Quotes from James A. Michener

Hawaii and Fiji are two of the best island groups in the world to visit as a vacationer. The great hotels, the fascinating local people, the exciting history of the two contrasting island groups, and the unmatched scenery make these two of the most enticing stopovers.

The sense of belonging is one of the great gifts men get in battle.

For this is the journey that men and women make, to find themselves. If they fail in this, it doesn't matter much else what they find.

I am terrified of restrictive religious doctrine, having learned from history that when men who adhere to any form of it are in control, common men like me are in peril.

When this is over, I'm not going to be the same guy. I am going to live as if I were a great man.

I wondered how a man ever got an English girl into bed. What did they do with her hockey stick?

organizations like the church or General Motors promote a man up and up until he reaches a spot which he is obviously incapable of filling, and there they lay him to rest.

A group of two dozen nurses completely surrounded by 100,000 unattached American men.

The decent thing to do is to get rid of some of this money.

Animals form an inalienable fragment of nature, and if we hasten the disappearance of even one species, we diminish our world and our place in it.

America is a nation with many flaws, but hopes so vast that only the cowardly would refuse to acknowledge them.

I'm not a very good writer, but I'm an excellent rewriter.

Scientists dream about doing great things. Engineers do them.

The really great writers are people like Emily Brontë who sit in a room and write out of their limited experience and unlimited imagination.

I know the world of opera so intimately: historical sweep, sharply defined characters, not too rational an explanation of what's going on. It's a feast.

I am terrified of restrictive religious doctrine, having learned from history that when men who adhere to any form of it are in control, common men like me are in peril. [The World Is My Home (1991)]

If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay at home.

[The church's] job is to provide permanent solace and spiritual leadership to the people as a whole, whatever their government at the moment, so long as it stays within the bounds of moral decency.

Very early on in life, I decided the hell with it: material things weren't for me. Christmas would come, and other kids would have all these presents, and it wouldn't bother me a bit.

The permanent temptation of life is to confuse dreams with reality. The permanent defeat of life comes when dreams are surrendered to reality.

Whenever I start a book, I swear it's going to be a short one. But then it's, 'Who was his grandfather? And how did he get there in the first place? And what kind of animals is he chasing?'

The arrogance of the artist is a very profound thing, and it fortifies you.

I've spent my life trying to be better than I was, and I am a brother to all who share the same aspiration.

Whatever I did, there was always someone around who was better qualified. They just didn't bother to do it.