Miriam Makeba (Mama Africa) Quotes
In New York I heard A Piece of Ground, written by a white South African, Jeremy Taylor. I modified it a little and sang it myself. That song is very special to me because it deals with the land question in southern Africa. We were dispossessed of our land.
Quotes to Explore
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Careers don't interest me. The only thing that interests me is continuing to be a poet on one level or another, whether acting or writing or directing.
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I'd love to do a movie like 'Bullitt.'
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Recently I've been collecting Star Wars figures again. When I was a kid I couldn't afford them. Now I can so I've been buying them and keeping them in their box for a later date when they'll be worth a lot of money.
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I save everything. I have these carefully organized file boxes. Somewhere in there is a section of the 'New York Times' where I wrote 'The Border Guard' in the margin.
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You don't master your fear. You're not able to say, 'I'm not going to be scared.' But what you can do is say, 'OK, I'm very very scared, but I have to do this and this and this.'
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When you research prolific songwriters, it is usually later in their career they write songs that they distance themselves from, or it's about other people.
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Nothing was more up-to-date when it was built, or is more obsolete today, than the railroad station.
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I love being part of huge mega blockbusters, and I love being a part of small independent films and small stage.
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My parents managed a summer camp, and it was vacant for about seven or eight months out of the year. It was in the middle of nowhere in the woods. We backed up to a state forest. So absolutely, there were creepy woods all around the house. It was easy to get lost. It was really spooky.
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I shudder at the concept of a world tamed.
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I love working with Chanel, and long may it reign, to be honest. I hope it lasts forever.
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Klutziness is endearing. I like imperfection.
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We are a categorically obsessed culture, where we have to compartmentalize everything in reference to another thing, like, 'What does it sound like? Does it sound like this?'
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It's hard to write a song about reality because reality doesn't rhyme.
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I'd like to do a piece of Shakespeare. Any upcoming Shakespeare film. Just a bit to say I did a classic.
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The most important thing about music that I've learned after all this time is that to me, it's a way of reaching the truth.
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People have given their lives to this industry to make movies compelling.
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My 20s were a lost decade. I didn't do much of anything.
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If I was to direct a movie about a super-confident guy, first of all I would hate that character. I can do a super-confident guy who crashes and burns and has to rebuild himself as somebody humble. But a super-confident guy that just gets more confident and gets the girl and the money and more success? That's not interesting.
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When I first started, it was so male-heavy, so male-dominated, that on the 18th floor of the criminal courts building, which was where I worked, there were three men's bathrooms and only one women's bathroom.
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We're at the end of an era of failed leadership. We have been led by a divider Barack Obama who has sliced and diced the electorate, pitting American against American for political purposes.
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I am moved more by melodies, song structure, and evocative textures.
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Be happy with being you. Love your flaws. Own your quirks. And know that you are just as perfect as anyone else, exactly as you are.
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In New York I heard A Piece of Ground, written by a white South African, Jeremy Taylor. I modified it a little and sang it myself. That song is very special to me because it deals with the land question in southern Africa. We were dispossessed of our land.
