Roll the Calls Quotes

“Professor Nohria citing articles, books, poems. He mentions that he’s currently reading a wonderful novel by Thomas Mann. Buddenbrooks. One of the greatest books ever written about money and business, he says. The saga of a large German family and its grain business, the novel describes the inexorable draining of family wealth, the entropy of money, which even today is called the Buddenbrooks effect. Everything breaks down. Success is a state of mind, a moment you savor, not a mansion you own.”
― Ari Emanuel, Roll the Calls: A Memoir

“The calling. My God, the constant calling. So much calling. Are you happy, Larry? Are you happy, Larry? I can’t. I will make you my agent if you just promise to stop calling. Just leave me the fuck alone!”
― Ari Emanuel, Roll the Calls: A Memoir

“How will people access these ten thousand networks? The author, George Gilder, predicted we’ll all walk around with little handheld electronic devices, hybrid phone-computer-TV gizmos, which he called teleputers.”
― Ari Emanuel, Roll the Calls: A Memoir

“I’m still not sure what I want to be in this world. But of all the things I don’t want to be, obsolete tops the list.”
― Ari Emanuel, Roll the Calls: A Memoir

“No. Fuck no. Quite the contrary. Loving forgetfulness of self, that’s how one Victorian philosopher described the thing we learn from having a family. But Noah’s first night I’ve never been more intensely aware of myself.”
― Ari Emanuel, Roll the Calls: A Memoir

“Wiatt seizes any opportunity to deliver his autobiography. His love language is filibuster.”
― Ari Emanuel, Roll the Calls: A Memoir

“All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.”
― Ari Emanuel, Roll the Calls: A Memoir

“Opening night’s always just ahead. Next week, next month, we’ll get this thing right. Places, everybody! Let’s run through it one more time! From the top!”
― Ari Emanuel, Roll the Calls: A Memoir

“All this talk, talk, talk with Strickler and Ricky about starting our own thing—what have we been waiting for? It’s so clear now: Life is not a dress rehearsal.”
― Ari Emanuel, Roll the Calls: A Memoir

“Every deal’s imperfect because we are imperfect. · Which is how I feel about Trump. Not the deal I wanted, not the deal I would’ve negotiated for America, if America were my client. But it’s the deal we’ve got. It’s where we’ve ended up. · The job isn’t making a perfect deal. It’s making the best deal you can, under the circumstances, then living with whatever comes of that. You got the better deal? Congrats. Now pipe down and move on, because your day’s coming. You got fucked? Condolences. Now go out and get even. And if you can’t get even, the flowchart says you’re down to one option. Get over it. ·”
― Ari Emanuel, Roll the Calls: A Memoir

“So why would I be any less loyal to myself? To betray yourself is the ultimate betrayal.”
― Ari Emanuel, Roll the Calls: A Memoir

“A friend tells me that in ancient Rome, when the emperor would return from far-off wars and don the laurel crown and drive his chariot down the main via to cheers from the populi, there was always someone in the back of the chariot, crouched behind the emperor’s ear, whispering— You are mortal.”
― Ari Emanuel, Roll the Calls: A Memoir

“but I truly feel that these men, despite their personal and political histories and the ancient hostilities between their ancestors and mine, have treated me with nothing but courtesy and respect. And grace. They’ve given me the greatest gift. Reserved judgments. It chokes me up. A matter of infinite hope. ·”
― Ari Emanuel, Roll the Calls: A Memoir

“I’m a great believer in serendipity, and you’ve got to be there, in the room, at the table, sharing air with the person, for serendipity to kick in.”
― Ari Emanuel, Roll the Calls: A Memoir

“We want something we don’t have, we want something we used to have, we wish we didn’t have something that we can’t seem to get rid of, and this leads to frustration, which leads to anxiety, which leads to rage, and finally action. Action! The most ubiquitous word in Hollywood. (No coincidence it’s often shouted.)”
― Ari Emanuel, Roll the Calls: A Memoir