Derek Walcott Quotes
I think I would have been a totally different kind of writer if I'd gone to England. I might have developed a cynicism about my origins, a belittling of them, or an excessive nostalgia for them.
Quotes to Explore
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I got fired for giving coffee away. It was just my regulars. I'd say, 'Don't worry about it,' and they'd put down a dollar tip. Technically, I was stealing. Ethically, I was boosting morale!
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Economically, we are, to some significant degree, interdependent with Chinese well-being. That is a great asset.
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I'm very drawn to characters who are very flawed. I'm less interested in characters who are just good or bad, because to me then they're not real people.
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My man has to be more intelligent than I am, which is difficult to find. He should definitely be more successful than me, which is not so difficult to find. I'd be a fool to expect a better looking man than me, which is impossible to find.
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In the past it seemed like I was making fun of rap a little bit. But it was more me making fun of myself, since I'm not technically a rapper, whatever that means.
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It's amazing how a competitive nature can turn a negative into something positive.
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At times it is folly to hasten at other times, to delay. The wise do everything in its proper time.
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I love iTunes as much as anybody. It's very convenient and very easy. But there is nothing like the vibe that you get when you walk into a record store. And I think a lot of people are still thrilled to spend a half hour there and go through the bins and make some purchases.
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Every word is like an unnecessary stain on silence and nothingness.
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My show is my statement. What I have to say is on the screen. My life is my own. I don't want to talk about my private self. Why should I?
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In 1989, I was on Tiananmen Square with the students, living in their makeshift tents and joining their jubilant singing of the Internationale. In the two decades since, each time that I have gone back, visions from those days seem to return with increasing persistence.
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Being a musician, it's my job to be real and be true to whoever I am. Hopefully that will inspire other people. I hope it inspires people to be themselves and be comfortable in your own skin.
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I've become the hunted. I'm enjoying that. It's better to be the hunted than the hunter.
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If only we could pull out our brain and use only our eyes.
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I don't feel famous.
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The mentality with African and European people is different. In Africa, when you come from a difficult life, when it's not so easy to eat, not so easy to survive, you respect money when you start to earn it, and you respect people more. When you respect people, they will respect you, and your life is better for that.
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I've got nothing to be ashamed of.
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The white man's dollar is his god, and to stop this will be to stop outrages in many localities.
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I came together with younger musicians and tried to pass on my own experiences. In the process, I always tried to maintain my curiosity and spontaneity.
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If you read the whole Vertigo 'Animal Man' series of 89 issues or whatever, each writer has a completely different take on his origin. If you try to put them all together, they contradict one another. I had to pick and choose to make up a new origin that makes sense to new readers.
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The part of capitalism that doesn't work for me is when capitalists make decisions in the way that Adam Smith suggested, which is that as long as you do everything in the interest of the investor, you're going to actually make the best decisions for all other stakeholders. I don't happen to agree with that.
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Many promising reconciliations have broken down because while both parties come prepared to forgive, neither party come prepared to be forgiven.
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Facts are the enemy of truth.
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I think I would have been a totally different kind of writer if I'd gone to England. I might have developed a cynicism about my origins, a belittling of them, or an excessive nostalgia for them.
