And secretly, he’d be wise to start practicing the piano. For us, the story is more important than the person. If a man and his story are in conflict, it is the man who must change.
ADAM JOHNSONWhere we are from… [s]tories are factual. If a farmer is declared a music virtuoso by the state, everyone had better start calling him maestro.
More Adam Johnson Quotes
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All the human actions we think of as essential to a character – had be censored by the self lest they be punished by the state.
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Use your imagination only on the future, never on the present or the past.
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What good’s a captive without her captor?
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Like putting a name to my problems would solve anything
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The urge to create a fictional narrative is a mysterious one, and when an idea comes, the writer’s sense of what a story wants to be is only vaguely visible through the penumbra of inspiration.
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To keep someone alive, you put them inside you, you put their face on your heart. Then, no matter where you are, they’re always with you because they’re a part of you.”
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Life brings what it brings. I might be young but I’ve learnt this: prepare for each blind corner with your strongest shoulder dropped, ready to smash through whatever is thrown at you next.
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All the lessons you need to learn in life, he said, will be taught to you by your enemy.
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Sometimes in life, things happen that will knock you back. Hell, you may get beaten to your knees but you must never ALLOW this world to knock you down!
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The next day, she was silent. For breakfast, she murdered an onion and served it raw.
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The darkness inside your head is something your imagination fills with stories that have nothing to do with the real darkness around you.
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I thought that, with so much current attention focused on the topic of North Korea, I might share what I think are three books which cast a rare light on the elusive realm of North Korea.
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Acting upon a personal desire, whispering a hidden longing, revealing your true feelings
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I’d known that the visit would be highly scripted and that genuine interactions with citizens wouldn’t be possible, since it’s illegal for them to speak with foreigners.
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Writing is hard work, and if anything’s true about the process, it’s that fact that a good story is hard to find and even trickier to get on paper.
ADAM JOHNSON