“I've always thought of my writing as a spiritual practice. But I think that fiction is the most supernatural kind of writing that you can do - because of the ways that the real and the unreal weave together to create something that feels more true than anything.” ThinkingWayFeelsWritingKindRealTogetherSpiritualCan DoFictionPracticeUnrealSpiritual Practice Author:Elizabeth Gilbert
“The real bug here is that the design of the system even permits this class of bug. It is unconscionable that someone designing a critical piece of security infrastructure would design the system in such a way that it does not fail safe.” WayDoeRealClassPiecesFailingSecurityDesignSafeCriticalPermitBugsInfrastructure Author:Jamie Zawinski
“Part of any serious QA is removing Perl code the same way you go over a dilapidated building you inherit to remove chewing gum and duct tape and fix whatever was kept together for real.” WayRealTogetherBuildingSeriousCodeRemoveTapeGumChewingPerlDuct TapeChewing Gum Author:Erik Naggum
“I think when a man first discovers that two and two is four, there is 'beauty' in that; and we can see why. But if people stand and look at the moon and one says 'I think it's just beautiful tonight' and the other says 'The moon makes me feel awful' we are both 'clear'. A geometric shape - we know why we like it; and an unreasonable shape; it has a certain mystery that we recognize as real; but it is difficult to put these things in an objective way.” PeopleIfsThinkingKnowsMenWayFeelsFirstsLooksTwoRealBeautifulCertainDifficultClearFourMysteryShapesMoonObjectivesAwfulTonightUnreasonableGeometricGeometric Shapes Author:William Baziotes
“In the '50s, to appropriate was a real no-no. However, once you go from Duchamp to Jasper Johns to Warhol, appropriation becomes not only a common thing to do, but possibly the central way of working in the era we call postmodernism.” WayRealCommonErasThings To DoAppropriatePostmodernismCopyingWarholAppropriationCommon Things Author:Irving Sandler
“The Internet is really our meeting place. We have this amazing listserv. Every time I log onto it I feel a sense of pride, because if you log on and say, "Oh I was just in San Diego and I was in a park and I saw a lion," the flurry of replies on average is just like--wow! All these existential questions about what it means to be an African, and never having seen a lion at home, but having seen a lion here. Everything you say turns into this real philosophical debate--it's incredible in so many ways. And it's an invigorating place to be.” IfsWayFeelsMeanRealHomeTurnsSawsPrideInternetPhilosophicalMeetingsIncrediblesAverageDebateParksLionsWowExistentialInvigoratingSan Diego Author:Chris Abani
“A reason to have computers understand natural language is that it's an extremely effective way of communicating. What I came to realize is that the success of the communication depends on the real intelligence on the part of the listener, and that there are many other ways of communicating with a computer that can be more effective, given that it doesn't have the intelligence.” WayRealReasonLanguageGivenRealizingNaturalCommunicationDependsComputerCommunicateListenersReal Intelligence Author:Terry Winograd
“I think readers appreciate those of us who stay in the trenches and fight the good fight even when times get tough. I know that I, personally, lost respect for writers who, when there was a downturn in the market, started shouting from the rooftops that they wrote thrillers and suspense novels rather than horror. As far as I'm concerned, those wussboys should sever all ties with the horror community if that's the way they feel and get out of the way so real horror writers can do their work.” IfsThinkingKnowsWayFeelsShouldRealFightingLostCan DoCommunityNovelReaderHorrorToughConcernedAppreciateSuspenseTiesShoutingThrillersTrenchesGood FightRooftopsDownturnSuspense NovelsFight The Good FightLost Respect Author:Bentley Little
“Long ago, during my apprenticeship in the wine trade, I learned that wine is more than the sum of its parts, and more than an expression of its physical origin. The real significance of wine as the nexus of just about everything became clearer to me when I started writing about it. The more I read, the more I traveled, and the more questions I asked, the further I was pulled into the realms of history and economics, politics, literature, food, community, and all else that affects the way we live. Wine, I found, draws on everything and leads everywhere.” WayWritingLongRealFoundLiteratureCommunityExpressionDrawsEconomicsTradeWineRealmsSignificanceLong AgoTraveledApprenticeshipNexus Book:A Carafe of Red Source: A Carafe of Red
