Cecil Taylor (Cecil Percival Taylor) Quotes
Quotes to Explore
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I turn into a crying, hysterical maniac when I see a spider. It's pathetic.
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I want to be here for a long time, so I am going to do everything I have to do to be here. And I want to walk my daughter down the aisle and give her away to somebody some day. I want to make sure I am still here to make sure my two young sons become men.
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I could never let the teacher down. I always worked hard, too scared to get in trouble.
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I don't write listening to music, and in a way it seems silly that any writer should have to explain why not, as it's possibly no different from saying you don't eat gourmet dinners or play tennis while you're at the keyboard.
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Every man prefers to look at a well-shaped woman instead of a rubber ball.
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I know my life story sounds too extraordinary to be true.
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My tennis is aggressive, though I wouldn't say that it's more physical than technical. I rely more on technique than physique, but being physical is always a help to me.
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My movies are painfully personal, but I'm never trying to let you know how personal they are. It's my job to make it be personal, and also to disguise that so only I or the people who know me know how personal it is. 'Kill Bill' is a very personal movie.
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No civilization other than that which is Christian, is worth seeking or possessing.
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If you're not careful, you can fall into a destructive cycle of self-pity.
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I became fascinated with the concept of speak no, see no, hear no evil. And - and the actual depiction of three wise monkeys. And I began collecting it over the years. And I kind of figured that I might be the - the fourth monkey, the feel no evil monkey.
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In London, before I set out, I had paid one shilling; another was now demanded, so that upon the whole, from London to Richmond, the passage in the stage costs just two shillings.
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I don't want to be the actor who's followed by paparazzi, you know? I would like to just do good work and have that work be respected and acknowledged.
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It's one thing to say, 'I don't like what you said to me and I find it rude and offensive,' but the moment you threaten violence in return, you've taken it to another level, where you lose whatever credibility you had.
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The average Englishman has no idea of the dynamism in the music scene here.
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Wealth is not a pizza, where if I have too many slices you have to eat the Domino's box.
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I really love writing, but I am very easily distracted: my two cats fighting, a rainbow, a TV show... I have to use every trick to keep myself at the computer.
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I've been trying for some time to develop a lifestyle that doesn't require my presence.
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For contemplation is both the highest form of activity, since the intellect is the highest thing in us, and the objects that it apprehends are the highest things that can be known, and also it is the most continuous, because we are more capable of continuous contemplation than we are of any practical activity.
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The biggest takeaway for anyone seeking to write is this: don't go looking for the way other authors do their work. You won't find many who are consistent enough to copy, and there are enough variations in approach that it's obvious that it's not like hitting home runs or swinging a golf club. There isn't a standard approach, there's only what works for you (and what doesn't).
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There's no such thing as perfect writing, just like there's no such thing as perfect despair.
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Texting is fingered speech. Now we can write the way we talk.
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It is the camp law: people going to their death must be deceived to the very end. This is the only permissible form of charity.
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Sometimes when it goes really well, you wonder, "who's that at the piano?"
