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Sherman Alexie
18 quotes
“I knew — because of my race, and my class, and rural geography ... all these forces that crush all sorts of American kids, crush their hopes and dreams — I knew I had no chance unless I left and went to a better school.”
Sherman Alexie (born 1966) first seen 2017 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On Alexie’s realization that the school on his reservation offered few educational opportunities in “Sherman Alexie Says He's Been 'Indian Du Jour' For A 'Very Long Day'” in NPR (2017 Jun 20)
“My father was always depressed. When he was home and sober, he was mostly in his room…You always knew they were coming: he was never violent, but short-tempered. It wasn't a violent house, but a violent reservation.”
Sherman Alexie (born 1966) first seen 2008 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On his father’s depression in “All rage and heart” in The Guardian (2008 May 2)
“…It wasn't just the influence of tribal cultures, it was the assimilation into fundamentalist Christianity, which is even more warrior culture, even more honor culture, and even more suspicious of difference. So I was getting bombarded not only by the more fundamentalist aspects of my tribe, but the more fundamentalist aspects of our assimilation into Christianity. So that was going on all around us, and, in fact, in second grade we had this ex-nun teacher who put us into stress positions as torture.”
Sherman Alexie (born 1966) first seen 2017 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On being bullied as a child in “Sherman Alexie Says He's Been 'Indian Du Jour' For A 'Very Long Day'” in NPR (2017 Jun 20)
“It was arrogance…I had the feeling I was going to be successful, and I didn't want to be another disappointing Indian. The mess my father was, it broke my heart. I didn't want to break an Indian kid's heart.”
Sherman Alexie (born 1966) first seen 2008 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On why he quit binge drinking upon receiving a poetry award in “All rage and heart” in The Guardian (2008 May 2)
“When a glass sits on a table here, people don't wonder if it's half filled or half empty. They just hope it's good beer.”
Sherman Alexie (born 1966) first seen 1993 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven (1993)
“My 2017 is gonna be white liberals shocked about white racism & white conservatives denying white racism exists. Just like every other year.”
Sherman Alexie (born 1966) first seen 2016 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Dec. 31, 2016 on Twitter, quoted here
“Thomas: Hey Victor! I'm sorry 'bout your dad. Victor: How'd you hear about it? Thomas: I heard it on the wind. I heard it from the birds. I felt it in the sunlight. And your mom was just in here cryin'.”
Sherman Alexie (born 1966) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Victor: Get Stoic.”
Sherman Alexie (born 1966) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Thomas: Sometimes it's a good day to die, and sometimes it's a good day to have breakfast.”
Sherman Alexie (born 1966) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Nurse: You guys are like the Lone Ranger and Tonto. Thomas: We're more like Tonto and Tonto.”
Sherman Alexie (born 1966) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Victor: White people won't respect you if you don't look mean. You have to look like a warrior, like you just got back from killing a buffalo. Thomas: But our tribe never hunted buffalo. We were fishermen. Victor: What, you want to look like you just caught a fish? This isn't Dances with Salmon, you know!”
Sherman Alexie (born 1966) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Randy Peone: It's a good day to be indigenous!”
Sherman Alexie (born 1966) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“He hated to leave, but he loved his work. He was a man, and men needed to work. More sexism! More masculine tunnel vision! More need for gender-sensitivity workshops!”
Sherman Alexie (born 1966) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“He wondered if she would dream about a man who never left her, about some unemployed agoraphobic Indian warrior who liked to wash dishes.”
Sherman Alexie (born 1966) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I don't want long hair, I don't want short hair, I don't want hair at all, and I don't want to be a girl or a boy, I want to be a yellow-orange leaf some little kid picks up and pastes in his scrapbook.”
Sherman Alexie (born 1966) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[Flying into Baltimore after 9/11] I didn't want to see some pacifist, vegan, whole-wheat, free-range, organic, progressive, gray-ponytail, communist, liberal, draft-dodging, NPR-listening wimp! What are they going to do if somebody tries to hijack the plane? Throw a Birkenstock at him? Offer him some pot?...I was hoping for about twenty-five NRA-loving, gun-nut, serial-killing, psychopathic, Ollie North, Norman Schwarzkopf, right-wing, Agent Orange, post-traumatic-stress-disorder, CIA, FBI, automatic-weapon, smart-bomb, laser-sighting bastards!”
Sherman Alexie (born 1966) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Oh, I'm sorry, sir, if I offended you. I am not anti-Semitic. I love all of my brothers and sisters. Jews, Catholics, Buddhists, even the atheists, I love them all. Like you Americans sing, 'Joy to the world and Jeremiah Bullfrog!”
Sherman Alexie (born 1966) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“William always scanned the airports and airplanes for little brown guys who reeked of fundamentalism. That meant William was equally afraid of Osama bin Laden and Jerry Falwell wearing the last vestiges of a summer tan. William himself was a little brown guy, so the other travelers were always sniffing around him, but he smelled only of Dove soap, Mennen deoderant, and sarcasm.”
Sherman Alexie (born 1966) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source