“I like the idea of the book being wiser than the person who wrote it. None of the novels I've written are direct transcriptions of me blathering over dinner with a glass of wine in my hand. I don't hold any illusion of those conversations being of particular value. The books, though, are - I hope - bigger than my opinions, investigations that go beyond my own intellect or wit.” BookValuesOpinionNovelIllusionDirectWineIntellectWitWiserBeing WiseWine Glass Author:Christopher Bollen
“I'm very old-school. I like a director to direct me. I like to be the actor. I'm not particularly fond of the hybrid writer-director, or actor-director. Writers, directors, actors are all such very different people. I think it's unusual that two of those people are in one human.” PeopleThinkingDifferentDirectUnusualHybrid Author:Melissa Leo
“I've always felt for little children because I love the way they fashion sentences - their vocabulary is limited. They have to navigate around to get to the meaning. It's a shame we bypass that when we gain more words. In a way, it's less honest and less direct. It's something that I appreciate about kids, and I will steal from them at will.” ChildrenKidsHonestFashionAppreciateDirectShameStealing Author:Thao Nguyen
“I guess I'm a really analytical person, but when I'm writing, all that stuff goes behind a screen. Analysis and taking things apart is really important and really interesting, but it's the direct opposite of creating something, which has to do with taking things and putting them together and hoping to make something unique that's more than the sum of its parts. And you can't do that with analysis, you can only take things into smaller and smaller pieces.” WritingImportantTogetherInterestingUniqueDirectReally Interesting Author:Will Sheff
“I didn't make a film because I wanted a starring role. I made a film because I wanted to tell a story and I wanted to prove that I could direct.” FilmProveDirect Author:Ben Drew
“A good director creates a playground for actors, and lets them go. The trick for a good director is in casting properly, and creating the playroom, and then they'll get stuff that they don't expect, and can't even direct. All the audience wants to believe is that whatever is happening, it is happening for the first time. They want to see the people within the work exchanging dialogue and action in that moment. There are not a lot of actors that can do that.” PeopleBelieveMomentsActionAudienceFirst TimeDirectDialogue Author:Martin Landau
“In the Middle East you get that sense that leadership decisions and the local powers that are working around us all the time have a direct effect on the quality of life... and that quality of life is obviously very different between a kid who is growing up in a refugee camp and somebody who is living in Tel Aviv.” DifferentKidsDecisionQualityGrowing UpDirectRefugeeQuality Of Life Author:Eran Riklis
“We who in engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive.” ActionAliveDirectCreatorSurfaceTensionProtestDisobedienceCivil DisobedienceDirect Action Book:Why We Can't Wait Source: Why We Can't Wait
“Tone is a very difficult thing. You can't write tone, I don't think. You can try - you certainly try. I write too, so I know I'm trying desperately to communicate to whoever's going to direct my pieces, the way I see the humor. But it's very difficult.” ThinkingWritingTryingDifficultDirectCommunicate Author:Beth Grant
“Over the years, I've had fairly benign record companies who gave me a lot of rope, but in spite of that, there's still restrictions and expectations. It's nice to be at the cottage-industry size, which I think is kind of the business model of the age anyway. It's the way to be. The Internet makes a lot of that possible. Having a loyal fan base is also very useful to keep me operating; people can find your website, and the venues that you're playing at, the merchandise you have for sale, all that kind of stuff. It's great to be able to reach the audience in a more direct way.” PeopleThinkingKindAgeAudienceNiceInternetExpectationsDirectSpiteLoyalWebsite Author:Richard Thompson
“Go inside the sweetness of life, catch the places where you genuinely were moved by or connected with life, and you'll find in there kind of a light that can direct you when the cacophony gets very noisy and you get confused and lost, that can direct you towards what you care about.” KindCareDirectMovedConfusedSweetness Author:Steven C. Hayes
“When people reflexively write checks to institutions that have billions of dollars in the bank, they are essentially committing a moral crime. Your money could do good in this world and you're choosing instead to waste it. People have to do a better job of that. You've got to find places where your money's going to do some good and direct your dollars towards that institution.” PeopleWorldWritingMoralCrimeDirect Author:Malcolm Gladwell
“How can we recognize if we're falling into materialism's trap? Christ's words were direct and profound: "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" . What we do with our possessions is a sure indicator of what's in our hearts. Jesus is saying, "Show me your checkbook, your credit card statement, and your receipts for cash expenditures, and I'll show you where your heart is." What we do with our money doesn't lie. It is a bold statement to God of what we truly value.” HeartLyingValuesFallJesusDirectProfoundPossessionShow MeCredit Card Author:Randy Alcorn
