Y.S. Lee Quotes

For the most part, people use God as Santa Claus.

I really enjoy creating music onstage, to participate in making music live.

There is no fear before and no fear after. We give our best.

My worst job was working in the laundry of a nursing home.

I know we're meant to be these hard-headed, money-obsessed professionals but we're still little boys at heart. Just ask our wives.

We cannot afford to be idle, and though weaker than our opponents in men and military equipments, must endeavor to harass, if we cannot destroy them.

There is nothing left for me to do but to go and see General Grant and I would rather die a thousand deaths.

Without music, we wouldn't have an Army.

For I consider the character of no man affected by a want of success, provided he has made an honest effort to succeed.

A man may manifest and communicate his joy, but he should conceal and smother his grief as much as possible.

I have never witnessed on any previous occasion such entire disregard of the usage of civilized warfare and the dictates of humanity.

Not all friendships take a long time to grow and deepen. Some are formed in an instant.

My most cherished possessions are my grandma's letters and my vintage Martha Washington cookbook.

The issue I have always felt most strongly about is hunger in America, in particular the children.

My brand is a demography-breaker. It speaks to all homemakers and women from all walks of life and all across society.

Lack of sleep makes me less productive. I need a good seven or eight hours a night.

I think women today are so overwhelmed and overtaxed.

Please don't confuse love and logic ... They aren't even remotely related.

The moment you say 'I know everything' is the end of your growth.

If something scares me, then I have to do it.

But I'm attracted to roles where I get to really go in and explore a character.

I remembered their songs but I had never owned a Beatles album.

I give interracial couples a look. Daggers. They get uncomfortable when they see me on the street.

The truth is I've been doing Kickstarter before there was Kickstarter; there was no Internet. Social Media was writing letters, making phone calls, beating the bushes.

Surprises are good. I'm not of the thinking where you tell the audience everything. Sometimes I don't even want to see the trailers. You see the trailer, you've seen the movie.

Music is, for me, a great tool of a filmmaker, the same way cinematography, the acting, editing, post-production, the costumes are. You know, to help you tell a story.

I want to tell stories, I don't really try to get boxed in by a specific genre.

I collect names for characters. Names are valuable; they can be your first source of insight into a character.

I never understood the concept of showing everything in the trailer. Why go to a movie if there's no surprise? I can't do it like that.

'25th Hour,' like a lot of my films, takes place in New York City. I've been very fortunate to make films in the city that I live. I mean, it's great going home at night instead of being on location.

We're the most violent nation on earth. There's no getting away from that. But you've got to look at it on a broader level.

If there are people who like the work you've done, because of that, they like you and want your autograph and to take a photo, that's really gratifying. You have to be appreciative.

If I got a superpower I wouldn't say, oh, I got to get a costume and put on a mask. I would say hey, I can do something better than other people. How can I turn it into a buck?

I thought it would be great to do superheroes that have the same kind of life problems that any reader - that anybody could have.

I have never had a lap dance in Tampa or any other part of Florida. If I ever did have a lap dance, I don't think I would be discussing television ideas with the girl that was giving it to me.

I’m just confusing the thrill of being young with the notion that the era in which I was young was in any way especially creative or remarkable.

Madness. I did not get myself born to die. I have better things to do.

Ecstasy and vulnerability belonged in the same dish. The fear the cup would be snatched away was what gave the wine its savor.

I love writers all across the board, but one who influenced me very directly at the beginning was Mary Renault.

I hardly ever work from a synopsis -- I find they act like chains.

In the greater part of humankind there resides an instinct for survival. It is this which can clutch at straws and effect a rescue from them. It is this which can, now and then, outwit fate.

Im writing what comes into my head, or through me, or from somewhere else, and it is the most extraordinary, exciting thing. I love it, and Im very greedy, and I really enjoy it!

It's very selfish when I write. I'm not aware, ever, of writing for another person; I'm not even really aware of writing for myself.

Writers tell stories better, because they've had more practice, but everyone has a book in them. Yes, that old cliche.

I like films, or some films, and would be intrigued to see my work on screen.

As a child, my mother told me lots of fairy stories, many her own invention. She, too, tended to reverse the norm.

You can’t propose that something be a universal space and at the same time keep control of it.

If you are not on the web, you will have problems accessing services.

Any good software engineer will tell you that a compiler and an interpreter are interchangeable.

Whatever the device you use for getting your information out, it should be the same information.