Henry Louis Gates Quotes
Quotes to Explore
-
Writing about the future and the past is less a way of dramatizing change than of showing, by way of contrast, what abides.
-
Black people were very angry with me for writing the book. A lot of people didn't believe me, or didn't want to believe me, and that used to really bother me. It was a very painful and difficult time.
-
I have no interest in writing, directing or producing.
-
There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.
-
Cities can be the engine of social equity and economic opportunity. They can help us reduce our carbon footprint and protect the global environment. That is why it is so important that we work together to build the capacity of mayors and all those concerned in planning and running sustainable cities.
-
Writing blurbs for books means you have to read the book, and it cuts into the business of bookselling. So every time I get a blurb from a bookseller, I try to write a thank you note.
-
I gave up writing children's books. I wanted to escape from them as I had once wanted to escape from 'Punch': as I have always wanted to escape. In vain.
-
After I left Texas and went to California, I had a hard time getting anyone to play anything that I was writing, so I had to end up playing them myself. And that's how I ended up just being a saxophone player.
-
California is a very important state. As goes California, so goes the nation. We need to have strong leadership. Someone who can hit the ground running.
-
You need to get outside of your comfort zone to write songs that are interesting, songs that are compelling, songs that are different from what other people are writing.
-
You need to understand that a skilled professional songwriter can accelerate your success as an already talented musician. These people are writing every single day, so their craft is really sharp, and it's the best songwriters who consistently get on the radio.
-
I still drive my 1977 Honda Accord. The paint is almost all worn off. It's still running.
-
Local markets for literary fiction remain underdeveloped; the metropolis often holds out the only real possibility of a professional writing career.
-
I would love to continue acting. Maybe one day I would like to try writing and directing.
-
Plus, we spend most of our time writing music. Most of the time is spent in the studio in my house.
-
Writing is a discipline: it's almost all about holding back.
-
Do activities you're passionate about - which make your heart and soul feel perky - including things like working out, cooking, painting, writing, yoga, hiking, walking, swimming, being in nature, being around art, or reading inspiring books.
-
When I was younger, I avoided exercise or anything strenuous. I didn't even enjoy walking. As I got older, I spent so much time marking books or sitting at a desk writing that there was no room for exercise - not that I would have bothered anyway.
-
I think the key to writing hit songs is simplicity.
-
Put your goals on paper, or an Excel spreadsheet. Measure every day, 'Did I do my best to...?' Your problems won't disappear, but you will exist in a different relation to them, and you will improve.
-
The sea has this contradictory quality, that the more you see of it, the more it overwhelms the eye and disappears in its own brightness. Like a flame, whose meaning is light but whose centre is dark, it demands to be undefined.
-
Modesty is the conscience of the body.
-
Let your dreams be bigger than your fears and your actions louder than your words.
-
The first slave to read and write was the first to run away.
