John Shirley Quotes
I do try to be of some use in the world. I sometimes do volunteer work with kids, and manage to help some people a little, but really making a significant difference can be hard.
Quotes to Explore
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I've done some really weird gigs. The ones where no one turned up - they're probably not the interesting ones to talk about. I played some pretty random ones in L.A. I signed to play all-R&B nights or an all-comedy night where I'd be the only white person there. They were fun.
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I am cursed with computers; something always goes wrong.
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It would make everything I worked for meaningless if baseball is integrated but political parties were segregated.
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All my brothers and my dad at one point had dreadlocks.
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I am not reggae, I am me. I am bigger than the limits that are put on me. It all has to do with the individual journey.
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The thing about a failure is that it is possible to deny it forever.
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You have to find something there that relates to the characters and reality on some level.
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I studied the lives of jazz singers who would tour Europe, and... what I learned was life was big ride for them. They'd seen the dark side of humanity... but touring the world playing jazz, it was a truly carefree way of living. A great escapism, if you like.
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I just always wanted to be left alone to go into a creative space.
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I got disappointed in human nature as well and gave it up because I found it too much like my own.
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I think there's something really poetic about using nuclear power to propel us to the stars, because the stars are giant fusion reactors. They're giant nuclear cauldrons in the sky.
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The nearest approach I have ever seen to the symmetry of ancient sculpture was among the Arab tribes of Ethiopia. Our Saxon race can supply the athlete, but not the Apollo.
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Probably I understand very much the people who rise against injustice.
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Although my art work was heavily informed by my design work on a formal and visual level, as regards meaning and content the two practices parted ways.
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Take the time today to understand your contribution to any bad event you've just been through.
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I come by writing dialogue fairly naturally, I've got a chatty family; I'm a bit of a voyeur, and if I'm ever in a public place, I automatically find myself listening.
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You have good days, you have bad days. But the main thing is to grow mentally.
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I think my job is to keep the ball down. I always say I try to go out there and get early contact, and strikeouts just seem to happen.
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I try to write stories that will attract younger readers and make them feel part of a wider readership. I do not feel able to write books that are about, or even for, teenagers; and I am inclined to be suspicious of books which 'target' them.
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If you can't think of what to write, tough luck; write anyway. If you can think of lots more when you've finished the three pages, don't write it; it'll be that much easier to get going next day.
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It's cool to express myself, but I've had to learn that doing interviews isn't completely therapy - spilling everything about yourself isn't healthy all the time. But I've been through things that have made me a stronger person, and if I can help some people, I will.
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Randy Newman seemed like an even worse singer than me. I liked Ray Charles, Levi Stubbs, Jack Jones, Joe Tex, Wilson Pickett.
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Music should probably provide answers in terms of lyrical content, and giving people a sense of togetherness and oneness, as opposed to being alone in their thoughts and dilemmas or regrets or happiness or whatever.
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I do try to be of some use in the world. I sometimes do volunteer work with kids, and manage to help some people a little, but really making a significant difference can be hard.