“You have to be in California in order to write or direct movies. People say, "Oh, I'm gonna do it from Pittsburgh. I'm just gonna deliver scripts or fly out, like, once, then fly back." You have to make a full commitment. You have to actually get on a plane, come to L.A., rent a place, and live there. And that's how you forge your career. Not just sort of haphazardly. Once you've got a few hits under your belt, assuming you do, then go back and move away and correspond with the studio.” PeopleWritingMovingCommitmentDirectAssuming Author:Shane Black
“I love to write, so I think writing would be the next natural step. And if I'm making something that I'm writing, it would also probably make sense to be a producer and have some creative input from that perspective as well. Eventually, I do want to direct, but I want to get comfortable in those two jobs first. I want to dip my foot into this pool before I dive in I guess.” ThinkingWritingNaturalCreativePerspectiveDirectProducersMake SensePool Author:Cameron Monaghan
“I like the direct contact. I want a lot of people that only know me through the mass media to learn more about what I'm doing, and to know that I'm an independent filmmaker and I'm not part of the Hollywood system. I'm coming from where they started. I'm not coming from a family with a lot of money.” PeopleDirectIndependentFilmmakerKnow MeMass Media Author:Uwe Boll
“To break up with a girl: be direct. You have to behave the way you would want her to behave, and I would want the door to be closed. You have to be sensitive but honest. You have to be a gentleman and do it in person. You have to look her in the eyes.” EyeGirlBreakHonestDirectSensitiveBehaveGentleman Author:Bradley Cooper
“Eventually, I think I may end up directing. It would have to be the project where I think that I'm the person to direct it, and I don't know that that's happened yet. I certainly haven't written it, and I don't know if I've read that script yet where I was like, "Okay, I think I'm the guy that needs to direct this."” ThinkingGuyDirectOkay Author:James Van Der Beek
“Giancarlo Giammetti has a lot of nervous energy. He's a director, really. He was trying to direct the Valentino movie over my shoulder. I don't blame him - that's been his job for 50 years. But I had final cut in the movie by contract and I wouldn't have made the movie if I had not been completely independent.” TryingEnergyCuttingDirectIndependentBlameNervous Author:Matt Tyrnauer
“Not to knock the people who've given me the opportunity; I appreciate all the opportunities I've gotten, but one of the things I think I really learned from the features I got to direct is that your job as a director is everything about the movie. It's to pick a story that's really worth making, and make sure that the basic components are there. You're not just a part of the team. You're really in charge, and the responsibility falls on you if all the components aren't there for a worthwhile film.” PeopleThinkingFilmFallOpportunityResponsibilityTeamAppreciateDirect Author:Bob Odenkirk
“People create the illusion of acting natural, which is what I think most documentarians do in part because of the direct cinema orthodoxies that came into play really in the '60s. That moment of performance is a tremendous opportunity to make visible something hitherto invisible, which is how people want to be seen. How do they see themselves? What are the scripts, fantasies, genres by which they imagine themselves? How is storytelling part of what we are as human beings? We wouldn't kill each other en masse if it weren't for storytelling. We wouldn't be able to live with ourselves.” PeopleThinkingMomentsOpportunityNaturalActingFantasyImagineIllusionDirectInvisibleStorytelling Author:Joshua Oppenheimer
“I've always thought that each album would be my last one, and then I would be out of ideas and I would move to photography or something. I thought it was transient and it's not because of this entrenched career stubbornness that I've done it for so long, it's just something I enjoy doing, and it's the most direct way I can express something.” LongDoneMovingEnjoyPhotographyDirectStubbornness Author:Tim Hecker
“I'd love to do a really cheap action movie. I'd love to do stunts. I mean, not myself. I'd hurt myself, but I'd love to direct others doing stunts. I think that would be a blast. The funny thing is, if I really think through this fantasy, I know that the way I conceive of doing an action movie would still lose money. No matter how far I think I'm getting away from myself, it always comes back to something that's not terribly commercial.” ThinkingMeanActionHurtFantasyDirectGet AwayAction Movie Author:Andrew Bujalski
“A lot of the time in my recurring dreams, before I was diagnosed, iconic people would either be good or evil figures. I remember dreaming really basic stuff like trying to navigate the London underground, but then Paul Newman would be the only one who would direct me to the right trains. And I'm trying to remember who would direct me to the wrong ones.” PeopleTryingDreamRememberEvilDirectTrainBe GoodIconicNewman Author:Emma Forrest
“Singing in second language makes you brave in a way you're not aware of. You say things in very blunt ways or direct ways. It sets your mind free because you don't have a history with the language. You have to use the most direct way of communication, which is saying what you want to say in the way you can.” MindLanguageCommunicationSingingDirectBraveBlunt Author:Anna Ternheim
