"Few people become assholes reluctantly."

--

Source : Geoffrey Nunberg (2013). “Ascent of the A-Word: Assholism, the First Sixty Years”, p.163, PublicAffairs

Geoffrey Nunberg

“I had seen cancer at a more cellular level as a researcher. The first time I entered the cancer ward, my first instinct was to withdraw from what was going on - the complexity, the death. It was a very bleak time.”
“No one will expect the British Government or the Government of India to give way to threats of violence, disorder and chaos; and, indeed, representatives of large sections of Indian opinion have expressly warned us that we must not do so.”
“Heroes don't need to talk about what they did.”

Source : W. P. Kinsella (1999). “Shoeless Joe”, p.146, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
“I was about seven or eight years old when I first heard West Side Story, and it had a huge impact on me. If you look at the elements of that record, it contains many of the things I enjoy doing today.”
“No, you can take it from an expert in cover-ups-I've lived through Watergate-that nothing less than a resurrected Christ could have caused those men to maintain to their dying whispers that Jesus is alive and is Lord. Two thousand years later, nothing less than the power of the risen Christ could inspire Christians around the world to remain faithful-despite prison, torture, and death.”
“There is so much freedom in not having to choose.”
“Fabio kept asking me out, but I knew we'd never get his ego through the door.”
“I am sorry the only outlet for her troubled mind was in clumsy foreplay with an inadequate partner." He threw the rest of her sandwich at the swinging door as she passed through it.”

Source : Jennifer Armintrout (2008). “Blood Ties Bundle: Blood Ties Book One: The Turning\Blood Ties Book Two: Possession\Blood Ties Book Three: Ashes to Ashes\Blood Ties Book Four: All Souls' Night”, MIRA

You may also like:

Deborah Tannen
Professor
Erin McKean
Lexicographer
Geoffrey K. Pullum
Professor
George Lakoff
Linguist
Jacqueline Woodson
Writer
James Gleick
Author
Jesse Sheidlower
Author
Terry Gross
Radio host
Ben Zimmer
Linguist