Linton Kwesi Johnson Quotes
Back in those early days when I began my apprenticeship as a poet, I also tried to voice our anger, spirit of defiance and resistance in a Jamaican poetic idiom.
Quotes to Explore
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I'm here today because I hated everything else.
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I am honoured to be associated with a brand like Movado. It believes in the art of design and is known for its perfection worldwide. I have strong faith in the pursuit of perfection. I am looking forward to a long association.
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My dear, did you ever stop to think what a wonderful bunker you would make?
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I was 12 years old when I had my first job, delivering packages.
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The U.S. should worry about the effects of its polices on the rest of the world. We would like to live in a world where countries take into account the effect of their policies on other countries and do what is right, broadly, rather than what is just right given the circumstances of that country.
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I am an ardent supporter of capitalism - but I also understand that while individuals have inalienable, God-given rights, corporations do not.
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Every designer needs a story. Mine is all about glamour because my family has been in the business of glamour for three generations. My grandfather Shamshuddin Khan started his embroidery and fabric-making business in the 1930s.
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Nothing ruins your day more than getting a bad review.
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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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Everything is a narrative in life. I learned that early on as a reporter at the 'Washington Post.'
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I have this concept that I call 'Combo Meals.' The idea is that I start with the kids' meal and then add a few more ingredients, and it becomes the adult meal. This way I'm not making two entirely separate dishes. I'm just simply adding on to what I'm already making.
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When the Americans were trying to conquer the Navajos, they felt this need to capture Canyon de Chelly like it was the Navajo capital. It was a meeting place and a sanctuary of last refuge. To control Canyon de Chelly was to control the Navajo people.
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There were periods of my life when a lot of people didn't believe in me. I still had faith in myself. I really had to ask myself life questions. Where do I see myself in five years? Create a ladder for yourself, and walk up the steps. Climb that ladder.
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For me, the end of childhood came when the number of candles on my birthday cake no longer reflected my age, around 19 or 20. From then on, each candle came to represent an entire decade.
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The revelation of thought takes men out of servitude into freedom.
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A song without music is a lot like H2 without the O.
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I take for granted that for the imaginative writer, the exercise of the imagination is part of the basic process of coping with reality, just as actors need to act all the time to make up for some deficiency in their sense of themselves.
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I'd made enough money by the time I was 12 to never have to work again.
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I said from the very beginning, I don't want a big house, I don't want big grounds, I don't want the trouble with the maintenance and all of that.
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I don't sit down to write a song; they just come to me from something that somebody says, or something in the news. The punchline comes to me, and I go over it in my head and get the song form. I hadn't been doing that a lot.
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Everyone at home sitting on their couches, they think it's so easy to fight. Stepping inside that cage is probably the hardest thing in the world to do. I truly believe that.
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To be young, gifted and black!
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Back in those early days when I began my apprenticeship as a poet, I also tried to voice our anger, spirit of defiance and resistance in a Jamaican poetic idiom.