“Apparently we're now in a state where most ads are full of people looking at us in a way that would heat us up down to our toes if it happened in real life, and we don't think anything of it.” PeopleIfsThinkingWayRealStatesHappenedReal LifeHeatAdsToes Author:Max Barry
“Any story worth telling relates to real life in some meaningful way. Scifi allows you to tell meaningful stories without seeming too preachy - it adds a metaphorical layer between the story and the real world. Scifi is dismissed as ungrounded fluff, but it's actually the opposite.” WorldWayRealStoriesOppositesAddMeaningfulReal LifeRelateReal WorldLayersScifiSeemingMetaphoricalFluff Author:Jane Espenson
“You can hit a nail on the head, or cause a machine to do so, and get a fairly predictable result. Hit a dog on the head, and it will either dodge, bite back, or die, but it will never again react in the same way. We can predict only those things we set up to be predictable, not what we encounter in the real world of living and reactive processes.” WorldWayRealDiesCausesProcessResultsDogMachinesEncountersReal WorldBitesNailsPredictableDodge Author:Bill Mollison
“The real trick to producing great work isn't to find ways to eliminate the edgy, nervous feeling that you might be swimming out of your depth. Instead, it's to remember that everyone else is feeling it, too. We're all in deep water. Which is fine: it's by far the most exciting place to be.” WayRealFeelingsMightRememberWaterFineExcitingDepthTricksNervousSwimmingGreat WorkEdgyDeep Water Author:Oliver Burkeman
“I believe I've spent my life expecting people to behave in a certain way. I believe that when they didn't behave according to my expectations, I became angry, sad, confused and occasionally fearful. I believe these expectations are the reason I've been angry, sad, confused and occasionally fearful more than I care to admit. As a result, I now believe my expectations are the real problem. I believe that everyone has this very same problem, and they ought to start acting accordingly.” PeopleWayBelieveRealReasonProblemCareCertainI BelieveResultsActingOughtExpectationsAngryBehaveConfusedFearfulExpectingI CareReal Problems Author:Chuck Lorre
“When real revival happens, it changes the moral climate of a community...because we've turned from our wicked ways.” WayRealHappensCommunityMoralClimateWickedRevivalWicked Ways Author:Rick Warren
“In the wars against Revolutionary and Napoleonic France, as in so many later conflicts, British women seem to have been no more markedly pacifist than men. Instead, and exactly like so many of their male countrymen, some women found ways of combining support for the national interest with a measure of self-promotion. By assisting the war effort, women demonstrated that their concerns were by no means confined to the domestic sphere. Under cover of a patriotism that was often genuine and profound, they carved out for themselves a real if precarious place in the public sphere.” IfsMenWayMeanHas BeensWarRealSelfSeemsFoundInterestEffortSupportConflictConcernProfoundMalesBritishGenuineFranceRevolutionarySpheresPromotionConfinedCountrymenPacifistCombiningPrecariousBritish HistoryNational InterestsAssistingSelf PromotionNapoleonic Author:Linda Colley
“We saw very little of the real Jack Buck behind the microphone. He would touch people in ways that we will never know. Jack was much more than just an announcer.” PeopleKnowsWayLittlesRealSportsBehindsSawsBucksMicrophonesAnnouncers Author:Ozzie Smith
“I'm very happy for the Contreras family. They're out. Now they've got a chance to experience life the way I did as a kid. You know, his kids are going to have a real chance in life now, and the same way that I had it.” KnowsWayRealKidsSportsChanceVery HappyChances In Life Author:Rafael Palmeiro
“As I go to sleep I remember what my father said-that one can never be sure if one will awake. The way my health is now, this is becoming more and more real.” IfsWaySaidRealRememberFatherLiteratureSleepBecomingAwakeGoing To SleepBecoming More Author:Jerzy Kosinski
“His doctors said he was, in many ways, the most remarkable patient they'd ever seen. His bravery, so stark and real, that even those used to seeing people in dire circumstances were moved by his example.” PeopleWaySaidRealUsedSeeingExampleCircumstancesDoctorsBaseballBraveryMovedPatientRemarkableStarks Author:Bob Costas