“Being a photographer helps me see the work differently. I always walk away seeing things differently than when I stare at them myself. It gives me a little distance. So I love photography, but it also helps me tell the story. When I shoot the ad campaign for my work, it allows me to be much more direct.” GivingHelpingPhotographyDirectDistancePhotographerStaringHelp Me Author:Reed Krakoff
“Number one, we have to talk about mental illnesses. Number two, you can actually address things from a purer and honest direct line to what's been going on in your life and how you've been feeling and why you think the way you think. I do think there is a genetic predisposition for mental illness, for depression, for suicide, but I also think that lifestyle can change things. If you're an addict, if you drink and you're putting a depressant into your body, it's going to cause serious problems.” ThinkingFeelingsProblemHonestSeriousDrinkDirectSuicideIllnessLifestyleMental IllnessAddict Author:Mariel Hemingway
“I think that you have to have a really specific type of personality to be able to both direct and act, because it requires enormous shifts in perspective. I mean, when you're directing, you're looking at the world through a wide-angle lens, and you're seeing all of it. You know exactly what's happening in every corner of it. You know what people are going to say. You know what they're going to do. You're controlling everything.” PeopleThinkingWorldMeanPerspectivePersonalityDirect Author:Cherien Dabis
“When I write a project, it might be something that I want to do and then when I look at it, I'm actually like, "I kind of don't want to direct it." I don't know why, I still love it enough for it to be made and to support it, but I don't want to direct it. I just give it to other directors and they do a good job!” GivingWritingKindEnoughSupportDirectGood Job Author:Noel Clarke
“I'm always writing, but directing takes priority over everything, unless the acting is a job that lifts that whole brand. If I get a part in a big film with a big director and I was going to direct one of my one films, I would take the former job because that job will only help anything that I then intend to do. I think in the long run, directing is the thing that will outlive everything else. Maybe that and writing.” ThinkingWritingLongHelpingRunningFilmActingDirectPriorities Author:Noel Clarke
“I think it's very valuable as an actor to throw yourself back into having that direct connection with an audience on-stage and work that muscle. It is a very different type of work and equally fascinating. I mean, I've very much in love with filmmaking because I really love the way you can tell stories with a camera and how music and everything contributes to the story in a very direct way. But I also think it's very valuable to come back to theatre, so if the right script came along I would love to come back to London and do some more.” ThinkingMeanDifferentAudienceDirectValuableTheatreFilmmaking Author:Thekla Reuten
“I had a bad experience on Ned Kelly, which I'd written the screenplay for. I thought: "Well Jesus, if these are the type of people directing movies I might as well direct one myself!"” PeopleJesusDirect Author:John Michael McDonagh
“You can't always say what's popular and you ought to go with it. I think that's why the founders were concerned about direct democracy. That's why we have a republic and that's why we have representatives who who are supposed to look at the issues and to look out for the next generation as well.” ThinkingDemocracyConcernedDirectFoundersNext Generation Author:Jeff Flake
“Since the Donald Trump election, which has involved this administration making direct attacks on press freedoms, you're actually seeing a certain amount of rallying and reinvigoration by the national press in terms of covering national issues and the presidency. The Washington Post and The New York Times, Mother Jones, ProPublica and a lot of other places, they've actually done some really strong work when confronted with this administration. But the resources that you used to have at state and local level aren't there anymore.” DoneMotherStrongTermDirectElectionFreedom Of The Press Author:David Simon
“If I even tell anything false, within one minute I have to come clean. And I think most people, even if they're not that direct, it comes out in indirect ways. If somebody cheats on you, they end up telling you they've been spending all this time hanging out with that person. Why? Because nobody can bear a lie. A lie won't stay silent. It makes noise.” PeopleThinkingLyingDirectSilentHanging OutCheatIndirect Author:Kimberly Peirce
“The fashion industry now has a direct relationship with its customers. Thanks to things like Twitter, ideas can be shared and circulated.” FashionDirectThanksFashion Industry Author:Stefano Gabbana
“So many directors these days direct by design and shoehorn you into things - direction or blocking - that they had in mind previously. They're short on time and they want to get that over with so they can get onto the finer details of a play.” MindDesignDirectBlock Author:Christian Cooke
“My preference will always be theatre because it's where my heart lies and it's what I started with and eventually I want to direct it. It's where my real interest is. But I just love trying out new stuff. Acting for me isn't just for me about being in front of a camera ... it's so much more than that. It's always about telling a story and there are so many ways of doing that, so I'll always want to try something else.” TryingHeartRealLyingInterestActingMy HeartDirectTheatre Author:Gemma Arterton
