“I don't think that either self-deprecation or self-aggrandizement is among the defining qualities of an artist... Beethoven could have been forgiven if his symphonies had gone to his head. Gretchaninoff could also be forgiven if his Dobrinya Nikititch went to his head. But neither one could be forgiven for writing a piece that was amoral, servile, the work of a flunky.” IfsThinkingWritingHas BeensSelfArtistQualityGonePiecesForgivenCould Have BeenDefiningSymphonySelf Deprecation Author:Dmitri Shostakovich
“For each final photograph, I'll have shot loads of film. I suppose people don't see all that. But when someone looks at a piece of work, they know something has gone into it, even if they can't lay their finger on what it is.” PeopleIfsKnowsLooksFilmGonePiecesShotsLaysFingersFinalsPhotographLoad Author:Catherine Yass
“Some women don't care how their quilts look. They piece the squares together any sort of way, but she couldn't stand careless sewing. She wanted her quilts, and Joy's, made right. Quilts stay a long time after people are gone from this world, and witness about them for good or bad. She wanted people to see, when she was gone, that she'd never been a shiftless or don't-care woman.” PeopleWorldWayLooksLongMadeCareWantedTogetherJoyGonePiecesThis WorldLong TimeDon't CareWitnessSquaresCarelessSewingQuilts Book:Black April: A Novel Source: Black April: A Novel
“If Ive gone to the market on Saturday, and I go another time on Tuesday, then Im really prepared. I can cook a little piece of fish; I can wilt some greens with garlic; I can slice tomatoes and put a little olive oil on. Its effortless.” IfsLittlesI CanGonePiecesPreparedFishesOilCooksSaturdayTuesdayTomatoesEffortlessOlivesAnother TimeGarlicOlive Oil Author:Alice Waters
“By the time I'm old and retired I'm hoping to contribute enough that people can take this piece and run with it then others, such as the college students that are participating on this can take off and finish out the mission when I'm long gone” PeopleLongEnoughRunningGonePiecesStudentsCollegeMissionsRetiredParticipatingCollege Students Author:Tim Samaras
“I like Thelonious Monk, he's so gnarled, he's like a piece of machinery that's pulled up the bolts on the floor and gone off on its own.” ArtGonePiecesMonkMachineryBolts Author:Tom Waits
“If you cut yourself, if you hate yourself, if you eat, if you don’t eat. If your parents split up, if your parents hit you, if your mom tells you you’re a piece of trash. If you got in a car crash and half your face is gone - wake up in the morning and give yourself a shot. Do it. Not for music, not for any reason other than the fact that you are alive and you were given the grace to wake up another day. So do it, man. Just freaking get out there and try.” IfsMenGivingTryingReasonFactsFacesHateGivenParentHalfMorningGoneGracePiecesCuttingAliveCarMomShotsWake UpYour FaceSplitsCrashHate YouTrashYour MomAnother DayCar Crash Author:Aaron Gillespie
“When Michael (Jackson) died, it felt like part of my family died. I want [my fans] to know that my music is for them and if, god forbid, anything happened [to me], it would be like a piece of them is gone.” IfsKnowsWantWould BeFeltGonePiecesHappenedFansMusic IsMy FamilyDied Author:The Weeknd
“My dad started teaching me how to play guitar when I was 13 years old. When he'd go to work, he'd map out guitar cords on a piece of notebook paper. I'd sit down and look at it every day and practice while he was gone.” YearsLooksPlayPracticeGonePiecesTeachingDadPaperDown AndGuitarMy DadMapsNotebookCords Author:Jason Aldean
“It's impossible to predict which paintings will last and which won't. In New Orleans I painted on a dilapidated shop in a street littered with abandoned cars and rotting mattresses, then two hours later the piece was gone. It turned out I'd picked the side of a crack house and the proprietor didn't like the attention.” TwoLastsHouseSidesHoursAttentionGonePiecesImpossibleStreetsCarPaintingShopsCracksAbandonedNew OrleansRottingMattresses Author:Banksy
“I started getting tattoos, and the hair would grow back out and grow over a nice piece of artwork that I really wanted to show, and it just became one of those things. I can't stand the hair on my body. I just wanted it gone. It's just a better feeling for me.” I CanShowsFeelingsBodyWantedGrowsGonePiecesNiceHairTattooArtwork Author:Ryan Sheckler
“You see ... a man like me, a cautious man, has his life all figured out according to a pattern, and then the pattern flies apart. You run around for quite a while trying to repair it, until one day you straighten up again with an armful of broken pieces, and you see that the world has gone on without you and you can never catch up with your old life, and you must begin all over again.” MenWorldTryingRunningGonePiecesBrokenOne DayPatternsLike MeWithout YouCautiousOld LifeBroken Pieces Author:Peter Matthiessen