The dachshund is a perfectly engineered dog. It is precisely long enough for a single standard stroke of the back, but you aren't paying for any superfluous leg. Mary Doria Russell More Quotes by Mary Doria Russell More Quotes From Mary Doria Russell Faced with the Divine, people took refuge in the banal, as though answering a cosmic multiple-choice question: If you saw a burning bush, would you (a) call 911, (b) get the hot dogs, or (c) recognize God? A vanishingly small number of people would recognize God, Anne had decided years before, and most of them had simply missed a dose of Thorazine. Mary Doria Russell small-numbers dog years House-training, I must tell you, is a formality that can elude young dachshunds for some time; this is particularly true in climates that affront their sensibilities with outrageous meteorological insults. Rain, for example, or a startling gust of wind. Mary Doria Russell house rain wind Indulge me, John. Cynicism and foul language are the only vices I'm presently capable of. Everything else takes energy or money. Mary Doria Russell foul-language energy vices Like so many Boomers, I saw Lawrence of Arabia in 1962 when it was first released and when we were young teenagers. Im not quite sure why - I really wish some psychologist would explain this - but that movie had a tremendous effect on many of us. Mary Doria Russell teenager wish firsts Cleveland is really good about recognizing its artists because of the Arts Council. Mary Doria Russell council cleveland art In my worldview, there are filers, and there are pilers. Filers think alphabetically. Pilers think geologically. Mary Doria Russell worldview thinking Instead of taking a year off, I started Dreamers of the Day exactly 36 hours after I sent the manuscript for A Thread of Grace to the publisher! Mary Doria Russell dreamer grace years Each generation of adolescents has at least two historical events that color its responses to whatever happens next. Mary Doria Russell color historical two The characters Im most emotionally involved with are like friends you leave behind when you move away. You dont see them regularly anymore, but you still love them and keep in touch. Mary Doria Russell behinds character moving I had a doctorate in biological anthropology. I got a post-doc at CWRU dental school in 1983 teaching gross anatomy. Mary Doria Russell dental teaching school God's got a lot of explaining to do. Of course, God never explains. When life breaks your heart, you're just supposed to pick up the pieces and start all over, I guess. Mary Doria Russell pieces break heart The sign of a good decision is the multiplicity of reasons for it. Mary Doria Russell good-decision decision reason I begin with songs. They provide a sort of skeleton grammar for me to flesh out. Songs of longing for future tense, songs of regret for past tense, and songs of love for present tense. Mary Doria Russell regret song past Tradition was safety; change was danger. Mary Doria Russell tradition safety danger I do what I do without hope of reward or fear of punishment. I do not require Heaven or Hell to bribe or scare me into acting decently. Mary Doria Russell punishment acting heaven Shall I tell you why young men love war? . . . In peace, there are a hundred questions with a thousand answers! In war, there is only one question with one right answer. . . . Going to war makes you a man. It is emotionally exciting and morally restful. Mary Doria Russell men war peace The trouble with illusions is that you aren't aware you have any until they are taken away from you. Mary Doria Russell taken dream love Rain falls on everyone, lightning strikes some. What cannot be changed is best forgotten. God made the world, and He saw that it was good. Not fair. Not happy. Not perfect. Good. Mary Doria Russell perfect rain fall Who doesn't love a makeover? Even my husband watches 'What Not To Wear.' Mary Doria Russell wear husband love watches If somebody honks a horn in Cleveland, they're saying 'Hi.' It's so rare to be honked at in anger. When we have merging traffic, we just interweave. There's real courtesy. Mary Doria Russell saying traffic anger real
