Anna Deavere Smith Quotes
Quotes to Explore
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There was a time when no difficult subjects were ever aired in the 'Lady', and sadly, life isn't like that.
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To be honest, I think, for me, the power is always with art. The art world clearly couldn't happen without art.
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I'm confident in who I am. I've come to a place in my life where I've accepted things that are me, as opposed to feeling pressure to explain myself to people around me. That's just the way I've always tried to be. It didn't change when I became a star.
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I can't even read notes. But I can teach someone how to make a guitar smoke.
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A high-quality public education can build much-needed skills and knowledge. It can help children reach their God-given potential. It can stabilize communities and democracies. It can strengthen economies. It can combat the kind of fear and despair that evolves into hatred.
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Sports should not become routine. It should be about passion.
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It's morally wrong to allow a sucker to keep his money.
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If you're walking down the right path and you're willing to keep walking, eventually you'll make progress.
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I was ready to get out of the box and play something a little different than what everybody has seen.
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Reasonable orders are easy enough to obey; it is capricious, bureaucratic or plain idiotic demands that form the habit of discipline.
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Organizations are trying to save extra money. Players are trying to get extra money. That's the way it is.
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I've been the lull, and I've been the storm and also somewhere in between. But that's OK. I love the limelight after all.
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Looking back at my career, I wish I knew then what I know now... that gender bias is built into the system, and it's unconscious in many ways. I wish I had the maturity and courage to have pushed back more. I was always trying to be a 'good girl' and play by the rules.
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If you stood me in a costume next to a computer graphic of the same-looking character, I think there would be a difference. And many movie fans I've spoken to would rather see an actor in a costume than CG.
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I can't run my career based on someone else's ideology.
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I've had times where I've joked, like, 'I'm going to move to Vermont and become a painter.' And sometimes that joke felt like, 'Oh that's a good idea.' But it was only, like, a daydream for a moment to, like, escape.
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I think that's what is so cool about performing. When there is a show to do, you get up there and do it.
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I'm not really a model.
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I worry from the moment I take a job. I worry about how I'm going to do it, if I can do it... Then I walk on set and the director says, 'Roll', and all of a sudden, all of it disappears and it's all happening, and I relax, and I'm doing what I do, and I'm not even thinking about it.
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It's been my experience with damaged people: they don't wake up every day and wallow in the bad things that have happened to them.
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Education is the cornerstone of our communities and our country.
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Getting to the top is one thing, but staying there is quite another. That's the difficult bit.
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I've never really gotten into the whole labels thing. There were times I would cover a pop song, and people would say 'You sound really country.' I gave up on that whole thing a long time ago.
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I write plays about big, intense subjects.
