Ian Frazier Quotes
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People in Russia adapt to misery by a deep, deep humor.
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Leading economists have shown that by shrinking Texas, we can actually create more income for Texas in the long run.
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I am an author, and like many in my profession, I am also a traveling salesman, going all over in an attempt to persuade people to spend twenty-five dollars on a hardcover book by me.
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Sometimes travel is merely an opportunity taken when you can.
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When the days start to get shorter, I want to be in some nice brick building on the East Coast with the lights glowing in the windows. When the daylight starts changing, I want to be out West.
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I only saw one English-speaking person all the way across Siberia.
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When I needed to think or was really upset, generally I climbed a tree.
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Human connection is the way things work. It's like a patronage system. You know somebody, and he knows somebody, and he knows somebody, and he knows the district governor, and it's okay.
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Words are charms. It's like a song you didn't even know you knew.
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I think what is important for things to be funny is if you the listener, or the reader, get a chance to supply the humor of it yourself.
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Everything in Russia is made of cement - phone booths, fence posts and light bulbs.
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Roy Blount is so funny, and he sounds like he's just talking, and the next thing you know he has tossed off an essay as elegant and intricately structured as a birdsong. His ear for American speech is better than anybody's.
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Russian humor is to adapt or make some sense or nonsense out of the insanity of their lives.
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Cursing dads are terrifying, you know? Cursing dads are - I don't know why, but no. It just doesn't seem to me that that would be funny. I mean it might be - you could try it and see. I suppose anybody just losing it and sputtering curses is pretty funny. But I think it would be more of a challenge, much more of a challenge, to make a cursing dad funny.
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I don't want to collect Indian art, though pots and beadwork and blankets made by Indians remain the most beautiful art objects in the American West, in my opinion.
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Every once in a while, people need to be in the presence of things that are really far away.
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America can enjoy a vital, fully functioning government, with all the benefits provided by Texas, while reducing Texas at the same time.
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Siberia is so big, it’s almost more an idea than a place
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I don't want to participate in traditional Indian religious ceremonies - dance in a sun dance or pray in a sweat lodge or go on a vision quest with the help of a medicine man. The power of these ceremonies has an appeal, but I'm content with what little religion I already have.
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Russians don't complain, usually.
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There's an idea of the Plains as the middle of nowhere, something to be contemptuous of. But it's really a heroic place.
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Despite the obvious benefits, many Americans do not like Texas. Some even say they despise Texas, and make no secret of their feelings.
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I don't have a disregard for my reader in humor pieces.
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A book tour is not a good opportunity to let your mind wander. You have to pay attention, remember salespeople's and interviewers' names, succinctly summarize your book in a 'selling' way, and so on.
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