David Shields Quotes
The essential gesture of the contemporary novel is to get people to turn the page, to entertain them, and I hate that. I want a novel where the gesture is towards existential investigation on every page. That, to me, is thrilling.
Quotes to Explore
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What's great about stand-up is that you can say whatever you want and go around the country, and sometimes the world, and work on it and see how people react. You don't need Standards & Practices or notes from lawyers or producers to tell you what's funny.
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The Midwest breeds funny, eccentric people, to varying degrees. You play shows not because you're expecting to get a record deal, but to do something fun outside of mowing lawns. Everything else is just gravy... Or mustard.
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Usually when you're working is when people want you to work. They don't want you as much when you're not working. That's the frustrating nature of our business.
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The more people pointed at me in scorn the more stubborn I got and when they began calling me the Bad Girl of West Seattle High, I tried to live up to it.
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It is not true that people are naturally equal for no two people can be together for even a half an hour without one acquiring an evident superiority over the other.
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I'm not going to change the world overnight. It's one person at a time, and hopefully they're people in positions of power who can help people get in those roles and really, truly embrace colorblind casting.
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I've been working for many years and I think I've managed to work with some of the best people in the business, which has been rewarding and an apprenticeship.
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People who have a sense of peace that their priorities are in the right place also have a sense of humility and a realistic view on life.
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You have to understand that while I pre-plot the meta story of a given book, I often have no idea of what will happen on the next page, let alone the next chapter. That's what makes it fun for me; I write the books the same way many people read them.
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I love helping friends, and I like to think I am a good listener and supportive. I'm also just kind of nosy, so it would satisfy my need to know other people's stories.
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I want to know what people thought and what they wore and what they ate for breakfast.
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Personally, I'm not into reality shows - I can't even name a reality show that I was a really big fan of, altogether as a whole, not just from MTV. Like, if ABC has another reality show, I'm like, 'Oh God, another reality show.' But people love them. 'The Hills', 'Laguna Beach'... those do extremely well. It's just a personal preference.
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All these police treating our people wrong, man. Black lives matter, but we got fans of all different colors, so all lives matter.
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I'm really private, and also, when I'm home, I'm home. I don't like people in on my business. I believe that you can be overexposed.
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'Jaws' was the ultimate man vs. nature movie, and it was a movie that was basically three people against the elements, so that was the biggest influence on 'Frozen.'
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When you're in a high-stress situation, dynamics between people can change.
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I think it's really the job of the composer, the artist, the painter, the writer to present people with options. I'm just really reflecting the thoughts and actions around me.
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When you rely on incentives, you undermine virtues. Then when you discover that you actually need people who want to do the right thing, those people don't exist because you've crushed anyone's desire to do the right thing with all these incentives.
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The second somebody dies somebody else is born People are celebrating while other people morn Home may be home to you but to me it's foreign Even the matador don't pull the bull by the horns
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I'm a liberal, but I'm not biased. Seriously.
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I'm in a great situation because I know what kind of player I want to be, I know where I'm going to be, and I know what I have to do to get there and I'm around the right guys.
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I remember unbelievable tension in our home. There were lots of meetings, lots of worries. I remember my father told me I had to be careful of what I said on the phone because it was tapped. And I remember how his friends adored and revered him.
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Most artists like to think of themselves as rugged individualists, as independent characters.
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The essential gesture of the contemporary novel is to get people to turn the page, to entertain them, and I hate that. I want a novel where the gesture is towards existential investigation on every page. That, to me, is thrilling.
