William Jay Smith Quotes
I have always used a great variety of verse forms, especially in my poetry for children. I believe that poetry begins in childhood and that a poet who can remember his own childhood exactly can, and should, communicate to children.
Quotes to Explore
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My daughter is my passion and my life.
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The first 'Monsters, Inc.' represents starting at Pixar for me, I have a special place in my heart for it. So to be able to tell a story with those ideas is an honor.
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That's what Kiss is all about - not just music, but entertainment, y'know? We're there to take you away from your problems, and rock and roll all night and party every day for those two hours you're at the concert.
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I was never one to sit down and write a plan for my future.
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The words of truth are always paradoxical.
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Here's how adaptation works - almost everything in the movie is in the book in some form. But it's as though the deck has been completely reshuffled and some of the cards have been assigned different values, some of the fours have been made into jacks, and some of the jacks have been made into twos.
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I sang for my family. And I think probably the first time I sang and got paid for it, I was about 6 or 7.
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I had a strong vision for 'The Best Man Holiday,' so I was able to translate that to the actors and ultimately to the screen. Things can't get too heavy or too outrageously funny; it has to strike a balance. Tone is everything. If you've set the right tone, you can get away with a lot of stuff. You can get away with making people cry.
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I've been in situations where I was the only black guy. We're in a time now where nobody wants to see that. But it still happens.
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Some indeed have tears naturally, when the higher motion of the soul makes itself felt in the lower, or because God our Lord, seeing that it would be good for them, allows them to melt into tears. But this does not mean that they have greater charity or that they are more effective than others who enjoy no tears.
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My dad is often horrified by what I've spent my money on.
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One of the areas I have a little less confidence in is giving any kind of a speech.
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There aren't always, especially in low-income communities, the arts and the dance and the drama and the things that can really show a kid, 'Look, even if I'm three years behind in math, there's something I'm good at that can help me be successful in life.'
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I was a sophomore in college, and I did an industrial video about how to use the Internet - that dates me! It was with John Turturro, somehow they had gotten John Turturro to do this thing, and I was so excited and so nervous I probably drank 10 cups of coffee that morning.
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I started as an engineer. I migrated to philosophy and international politics. And I did my studies about African – Africa democracy and democratization in Africa, taking Kenya as a model. And then, while I was doing so in 1996 in South Africa, Al Jazeera was established. So they requested me to be an analyst on African affairs.
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Sometimes the road less traveled is less traveled for a reason.
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Every community has crime and violence; it's a part of being human. This idea that black communities are more violent than others is just false. But black folks fight the hardest for our communities. Before governments do, before other people do, we're the first ones to show up. We are the first ones to fight for our lives.
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I don't typically work that late into the night in a studio, I'm more productive during the day.
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The great thing about all my siblings is we all agree we had a horrendous childhood. It's not like it doesn't affect us now; it affects us every day, in everything we do.
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To be perfectly honest with you, having a mother as an actress -- who I watched struggle tremendously during my childhood -- and to watch fluctuations of ups and downs is difficult. She did mainly television, so I think I associated that with a life of inconsistency. As I've come into my own, I realize it has nothing to do with the medium. It has broadened my horizons in my own mind and ultimately it is about the character for me. If I read something and I fall in love with the character, no matter what it is, I'm eager to do it. That is what happened with Gwen [on "Angel"].
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Every debate in Washington is about how much to increase spending - a little or a lot.
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I feel that its our children who do give us hope because they are the ones who are going to save the world.
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I have always used a great variety of verse forms, especially in my poetry for children. I believe that poetry begins in childhood and that a poet who can remember his own childhood exactly can, and should, communicate to children.
