J.P. Morgan Quotes

When I was a kid, I was a cowboy. I had a cap pistol, and I'd get up in the morning and strap it on before I got ready.

From early childhood, my thrust was to get into the movies.

That is a big turn-on for me, a director who knows what he's doing and what he wants, and knows when he's gotten what he wants.

Literacy could be the ladder out of poverty

Hey, if I don't have a job, I don't know why I bother to get up. Any time the phone rings, I'm ready to go. What else am I going to do? See, I've never retired. I don't even know what it means.

I can only be so long without work before I start getting antsy.

If I wasn't acting, I have no clue what I'd be doing 'cause I have no other talent.

My roots were pretty far removed from high income. It's interesting to be back there at the level of income I have now, at this stage in my life.

Growing up in Mississippi, I realized that it was separate and unequal and all that, but it was still a safe place.

I have four children and nine grandchildren. I'm presently wearing out my second wife.

I go on vacation strictly to relax - to kick back with a good book and do nothing else but read, sleep and eat.

Being a better songwriter, that's top of the list because I think that is a very intimidating, difficult task. I really admire people that just continue to write and get stronger.

After a theatre run, it took me a long time to start drinking again during the day.

The one power a man has that cannot be stripped from him is the power to do nothing.

One of the challenges was to make a cinematic movie about literally talking heads and to try to make it feel like something you want to see in a theater.

I think that we need to make it our goal to define freedom for ourselves.

We kind of have to rewrite our own stories and our own ways of being free.

We can look at history and see that [political turmoil is] fertile ground for art.

Sometimes I feel as though I'm trying to take a hit for the team so that other people then can move forward. I'm like, "Look, I just laid out all of my stuff, so what's the worst that can happen?".

In my experience when I do try to avoid something, it makes its way into the work anyway. To be in front of it and just make friends with it is easier for me.

Аrt movements are always linked to some kind of turmoil.

I really hope that people feel permission to talk about their own troubles, but also to celebrate themselves.

Sometimes it's just rejecting stereotypes, sometimes it's creating work. Sometimes it's just blocking out the noise.

I also think that [political turmoil] gives artists something, a way of kind of processing.

My friends and I have all been super motivated to work and to do the work that we need to and want to and think should be in the world.

I've been thinking a lot about folks denying what has happened in history, or just not acknowledging it.

I think there's something that's fascist [in Donald Trump's election], and something that I think we could probably learn from, in terms of the energy in the world right now.

So much of the world and the systems that we live within are made to keep us from feeling like we're free. The way that black women in American came to be is just diametrically opposed to being free.

Where I would usually backspace, I stop and say, "You know what? This is important, that I say how I feel and don't sugarcoat it, and don't avoid it."

I liked the idea of using this mega-star [Beyoncé ] to talk about all those things on the tiny scale of my life.

I guess the only thing I'd say is it ['There are More Beautiful Things Than Beyoncé?'] shouldn't be read as "Beyoncé is not beautiful."

I always say that my artist statement is to not be afraid to talk about the messiness - the unpleasant feelings and happenings around my life.

I try to convey what it feels like and sounds like and smells like and looks like inside of my particular skin, to move through the world as a black American woman in her mid-twenties.

Language from songs and TV shows feel integral because it helps to create the environment and describe the full picture.

There's so much about the strong black woman stereotype that makes us forget that we do need and deserve help and care.

It's always hard for me to find a therapist who is a black woman or even a woman of color. It's something that we've always been told is not for us. It's top down.

I spent a lot of time trying to layer upon layer upon layer as I wrote. I think that's often the fear of a writer, that little nuances won't get picked up.

So much of my writing process is trying to eliminate any kind of shame or fear of the thoughts that I'm having.

I wanted [the book 'There are More Beautiful Things Than Beyoncé?'] to be colorful. I wanted it to be evocative. I wanted a figure of a black woman that the reader has to confront.

There's something about us using the word fascism and thinking about, "What is it? What does it mean, and what are the tenets of it?".

I don't claim to say, "All black women are like me," because they're not.

I did some theatre. I had some smaller roles in a couple TV shows and films. I used to think I did a lot of acting, but my 'career' started when I started Homeland.

On an average day, I have two things to read in my purse: a book and a play.

I like to make pies. Thats kind of my new obsession - peach, blueberry, apple, strawberry. I make a really good pumpkin pie with real pumpkin.

I take a few pictures a week, but the best part is waiting for my film to be developed. The suspense is exciting, and the reward is great.

I like records. My favorite is Simon and Garfunkel.

As I've started school I have a student-feeling wardrobe and then because I travel a lot, things feel very different for different places and days.

I do a lot of vintage, of course, but I really feel so particular about clothing. I think it stems from acting, like if I'm not wearing the proper shoes for a character I feel totally off.

I really do like working very closely with a director and developing characters.

Even the creative things feel mathematic, almost.