Count Basie Quotes
Quotes to Explore
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Growing up on a farm was the best. I remember loving that expanse of space. The sky at night was so clear, I could see every star.
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The essential relationship across American history between black people and white people is one of exploitation and one of plunder. This is not, you know, necessarily about, you know, whether you're a good person or not or whether you see black people, you know, on the street, and you're willing to shake their hands and be polite.
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Any good writer is going to be well-received and is going to not be well-received; that's how you know you're a great writer.
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Normally when I look at stuff, I try to look at the good things. When I watch video, I try to watch the good starts so I can see how my mechanics are in those.
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Good acting is all in the writing. If it isn't on the page, then it really won't make any difference. You cannot act on force of personality alone.
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At one time if you were a black writer you had to be one of the best writers in the world to be published. You had to be great. Now you can be good. Mediocre. And that's good.
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There are a lot of guys who play in pro-style offenses who are not prepared when they come out of college. Either you're coaching the quarterback to be a quarterback, or you're not.
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It's good to make your own things because you can have control of your own art.
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I'm aware people will think I've had an easy way into a dream career. My view is, if anyone has opportunities, they'll take them. My surname opens doors, but those doors will slam firmly if I'm no good.
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The debt we owe to the play of imagination is incalculable.
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Knowing what you can not do is more important than knowing what you can do. In fact, that's good taste.
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You can't give the government the power to do good without also giving it the power to do bad - in fact, to do anything it wants.
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Whenever our neighbour's house is on fire, it cannot be amiss for the engines to play a little on our own.
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A tree is known by its fruit; a man by his deeds. A good deed is never lost; he who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love.
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The '70s were a time of turmoil and turnover. But I grew up here. I always wanted to play here.
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For me, if the words are good on the page, the rest of it comes from spending some time with the script, and not like you're learning lines but absorbing what the script has to offer.
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Acting doesn't feel good. It's not comfortable to feel all this stuff, it's not.
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It's good to fight with your brothers, and it's good to tease them to give them advice.
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I have a problem keeping my mouth shut. I usually speak my mind. I'm trying to learn my lesson.
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The greatest enemy one ever faces is one's own self.
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My childhood was influenced by the roles my father played in his movies. Whether Abraham Lincoln or Tom Joad in the 'Grapes of Wrath,' his characters communicated certain values which I try to carry with me to this day.
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The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it.
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No one has the audacity to exclaim: 'I don’t want to do anything!' -we are more indulgent with a murderer than with a mind emancipated from actions.
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If you find a note tonight that sounds good, play the same damn note every night!
