Anna Deavere Smith quotes - page 2

A lot of acting techniques are very self-oriented. (Anna Deavere Smith)
I think that art is supposed to be ahead of the times. View quote
Anna Deavere Smith
The American idea is as promising, imaginative, and full of the unexpected as the land itself. The land represents freedom - the frontier, the ability to make a new future with your own bare hands. View quote
Anna Deavere Smith
You know, real artists, we expose our flaws. We long for intimacy. View quote
Anna Deavere Smith
Probably the person who said the only color in Los Angeles is green was right. View quote
Anna Deavere Smith
I think as a kid I always liked to listen to people. I loved hearing stories. View quote
Anna Deavere Smith
I feel like my work has been my path to freedom from having grown up in a segregated environment. View quote
Anna Deavere Smith
I call the language of political figures, pundits and administrators "the haute couture of language." View quote
Anna Deavere Smith
For me, first of all, I love people, I love ideas. View quote
Anna Deavere Smith
I have never been in a violent movie or television show. View quote
Anna Deavere Smith
I think some of our most talented people are not going to pick the arts as a way that they're going to spend their lives. (Anna Deavere Smith)
I see myself first and foremost as a student of expression. View quote
Anna Deavere Smith
In my profession, I'm around a lot of people whose bodies are their instruments in one way or another. View quote
Anna Deavere Smith
I never know when somebody's going to knock on the door of my own unconscious in a way that I wouldn't have anticipated. View quote
Anna Deavere Smith
I do believe that character is a process, that truth is a process, and I am not interested in winning and losing... View quote
Anna Deavere Smith
If I do three interviews in a day, I can be exhausted, because the process of hearing everyone requires that I empty out myself. While I'm listening, my own judgments and prejudices certainly come up. But I know I won't get anything unless I get those things out of the way. View quote
Anna Deavere Smith
I am interested in personal stories because that's when people become expressive, spontaneous and heartfelt. View quote
Anna Deavere Smith
That artists are called to be more responsible and 'true' is a tip of hat to their power. View quote
Anna Deavere Smith
People in power have to be careful about what comes out of their mouth. They have to find exactly the right word that can't be attacked. View quote
Anna Deavere Smith
Listening is not just hearing what someone tells you word for word. You have to listen with a heart. I don't want that to sound touchy-feely; it is not. It is very hard work. View quote
Anna Deavere Smith
When I got out of acting school, I was lucky to have gotten any job at all. A lot of people hiring African American actresses - it was right after 'Roots,' and for society, not me, it was great. Nice richly dark-skinned people was the fashion, and I was not. (Anna Deavere Smith)
I remember from my father's funeral that the minister kept using a metaphor about life of a prism. And I took that away like a cherished image. View quote
Anna Deavere Smith
I don't talk a lot when I interview. My job is to get out of the way. View quote
Anna Deavere Smith
I have a lot of optimism about new doctors because I think it's really clear that it's a lot of hard work and no guarantee of a lot of money. View quote
Anna Deavere Smith
I'm interested when things are upside down - because there are so many possibilities in that one moment. There is a lot that is exposed. View quote
Anna Deavere Smith