Anna Deavere Smith Quotes
What my work is, is my approach to it. It's the practice. And my work is about the effort that I make to get there. And I think if there's anything artistic, it's in that middle space.
Quotes to Explore
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When I was a kid, all I ever wanted was to be famous.
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Usually it is uses of words, not words in themselves, that are properly called vague.
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Boating on the lake is one of my favorite summer activities.
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Somebody once told me I shouldn't try to change Hollywood. That isn't my point at all. I don't want Hollywood to change me.
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The lack of a consistent policy from major economies is the main source of volatility.
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Everything was in stark and dreadful contrast with the trivial crises and counterfeit emotions of Hollywood, and I returned to England deeply moved and emotionally worn out.
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I think about death most of the day, every day. We can't escape death, and choosing to ignore it only makes it more scary.
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My journey has been that of a character actor.
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I'm not always angry. In fact, I think I usually go out of my way to try to find roles that don't seem to be like me.
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Too often in our communities many families have not even been aware that certain charities exist; and at the same time, there are many who are willing to volunteer their energy and their resources to help these charities, yet they do not know these charities even exist.
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It pretty much defeats the purpose of bedtime reading if you fall asleep before the kids do. And you tend to wake up with a matchbox stuck on the end of your nose and/or a potty on your head.
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People don't slip. Time catches up with them.
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War criminals in the U.S. and Israel are not punished: no international court has the courage to put them on trial.
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There's good and bad in everybody. I wasn't looking for the good, or looking for the bad. This is a man who signed his pact with the devil 20 years ago, and he's learned to live with it. He's tried to protect his family from it.
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I feel like I work on scripts for comedy as well as dramatic stuff the same.
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An English journalist called Michael Viney told me when I was 25, that I would write well if I cared a lot what I was writing about. That worked. I went home that day and wrote about parents not understanding their children as well as we teachers did, and it was published the very next week.
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The Matrix is top secret. There isn't much that can be said right now.
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I originally wanted to be an astronaut when I was a kid. Then I had this huge fear of black holes because my brother learned a bunch of stuff about it, and he's like, 'Oh, yeah, if you go into one you're never coming back.'
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I know I could have a better public image if I were less open, if I ducked more issues and didn't speak out. But it's not my nature.
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It was kind of good that I wasn't doing the Hollywood high life and stuff like that when I was 18, 19, 20, 21.
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A little less complaint and whining, and a little more dogged work and manly striving, would do us more credit than a thousand civil rights bills.
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I was an excellent student before I left school. But I graduated early so that I could work longer hours on '90210.'
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I'm the luckiest broad on two feet, I'll tell you that. They say once a woman passes 40 she doesn't get any good parts, so I'm blessed.
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What my work is, is my approach to it. It's the practice. And my work is about the effort that I make to get there. And I think if there's anything artistic, it's in that middle space.
