“if you wanted to do something absolutely honest, something true, it always turned out to be a thing that had to be done alone.”

— Richard Yates , book Revolutionary Road

Source: Revolutionary Road

Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "if you wanted to do something absolutely honest, something true, it always turned out to be a thing that had to be done…" by Richard Yates?

Richard Yates 24

Novelist, short story writer 1926–1992

Steve Maraboli (1975)

Source: Life, the Truth, and Being Free (2010), p. 97

“If you want something you have never had, you must be willing to do something you have never done.”

Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) 3rd President of the United States of America

Not found in Jefferson's writings, according to the Jefferson Monticello center https://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/if-you-want-something-you-have-never-had-quotation. First known appearance in print is from 2004.
Misattributed

“Do you want to make a point or do you want to make a change? do you want to get something off your chest, or do you want to get something done?”

Richard Nixon (1913–1994) 37th President of the United States of America

Campaign speech in Michigan (1968) https://books.google.com/?id=uXRx5hGm8zYC&dq="Do+you+want+to+make+a+point+or+do+you+want+to+make+a+change"&pg=PA17
1960s

“Shyness is when you turn your head away from something you want. Shame is when you turn your head away from something you do not want.”

Jonathan Safran Foer book Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

"My Feelings" (p. 179)
Source: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (2005)

“The intention was really to do something dignified, something that is honest and reflects the work that this Organization does. And it is with that spirit that the producers and the directors approached their work, and I hope you will all agree they have done that.”

Kofi Annan (1938–2018) 7th Secretary-General of the United Nations

On the film The Interpreter, from "Secretary-General's press encounter" (19 April 2005) http://www.un.org/apps/sg/offthecuff.asp?nid=719

“Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.”

Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) American general and politician, 34th president of the United States (in office from 1953 to 1961)

As quoted in The Federal Career Service: A Look Ahead (1954)
1950s
Variant: Now I think, speaking roughly, by leadership we mean the art of getting someone else to do something that you want done because he wants to do it.

“I don't know, there's something about you. Say there's an hourglass: the sand's about to run out. Someone like you can always be counted on to turn the thing over.”

Haruki Murakami book A Wild Sheep Chase

Source: A Wild Sheep Chase: A Novel (1982), Chapter 2: Sixteen Steps

“If you convey to a woman that something ought to be done, there is always a dreadful danger that she will suddenly do it.”

G. K. Chesterton book The Secret of Father Brown

The Secret of Father Brown (1927) The Song of the Flying Fish
The Father Brown Mystery Series (1910 - 1927)

“I think if you do something and it turns out pretty good, then you should go do something else wonderful, not dwell on it for too long. Just figure out what's next.”

Steve Jobs (1955–2011) American entrepreneur and co-founder of Apple Inc.

Source: "Jobs: Iconoclast and salesman" by Brian Williams, at MSNBC http://msnbc.msn.com/id/12974884/ (25 May 2006)

“Since it could be done what was the use of doing it, and anyway you always have to stop doing something sometime.”

Gertrude Stein (1874–1946) American art collector and experimental writer of novels, poetry and plays

Source: Everybody’s Autobiography (1937), Ch. 4

“if you wanted to do something absolutely honest, something true, it always turned out to be a thing that had to be done alone.”

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Richard Yates 24

Related quotes

Related topics