John Edgar Wideman Quotes
That's been my routine for years and years... Up early before everybody else, before I get connected, before I get bugged, before I have obligations. Get the writing done first, then be the person I want to be in other ways after that.
Quotes to Explore
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Not really, drums found me, I just liked music, all kinds of music.
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The fact that we live in a world where black people have to strategize so they're not brutalized by police is insane.
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A woman should be an illusion.
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The art of storytelling is reaching its end because the epic side of truth, wisdom, is dying out.
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Writers should provoke disagreement.
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Adding 'just kidding' doesn't make it okay to insult the Principal.
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I had luck, but I worked hard and I suffered. It's not just photography I'm talking about. It's about whatever dream you want it to be.
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But as long as you're creating the art you want to create, if people start liking you, you shouldn't have to apologize. You want your stuff to be heard by as many people as possible.
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I wasn't completely comfortable in the footy culture because I wasn't that comfortable in my own skin, which I am now. I'd fit in better now, but I don't miss the training and the injuries you get playing footy.
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It's very hard to put forth a film that's about love and the joy of love and for it not to be patronising and not make people nauseous or make them roll their eyes.
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I never carry a purse. My iPhone is always with me, a credit card, and a piece of mint chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream gum.
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The only way a kid is going to practice is if it's total fun for him... and it was for me.
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Experimenting with different sounds is great, but when it comes down to it, you're still playing a guitar.
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I actually made a website called Y2 Combinator, which was the Y Combinator that starts Y Combinator clones. There's a very clear difference in the quality between the companies that come from YC and the companies that don't.
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We had a kid. The kid was awesome. She didn't fall asleep easily. We complained about it. We got frustrated. But we didn't look for an out. We just accepted that this was part of parenting.
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'Lost' is about a bunch of people stranded on an island. It's compelling, but kind of tiny. But what sustains you are the characters.
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If you believe what you like in the gospels, and reject what you don't like, it is not the gospel you believe, but yourself.
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I used to play all the time. I would play football when it was light and read when it was dark.
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With a smaller setting, you have a lot more freedom and flexibility within a given moment, but not necessarily the velocity you have with a big band.
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Old age, after all, is merely the punishment for having lived.
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I never thought about writing a novel until I was 13, and that happened by chance. I was on school holidays, and I was bored, and I thought I just wanted to do something to occupy myself instead of asking, 'What can I do, mum? Entertain me.' I started, and it really just took over, and I realised, 'Wow, this is an amazing experience.'
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The world is not checking in with us to see what skills we've picked up, what idea we've concocted, what dreams we carry in our hearts. When a job opens, whether it's in the chorus line or on the assembly line, it goes to the person standing there. It goes to the eager beaver the boss sees when he looks up from his work: the pint-sized kid standing at the basketball court on the playground waiting for one of the older boys to head home. "Hey, kid, wanna play?"
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It's rare you get an idea from a dream. I can't really recall a story that ever worked out that way. I think in 35 years of writing, that I've ever had a dream that held up. They're much too dislocated
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That's been my routine for years and years... Up early before everybody else, before I get connected, before I get bugged, before I have obligations. Get the writing done first, then be the person I want to be in other ways after that.
