Quotes About Meaning

The truth is that, to me, a likeable character is a character that is really flawed, so I don't know what people mean when they say 'likable.'

If you interview world leaders, everybody will say they are for free trade. But what they mean by it and what they do when they say they are pro free trade, you have to watch and see.

I was lucky: I feel like I've written four books that mean something to me, and one book that means everything to me, and that's 'The Book Thief.'

Novels often thin themselves out to a watery hue - some even start that way - and at times seem to only ride along the surface of things, giving us what we already know, reporting the news that is just news.

Size matters in fiction, but so does lack of size. Everything else being equal, fat novels tend to be perceived as serious, very thin ones as more honest, more real. Writers address these age-old expectations by filling their big books with philosophy and cramming their little ones with feeling.

If you aim to be controversial for the sake of it you'd end up with a very thin and meaningless show.

Nothing is more rewarding than to take a song, create it out of thin air and then watch it affect people.

If the only reason to be on stage communicating with people is to tell them a joke and make them laugh, that seems thin for me. That has a place - I don't think it should stop happening - but for me, I don't know. I just don't.

There is a very thin line that differentiates and gives a song its distinct flavour.

I believe life is an intelligent thing: that things aren't random.

I don't believe in coincidences. I believe that things happen for a reason, and I think God has things - whether it's good or bad - happen towards a bigger picture that you don't necessarily understand at the present time.

I think that things happen for a reason.

To me, the writer's main job is to just make the story unscroll in such a way that the reader is snared - she's right there, seeing things happen and caring about them. And if you dedicate yourself to this job, the meanings more or less take care of themselves. That's the theory, anyway.

There is an important idea in psychology: The 'just world theory,' which says that it is very important for us to convince ourselves that the world is just and things happen for a reason. That there is some elemental fairness in everything, which creates the illusion of justice.

I believe that when things happen, they happen with a purpose.

I realize that things happen for a reason.

I don't think things happen for a reason, but I think it's perfectly possible to experience life meaningfully.

When a man asks himself what is meant by action he proves that he isn't a man of action. Action is a lack of balance. In order to act you must be somewhat insane. A reasonably sensible man is satisfied with thinking.

I make art to figure out what I'm thinking, not to tell people what I think.

In life, you are struck by the importance of presence, of the small moments of meaning, the miracle of your child's breath, the feelings of deep human connection. When you are thinking about technology, your mind is not on all of that.

I'm one of those people that thinks things happen for a reason, and you just have to look for the reason.

The modern world thinks of art as very important: something close to the meaning of life.

Songs are about whatever you want them to be about. For me it might mean something completely different than what it means to you. So I'd say it's about whatever the listener thinks it's about.

I really love 'Cold Song.' If anyone really listens to that song and thinks about their life, there's a lot of good material deep down in there. I think if you listen to the lyrics, it may take you on some sort of a journey.