John Edgar Wideman Quotes
Quotes to Explore
-
My inspiration for writing is all the wonderful books that I read as a child and that I still read. I think that for those of us who write, when we find a wonderful book written by someone else, we don't really get jealous, we get inspired, and that's kind of the mark of what a good writer is.
-
I don't see myself as ever being like anybody else.
-
With every bathroom renovation, there are three areas that I focus on: budget, function and style.
-
This field is not necessarily glamorous, nor does it often produce immediate results, but it seeks to increase our basic understanding of living processes.
-
There is no point in pointing fingers because there are three fingers pointing back at you.
-
You don't actually have control of the position people want you to be in. If they say, 'You king of the blacks,' you're king of the blacks - whether you like it or not.
-
Public opinion polls are rather like children in a garden, digging things up all the time to see how they're growing.
-
Sometimes it takes dealing with a disability - the trauma, the relearning, the months of rehabilitation therapy - to uncover our true abilities and how we can put them to work for us in ways we may have never imagined.
-
I have a couple of girlfriends who've told me some horror stories but I've never had a really terrible kiss before.
-
And if you don't have your ears open, you're not going to be able to figure out what you should be doing.
-
I didn't start off as a journalist; I started off as a poet. My ambition was to practise poetry. Then I found journalism, but that other voice never fled from me.
-
In my home country, there was a little shop with old books, but it was really in the countryside. You couldn't find English books. I found this very avant-garde American art book that had information about Georgia O'Keeffe. I was very much impressed by her.
-
Americanism demands loyalty to the teacher and respect for his lesson.
-
I think about architecture all the time. That's the problem. But I've always been like that. I dream it sometimes.
-
I know it's a cliche, but I see myself as a citizen of the world. I was brought up in Switzerland by German and Turkish parents but I've very much grown up in San Francisco. I have a European sense of aesthetic, but I'm also deeply steeped in the notion of change and entrepreneurship that is associated with Silicon Valley.
-
I was in a group called Wild Orchid and it just wasn't working. I wasn't being myself. What I should have done was say. 'Girls, it's really time for me to go on my own. I need to fulfill this dream of mine to have a solo album.' And I didn't know how to do that. I wanted to please them.
-
To try to fashion something from suffering, to relish our triumphs, and to endure defeats without resentment: all that is compatible with the faith of a heretic.
-
I started performing opera when I was 10 years old. I didn't perform as Zola Jesus until I was probably 18.
-
It pays to be obvious, especially if you have a reputation for subtlety.
-
When in charge, take charge, but treat your subordinates with respect, dignity, and common courtesy.
-
I'm a huge country music fan, and there are so many girls that I look up to, especially Carrie Underwood, which everyone knows because I've shouted it out for a while now.
-
I'm into 'The Walking Dead,' 'Shaun of the Dead,' obviously, and I've seen all the Romero movies. I am a classic zombie queen. And I love the White Walkers on 'Game of Thrones.' Weirdly, it wasn't until pretty late in life that I found my entry point into horror films.
-
I was always just an ambitious kid from early. I always knew that I had a purpose and I was destined for something big, great.
-
Books were my Internet, my TV, my movies all rolled into one.
