health but find themselves far more open to learning about the animal issues when they don't have to block them out three times a day in order to enjoy eating. Then once people learn, it is hard to forget and go back. Come for the body, stay for the soul.”

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“Some people feel that humans have a right to eat other animals but not to trash the earth. They may choose veganism because a vegan's ecological footprint is light, but once they are not invested in eating animals, they are more likely to be willing to learn the details of what happens to them. That learning will encourage compassionate people to stick with a plant-based diet.”

“Animal rights is a serious subject, but I do my best to find humor where I can, and I have some great help: there are almost two hundred cartoons included in the book, including dozens from the brilliant Bizarro strip.”

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“I don't understand "animal people" who say they are not environmentalists. Do they not realize that the vast majority of animals live in the environment?”

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