I'm drawn to the figure of the ungrateful subaltern as a trope in literature. In real life, it is often dangerous to demand more.
As the writer of a pseudonymous book, I gave up my own accumulated history as a novelist and became what I had been as a child: unnamed, unidentified, unacknowledged. Invisible. In a very real sense, what I hope for in the process of imagining a book is to disappear.
There is a real danger of unintended consequences, of encouraging people to give up. Pessimism, if it becomes a habit, can reinforce a narrative of unstoppable decline. If there is nothing we can do, that releases us from our obligations.
I'm uninterested in superheroes. I am only interested in real stories, real people, real connection.
What was exciting to me in talking to Kogonada was I was just very convinced that he was a very real and pure artist. He was so uninterested in the commercial game.
I was embarrassed by my parents. I thought they had nothing of interest to say or contribute to anything. My real crime was not understanding that they were interesting, and I have been trying to make it up to them for being so indescribably blase, so genuinely uninterested and dismissive.
For a found-footage-style movie, there's a definite advantage in using unknowns, because it helps sell the illusion that it's real. A known actor would get in the way of the suspension of disbelief.
Our senses are indeed our doors and windows on this world, in a very real sense the key to the unlocking of meaning and the wellspring of creativity.
The border sheriffs are locally elected. They're accountable. They know the territory and the people. And they can respond the most quickly to what is a real national security emergency, because the border is unprotected.
Yet, the Universe is real enough to the conscious beings in it, which are as unreal as it is itself.
The dream is real, my friends. The failure to realize it is the only unreality.
What has reality shows got to do with reality? It is beyond unreality; there is nothing real about it.
That's the thing I like about my sound. It's real raw and very unsafe compared to a solid state kind of sound.
Selfishness is the only real atheism; aspiration, unselfishness, the only real religion.
The iPod wasn't the first MP3 player. Nor were the iPhone and iPad the first in their categories. The real reason for the success of these devices - the true unsung hero at Apple - is the iTunes software and iTunes Store. Because Apple provided them, it wasn't just selling hardware.
There are few things as seemingly untouched by the real world as a child asleep.
Real change happens when you feel genuinely inspired, turned on by possibility and unwilling to settle for anything less.
It's a real uphill challenge to battle the white-guyness.
It's so rare that you see a movie that you are genuinely moved by on a real level, and you relate to it, and you come out feeling uplifted.
Be careful not to start a company that really belongs as a feature of another company, like the 25 Twitter URL shortener companies out there. Pick a real problem that's here to stay.
