Van Wyck Brooks Quotes
Nothing is so soothing to our self-esteem as to find our bad traits in our forebears. It seems to absolve us.

Quotes to Explore
-
Perfection is immutable. But for things imperfect, change is the way to perfect them.
-
I love to sit and watch people. I love to sit and listen to people.
-
The signs of climate change are visible across the nation, from the drought-stricken fields of Central California to the flooded streets of Michigan. Extreme weather is turning people's lives upside down and costing communities millions of dollars in damaged infrastructure and added health care costs.
-
But you see, I have played more good guys than I have played villains.
-
I think if you give in and accept society's stereotypes, then you start thinking, 'I cannot dance till late at night because I'm 70.'
-
I'm a wuss - a complete wuss!
-
People don't like to vote against something that's so incredibly popular.
-
I started wearing all black around the time I got into Nirvana. I first heard 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' when I was about 12, and I remember jumping on my bed, so excited about it.
-
I was never offended that people underestimated me because of my appearance or that they thought I was pretty and discouraged me from fighting because they didn't want me to risk hurting my looks.
-
Get me well so I can get on television and tell people to stop smoking.
-
If past history was all there was to the game, the richest people would be librarians.
-
I suspect that many of the great cultural shifts that prepare the way for political change are largely aesthetic. A Buick radiator grille is as much a political statement as a Rolls Royce radiator grille, one enshrining a machine aesthetic driven by a populist optimism, the other enshrining a hierarchical and exclusive social order.
-
I am a very loyal man and always keep my promises when I commit to something.
-
I love the fact that everyone's trying to be good-looking in L.A. - then I turn up and I get work.
-
Ironically, I find it harder to get a foothold in Australia than I do in the U.S. When I was in Australia, I struggled. It can be a bit of a closed shop; it can be hard for a newcomer to break in, whereas in the U.S., it has much more of an open-door policy, and they will give anyone a shot.
-
It's funny; people get so doctrinaire about music. It should be the last thing you don't have an open mind about.
-
For an introvert his environment is himself and can never be subject to startling or unforeseen change.
-
Everybody sees me as this sullen and insecure little thing. Those are just the sides of me that I feel it's necessary to show because no one else seems to be showing them.
-
I feel that my work comes alive all the time.
-
Long ago, I had to sort of learn to have a thick skin to read some of the things you read in the papers and to also keep my ego in check when you read some really flattering things in the papers.
-
I guess now that I think back, I used to play priest and be a funny priest. I don't know, I grew up in such a Catholic family that I kind of liked to test the boundaries a little bit and I think I had fun watching my mom laugh.
-
It's cool to be able to give each other that space to really explore ourselves individually and grow.
-
I grew up a child of Watergate. It gave me a good dose of skepticism about authority. One of my favorite movies is 'All the President's Men.' Woodward and Bernstein, those guys were my heroes. I have a degree in journalism.
-
Nothing is so soothing to our self-esteem as to find our bad traits in our forebears. It seems to absolve us.