Ben Brantley Quotes
If you agree with a critic, you admire him or her. If you disagree, you despise them. We all feel a great need to be confirmed in our opinions.
Quotes to Explore
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The arts can play a vital role in revitalizing neighborhoods, using and improving vacant space, bringing new jobs and new sense of opportunity, and improving public safety by generating more foot traffic and more eyes on the street.
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I have a general sense of mission, and I intuitively know when something is influencing that mission. I think this is what I'm supposed to be doing. Doors keep opening. In the end, it's the best use of my skills. I've finally consented to the idea that I'm an artist.
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Science and religion are the two most powerful forces in the world. Having them at odds... is not productive.
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I can't exactly say why there's not much protest music to speak off. And I know there are acts out there still putting a message in their music.
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I remember in particular my first victory when I achieved a very fast time in what were perfect conditions but since then the wind has always been a factor against me.
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Beauty can make you powerful in a way that isn't good for you. Being OK is better for the person I have become.
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I've always had mostly women come out to see me perform. That's the reason the guys show up; they know R. Kelly is going to draw the women. Most of the songs I'm singing are catering to women anyway.
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Most people don't know what they spend in every single area, but they know they have a problem in particular areas.
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I was very pleased, obviously, to have outsold such great writers. But I'm not insane - I do realize that I am a popular writer who people buy to take on vacation.
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I always ask myself, would I want someone to do something that wasn't comfortable for them just to please me? And the answer is no.
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I've always wanted to work with dogs, so in high school, I worked at the Humane Society for a little while. I honestly think, even today, that would be the other career I would go into. Somehow I would be involved with animals.
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I think we all attract troublemakers; I don't think it's particularly about anyone. I had it actually as an album title, and I thought it would be really cool to write a song about a girl that's a bit of troublemaker.
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I was always a little adult. Even as a little kid, I just couldn't understand why I was surrounded by all these kids. I took things very seriously.
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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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I can count on one hand the number of people who wrote me a thank you letter after having an interview, and I gave almost all of them a job.
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I would put myself towards left of center.
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But the fact that same-sex marriage is still an issue is insane. Thinking love knows a sex is ridiculous.
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What I loved the most about Oakland was that all of my neighbors came in as many colors, ideas, and religions as there are people on the planet. How lucky I was to know so many people that were so different and yet so much alike!
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The input of Idle No More has been a lightning rod for people who were already thinking this way. We are reaching clarities on bigger issues like fracking and GMOs and climate change.
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Democracy is a form of government that cannot long survive, for as soon as the people learn that they have a voice in the fiscal policies of the government, they will move to vote for themselves all the money in the treasury, and bankrupt the nation.
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I love cookbooks for completely different reasons. I love 'The Harry's Bar Cookbook' and Marco-Pierre White's 'White Heat' for their feel. For pure learning, Gray Kunz wrote a great cookbook, 'The Elements of Taste', published in 2001. The first time I read Charlie Trotter's, the Chicago chef's first cookbook, I was blown away.
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As a lyricist, you love to hear other great lyrics or other great concepts.
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What makes a scientist great is the care that he takes in telling you what is wrong with his results, so that you will not misuse them.
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If you agree with a critic, you admire him or her. If you disagree, you despise them. We all feel a great need to be confirmed in our opinions.
