Susan Orlean Quotes

Wealth has never been a sufficient source of honour in itself. It must be advertised, and the normal medium is obtrusively expensive.

'Power' is a funny thing. Maybe it's a show that draws people in because they are watching people do things they secretly wish they could do or know they could get away with.

Once fraternities became tied to power and leadership, the powerful and would-be-leaders wanted to join.

Language does not make one an elite.

What men prize most is a privilege, even if it be that of chief mourner at a funeral.

I don't know how many lions and leopards I've shot. I've shot two elephants, which was enough - never again. It's a melancholy and moving thing to hunt an elephant. It's like shooting an old man.

Power is not of a man. Wealth does not center in the person of the wealthy. Celebrity is not inherent in any personality. To be celebrated, to be wealthy, to have power requires access to major institutions.

You can go lots of places as Gaius Baltar that other people aren't allowed to pursue.

There was a minor burst of macho nuttiness after 'Jaws' came out, in which people would go off in shark tournaments and come back holding the bloody heads of these animals and say, 'Look what I did.' But they've been doing that for hundreds of thousands of years anyway.

Hollywood is a very small world; the people who matter matter, and the people who don't matter are just like nothing.

You don't buy luxury to enter a community, but to set yourself apart from others.

We're the only species who hunts for sport.

A Rolex watch or an expensive car are the things guys often use to show status, wealth, and basic desirability.

I have no use for people who hunt for what they call sport.

Tod's customers - whatever their nationality - want the very best things in life.

It's rarely talked about, but hunting for sport is just about as vile as we humans get.

It's not uncommon for people to overvalue the importance of demonstrating their competence and power, often at the expense of demonstrating their warmth.

Younger women are willing to go out with high status males. If you look at the kind of women Salman Rushdie attracts, they tend to be intelligent, arty types. For her, it's a kudos thing. The man just wants a good-looking girl because he imagines that when his friends see him, they'll all think, 'Gosh I wish I was him.'

There is this power that comes with being famous.

There's no Peter York Foundation, and you're no one without one.

In corporate levels, it's all about tailoring your shirt and which tennis club you belong to and which watch you are wearing and what did you shoot last week?

Horses and horsepower alike are about status and being cool.

Like most animals, we're wired to associate height with power.

People are more violently opposed to fur than leather because it's safer to harass rich women than motorcycle gangs.

Why would you want to go all the way to Africa and shoot a giraffe? I don't think you can eat him. I only shoot stuff I can eat.