Quotes About Influence

When I was little, my older brother, Gary, was forced to read a book a week in fourth grade. The books he liked he threw on my bed when he was finished with them. This continued throughout my childhood and made me a reader for life.

I submitted a bunch of names. Nia is, like, a Samoan girl name that a lot of women have. Jax is from 'Sons of Anarchy.' I was super into Jax, so I threw the name Jax in there, and it came about that way.

My first CD that I had was the Ying Yang Twinz, and my grandma bought it for me. Honestly, I think my grandma got it from a thrift store or something. She just got it for me. It was in downtown Philadelphia. And I would listen to it. I liked it. None of my friends did, though, but I liked it.

Oratory is the masterful art. Poetry, painting, music, sculpture, architecture please, thrill, inspire - but oratory rules. The orator dominates those who hear him, convinces their reason, controls their judgment, compels their action. For the time being, he is master.

My own musical ambitions were born when I was five, watching the Ed Sullivan Show on TV. When Elvis Presley burst on to the screen, singing 'Don't Be Cruel,' I felt my first sexual thrill, though I didn't know what it was at the time.

It's really a rush and a thrill to feel you've been part of a body of music that's inspiring.

The thrill I got discovering Buster Keaton when I was growing up was so exciting. He was one of the greats.

I met Michael Jordan as a kid. I train with George Gervin also, so that's a big thrill as well. I've learned a lot from him.

I grew up, like most people in my generation, watching John Travolta. I was thrilled to meet him.

Simply being a guest on David Letterman's show has been a highlight of my career. I never dreamed that I would follow in his footsteps, though everyone in late night follows Dave's lead. I'm thrilled and grateful that CBS chose me. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go grind a gap in my front teeth.

I was thrilled as a kid to point out my sister as she danced and sang on the stage, and she was pretty good artistically. She was a great inspiration to me. She was the one who sort of led me into show business.

I was shocked and thrilled when I started getting messages and calls from people I look up to in the industry.

I'm happy with studio infiltration, but I'm thrilled when I see 12- to 20-year olds walking down the street with Beats and not two-dollar earbuds.

I would be thrilled with anybody who cites my work as something that inspired them.

The song that's affected me the most profoundly is probably Michael Jackson's 'Thriller,' or, more specifically, the couple seconds of instrumental break before Vincent Price starts 'rapping.'

I used to dress up like Michael Jackson. I didn't have the glove, but I had a red jacket like in 'Thriller.'

I saw the police thriller The Blue Lamp' and remember realizing the power that Dirk Bogarde as the gangster exerted over the audience simply by his expressions in the close-ups. I could see how the people around me reacted to him and realized that I wanted to have the same effect.

Thriller' reshaped sound. It reshaped everything.

I drew influence from Mike Leigh, Ruben Ostlund, a lot of Scandinavian filmmakers, Lukas Moodysson. I also drew influence from horror films and thrillers, which is something I would never think to do earlier in my career.

We grew up on Scorsese and Coppola and '70s crime thrillers.

For me, the stamp that I impose on stuff comes from the fact that in the '80s, when I was starting to write movies, I looked back to the '70s. So the films I enjoyed as a kid were the thrillers that came out of the '70s. Back then, you didn't have action movies; you had adventure films or thrillers.

Thrillers excite me as an actor and I have always wanted to be a part of one.

The Russians thrive on misinformation and disinformation.

I don't believe in the meteoric culture of anxiety, generally. Obviously, some people have it, some people are crippled by it, but most of the novelists I've ever known are in love with influence. They thrive on it.