Bryant H. McGill Quotes
Do not let your grand ambitions stand in the way of small but meaningful accomplishments.
Quotes to Explore
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It is better not to express what one means than to express what one does not mean.
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I like quiet. No television cameras. I'm not the Hollywood type.
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I'm not a writer; I'm an actor. My job is to take whatever character I'm given and - especially because I have the responsibility of being a black actress, and I know young black girls are looking up, and everyone's looking to what's on television - to just try to give whatever character I'm playing as three-dimensional a portrayal as I can.
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You can imagine me as a kid growing up in redneck Texas with ballet shoes, tucking the violin under my arm. I had to fight my way up.
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I was always looking for evidence of these common musical roots, but I was too young to know that what I was doing was called ethnomusicology.
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My brother and I had many games. We were inseparable. We had a little team going on between us. We had even a language that was kind of like pig latin. So we'd speak in the language. It's called Op.
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Near the end of my career, I saw things that didn't make too much sense to me when I was a kid.
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Singing in Yiddish was a great thrill for me and came about through Joe Papp, the founder of The Public Theater.
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Character is higher than intellect. A great soul will be strong to live as well as think.
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I love thinking about the film, the project and committing myself as much as possible.
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The truth is that the history of Mexico is a history in the image of its geography: abrupt and tortuous. Each historical period is like a plateau surrounded by tall mountains and separated from the other plateaus by precipices and divides.
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Making the record was tons of fun, the most fun I've ever had.
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I go to assume a task more difficult than that which devolved upon Washington. Unless the great God, who assisted him, shall be with me and aid me, I must fail; but if the same omniscient mind and almighty arm that directed and protected him shall guide and support me, I shall not fail - I shall succeed.
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I bought my first electric guitar when I moved to Memphis; a Gibson with a DeArmond pickup which I used with a small Gibson amplifier.
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So I had a couple of years of playing trumpet. I really enjoyed it, but it was not the kind of instrument you could whip out at a party. Let's face it.
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In all these years, I've understood one thing: that it's only your work that should do all the talking.
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I'm interested in the murky areas where there are no clear answers - or sometimes multiple answers. It's here that I try to imagine patterns or codes to make sense of the unknowns that keep us up at night. I'm also interested in the invisible space between people in communication; the space guided by translation and misinterpretation.
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When I was younger I would go to the airport with my friends and drive out 2 A.M., 3 A.M. in the morning and just hang out until sunrise watching planes fly in and fly out. Just sit there and dream about how, one day, that's going to be us in those flights. We're gonna be one of those people with places to go.
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We wish to be treated 'not as ordinary prisoners,' for we are not criminals. We admit no crime - unless, that is, the love of one's people and country is a crime.
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Don't want terrorism in US? Stop importing Muslims!
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I did a lot of theater as a young actor in my early twenties, and my first few records really came from writing songs through the rehearsal processes.
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Being, not doing, is my first joy.
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Who are you without your girls? I truly believe that. Who are you without the people who help you make sense of the misogyny, the racism, the economic struggle, all of it? You need those people saying you're a good mom, a great writer. You're a great dresser. You cook well. Whatever the beauty is that you need to hear.
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Do not let your grand ambitions stand in the way of small but meaningful accomplishments.