“Actors always direct themselves. A good actor shows up onset ready, especially in television, and you've done your homework and you know your character. The director may have some variation on what you're thinking or they may have a different interpretation of the scene. So you come prepared to shoot and you've given yourself notes. In television, it may be the first time you're meeting this director and you've been living in this character's skin for a couple of years. It's always great to have fresh perspective and fresh insight, but no one knows your character better than you do.” ThinkingDifferentDoneCharacterPerspectiveCoupleSceneFirst TimeDirectSkinsMeetingsInsightHomework Author:Noah Emmerich
“Once I hit 25, I realized I had to do more than just be an actor. I love acting, but there's something that makes it difficult to just be a man, a grownup. Not to take away from any actors, but I knew I wasn't going to be Tom Cruise. I knew I was a character actor, which is great and I'm proud of it. But I knew that I wanted to do more. I started producing and directing and writing and stuff for the theater, and then that grew out of hand and I sort of lost my control. I've always loved the process of filmmaking. Now I'm much more into producing docs, but I want to direct features.” MenWritingCharacterDifficultActingProudDirectI RealizedFilmmakingCruiseGrownups Author:Fisher Stevens
“I think since I was in drama school, I wanted to direct in the theatre. When you are an actor, you just have to open your eyes and you start to learn a lot about how to survive on set and what's important and how to tell a story. Directing is really about putting yourself out there, to be slapped in a way. You know that in the kitchen, you're gonna get burned. It's very scary but very exciting as well. If you have something to say, you have nothing to lose and you probably learn from the experience.” ThinkingImportantEyeSchoolDramaDirectExcitingScaryTheatreKitchen Author:Gael Garcia Bernal
“I have been approached to direct films, but I think everybody has their limits. For me, I want to focus all my energy and efforts on acting and give the best performance possible. For now, I am focusing on that. Who knows, in the future maybe I will change my mind.” ThinkingGivingMindFilmEnergyEffortActingFocusDirect Author:Gong Li
“If you take all the food aid, America is by far the most generous country. If you take the direct aid, we're very generous. But when you add on our private contributions - see, our tax system encourages private citizens to donate to organisations that, for example, help the folks in Africa. And when you take the combined effort of US taxpayers' money plus US citizens' donations, we're very generous. And we'll do more.” CountryHelpingEffortTaxesDirectAidsGenerousDonationDonate Author:George W. Bush
“It's important to look people in the eye and have direct conversations. I actually have a rule that if an issue takes more than five sentences to explain it, don't send an email. Pick up the phone instead, because it'll take less time to resolve it.” PeopleImportantEyeDirectResolve Author:Rachel Roy
“There are many things in life over which you have no choice. But the greatest activity of life is well within your dominion. You can choose what you think about. You can be the air traffic controller of your mental airport. You occupy the control tower and can direct the mental traffic of your world. Thoughts circle above, coming and going. If one of them lands, it's because you gave it permission. If it leaves, it's because you directed it to do so. You can select your thought pattern.” ThinkingWorldChoicesDirectSelect Author:Max Lucado
“Film and TV is a very hard profession to enter into if you don't have the ability to take a long period of time without making money so you can write, direct or raise financing, or work your way up, often with unpaid internships. It's hard to get into without a lot of connections. You end up with a lot of white people from privilege making films. So we're seeing a lot of the same kinds of stories.” PeopleWritingKindLongFilmAbilityDirectProfessionMaking MoneyFinancing Author:Sarah Polley
“I loathe when architects only analyze architecture in intellectual, nonvisual ways. I really love direct response, and that's very pop. I don't want to discuss abstract transparencies with a bunch of kooks.” IntellectualDirectResponseArchitectureAbstractArchitectTransparency Author:Peter Marino
“I like the drawings. And as a photography fan myself, I would look at Helmut Newton or Irving Penn and like to see the initial notes or drawings, to see where the ideas grew from. Also my sketches are key to my work because I came to realise early on that by doing drawings, I could formulate a plan of what I was thinking of - I could take control and direct the work.” ThinkingPhotographyDirectRealisingNewton Author:Miles Aldridge
“For me, the hardest part is getting up and writing, that's the hard part. I always felt like I could teach someone to direct if I really had to. I feel like it's a skill that's passable, but writing... writing is the worst. That's what I'm doing right now, it's just the hardest thing that you'll ever do.” WritingTeachWorstDirectDoing Right Author:Ben Younger
“I had heard all sorts of stories about Woody Allen's directing - directorial approach. And some of them turned out to be myth. But, one of them was that he doesn't rehearse and another was that he doesn't really direct, if he doesn't like it...he cuts it out of the movie, or even replaces you.” CuttingDirectMythWoody Author:Colin Firth