Elmore Leonard Quotes
Writing screenplays is not my business. I've written half a dozen, and maybe half of those were made. But it was never a satisfying experience. It was just work. You're an employee. You would be told what to do. Studio execs would cross out my dialogue and put in their dialogue.
Quotes to Explore
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I've always been proud that my name stands for peace.
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To be one's self, and unafraid whether right or wrong, is more admirable than the easy cowardice of surrender to conformity.
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For me, songwriting starts with a melody. When a musician plays a chord progression, either the words and vocal melody come to me, or they don't. That's how I determine who to write with. It works, or it doesn't.
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Denied anything ardently desired, the individual or state will argue and parley just so long - then, if the impelling motive be sufficiently great, will cast aside every rule and break down every acquired inhibition, plunging viciously after the object wished; all the more fantastically savage because of previous repression.
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I ain't just collab-ing with anybody. Because I don't care about making friends. I got enough friends.
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Individuals should think about the worst-case scenarios and plan for them. The world will be crazier than you think it will be. Put money away, and then you can live with much more freedom.
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The secrets of slavery are concealed like those of the Inquisition.
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My sculptures cause an uproar, astonishment, and put a smile on your face.
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I have my own voice and can focus only on that. I know what I like; I find my inspirations in so many other places than just online and bring that into my work.
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I believe that there may be intelligent life on other planets.
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More and more, cultural groups are cross-pollinating, and we're getting much more interesting art as a result.
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What is this world? A mere curl of smoke for the wind to scatter.
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All the old great companies were run by guys who knew what an animator meant, and guys who knew how to draw. All the companies today are run by executives.
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For gay people, we learned about our lives in secrecy and a lot of fear.
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People sometimes wear shirts that are really boxy, and you can see them over the top of their trousers, which doesn't look right to me.
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Nearly every study shows that competition from cheap foreign labor undercuts the wages of American workers and legal immigrants.
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If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning: just as, if there were no light in the universe and therefore no creatures with eyes, we should never know it was dark. Dark would be without meaning.
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I split my commission and personal work about 50 per cent each. It is important to get that balance in life.
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Life is not fair. And you have to choose your battles, because there are some that you cannot win. If you're passionate about something, then you should pick up your flag and run with it.
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In the late '90s, R&B was dominant in the radio, and the white kids were taking it mainstream.
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It's a completely different thing, but there's so many things I learned from being an athlete that helped me in business. The only risk is not taking the risk. You've got to take that step.
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Smoking kills. If you're killed, you've lost a very important part of your life.
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We always said that directors work their whole lives to get final cut on a movie. We have that. So why would you want to run away from what every other director is sprinting toward their entire careers?
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Writing screenplays is not my business. I've written half a dozen, and maybe half of those were made. But it was never a satisfying experience. It was just work. You're an employee. You would be told what to do. Studio execs would cross out my dialogue and put in their dialogue.
