Colson Whitehead Quotes
I enjoy thinking about how race plays out over the centuries, how technology evolves, how cities transform themselves. These subjects are present in some of my books and absent in others.Colson Whitehead
Quotes to Explore
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His advice to me is basically to just love what you do and don't let the fear of failure stop you.
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I'm the C.E.O., nominated by the shareholders. If they're not happy, I have to take the consequences.
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Because I travel so much, I bring my workout clothes and shoes wherever I go. That way I can always do some exercise.
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The production value of YouTube videos is not there.
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I've done some really off-the-wall stuff and stuff that people might not expect. That's one way to work through people's expectations of you.
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The public will believe anything, so long as it is not founded on truth.
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I think feminism's a bit misinterpreted. It was about casting off all gender roles. There's nothing wrong with a man holding a door open for a girl. But we sort of threw away all the rules, so everybody's confused. And dating becomes a sloppy, uncomfortable, unpleasant thing.
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I have no superstitions. I don't have to have a Sunday outfit. I don't have socks or underwear I have to wear.
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I don't care what people think of me as a person, but I do care what people think of my work, and whether I'm investing enough into it.
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At any Maroon 5 concert, you'll see a room backstage marked 'yoga.'
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I was very aware of Jeff Buckley. My brother actually bought me The Mamas And The Papas and Jeff Buckley for my birthday when I was in my early teens.
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I want to be different and have a good story. If it's a good story, then everybody is trying to tell it, everybody is better for it, and it's just more fun.
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I sing all the time. But maybe nobody's hearing it, because I'm singing in my car or in my house or whatever. I don't need the roar of the crowd, and I don't need to hear cheers to feel validated.
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I had to figure out how to bring the world into my work.
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My mother is a fighter. After she battled polio and learned to walk again, the doctors told her she would be a cripple her entire life. Instead of accepting defeat, she refused this fate and went on to become the West African Women's Singles tennis champion in college.
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My style is kind of eclectic and I don't like to do the same thing over and over again. I like to have fun and explore myself so you won't see the same design.
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So many people would like to have guidance from God because obviously, if you have a word from God, it's the best possible thing. But they don't relate that to life as a whole. Often they want guidance as a way of opting out of the responsibility of making decisions.
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Bullfights have so much color. Not just the matador but also the bull, the arena, and the public. It's all very festive.
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I think there is often a 'what if' proposition that gets me thinking about all my novels.
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My favorite pastime is staring out the window. When I go on tour, I can spend hours and hours just staring out the window, thinking about nothing. I love all that.
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What has become clear to me is that it is not the inherent nature of being gay that causes such a reduced life; it is, rather, the social circumstances around being gay: the perceptions of it and the cultural norms that it is said to violate. As some of those norms have changed, I have been able to be gay, to have a marriage, to have a family, and to have - if there is wood to knock on - a fortunate and happy life.
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I enjoy thinking about how race plays out over the centuries, how technology evolves, how cities transform themselves. These subjects are present in some of my books and absent in others.
Colson Whitehead
