Lawrence Wright quotes - page 2

Look at what Jimmy Carter did. Look at the risks he took for a country that wasn't his. Israel has benefited unbelievably from that. To fail to give him credit seems unfair. (Lawrence Wright)
Jimmy Carter is not loved in Israel, and yet no American president gave them a greater gift than Jimmy Carter gave them with peace with Egypt, and the opportunity to make peace with the Palestinians. View quote
Lawrence Wright
I grew up in the American South, the segregated South. Now we have a black man who is president. It was an age of apartheid, and now that's over. It was an age of two superpowers frozen in a cold war, and now that's resolved. So history marches on, except for this Arab-Israel conflict, which seems to have a claim on being eternal. View quote
Lawrence Wright
IRS is very poorly equipped to make a distinction between what is a religion and what is not. View quote
Lawrence Wright
Radicalism usually prospers in the gap between rising expectations and declining opportunities. This is especially true where the population is young, idle, and bored; where the art is impoverished; where entertainment-movies, theater, music-is policed or absent altogether; and where young men are set apart from the consoling and socializing presence of women. View quote
Lawrence Wright
There are many countries where you can only believe more or you can believe less. But in the United States we have this incredible smorgasbord, and it really interests me why people are drawn to one faith rather than another, especially to a system of belief that to an outsider seems absurd or dangerous. View quote
Lawrence Wright
In response to nearly a thousand queries, the Scientology delegation handed over forty-eight binders of supporting material, stretching nearly seven linear feet. View quote
Lawrence Wright
When I heard the news that Osama bin Laden was killed by U. S. forces in Pakistan, I had a lot of questions. And one of the people I wanted to talk to was Lawrence Wright. He's joined us several times on the show. He won a Pulitzer Prize for his 2006 book The Looming Tower: Al-Qaida and the Road to 9/11, which is based in part on more than 500 interviews, including interviews with friends and relatives of bin Laden. View quote
Lawrence Wright
I've studied Jonestown, radical Islam. They're oftentimes good-hearted people, idealistic, but full of a kind of crushing certainty that eliminates doubt. View quote
Lawrence Wright
What I've learned is that everybody really wants to sell their story. No matter who they are, everybody feels that what they're doing is the right thing, and if they could only explain themselves to a reasonable person that understands them, then maybe they'll listen. View quote
Lawrence Wright
Societies that depend on natural resources tend to have certain inherent problems. The limited concentration of wealth - whether from oil, coal, diamonds, or bauxite - often leads to corruption and authoritarianism. (Lawrence Wright)
When the price of oil goes up, the entire Texas economy takes a deep breath. Millionaires blossom like rain lilies. News races through the countryside that the money train is pulling into the station. Hop on board! View quote
Lawrence Wright
In places where money comes out of the ground, luck and a willingness to take risks are the main denominators that determine one's future, not talent or education or hard work. Money that is so easily acquired somehow comes to seem well deserved, because those who have it must be either uniquely perspicacious or divinely favored. View quote
Lawrence Wright
When you're first starting on a project, you feel shy because you don't know very much, and you know that you're going to be ignorant and seem ignorant. View quote
Lawrence Wright
Oftentimes, when I was reporting on conflict somewhere in the world or prison or wherever I might be, I'd be struck by the fact that religious beliefs were sometimes transformative, sometimes a motivation for violence. View quote
Lawrence Wright
I was in Austin on 9/11, and there were no flights, so I couldn't get to New York to cover the story, so I had to find more creative ways. View quote
Lawrence Wright
The U.S. is such an unusual place in the world because you can believe anything you want. View quote
Lawrence Wright
Scientology plays an outsize role in the cast of new religions that have arisen in the 20th century and survived into the 21st. View quote
Lawrence Wright
A documentary film is a great way of helping people understand because, somehow, when one is able to see the people involved, it lends a certain immediacy and understanding that is hard to get on the page. View quote
Lawrence Wright
A donkey is a very useful beast of burden. View quote
Lawrence Wright
Certainly, the two things Scientology has on its side are money and lawyers, but those qualities won't save it if it can't find a way to bring new members into the fold. (Lawrence Wright)
Dallas was a place where dreamers like my father were given a chance. View quote
Lawrence Wright
Contempt for men pervades the most obscure strata of our society. View quote
Lawrence Wright
Life gives you so many alternatives to choose from, and... you judge these as best as you can until something comes along like 9/11. And it's the central event of my lifetime, so I knew I had to write about that. View quote
Lawrence Wright
If you get into Scientology, you will go to auditing. It's like therapy except that there is an E-meter between you and your auditor. That's a device that actually measures your galvanic skin responses. It's two metal cans that you hold. They used to be Campbell's Soup cans with the label scraped off. View quote
Lawrence Wright