Quotes About Authenticity

I don't try to make the guitar sound like the harpsichord or lute. That makes you end up being like a bad copy.

People said when I started, 'Why don't you just copy your father's style?' I had to be myself, singing my songs in my own way.

Beauty can grow as a whole, since you shouldn't copy other people.

In my films, they say the action sequences are very local and not international. But why should I copy from English films?

I don't want to be a copy of anyone else.

I am too big to copy anyone.

I've realized now that I just want to be myself. I don't necessarily want to wear an exact copy of something on the runway, because that's not really what style is to me.

It's okay to be inspired by somebody else, but don't copy somebody else.

It's really hard to copy another actor and be successful. In fact, that's usually the reason people are not good, because they're copying something they've seen, but, for some reason with their face and their body, it doesn't work.

Copying is a form of self-validation.

The truth of the matter is being gay is the way I was born. I believe this to the core of my being.

I have to feel what I'm writing, right down to the core.

At my core, I'm a Midwesterner.

If you're trying to write something that you don't understand and embrace at the very core of you, it's not going to turn out with quite the authenticity and passion it should have.

The core of me is country. It's what I love. It's what I write. Even when I sing pop stuff, I'm still singing it 'countrily.'

The core of people don't change... what you see is what you get.

I didn't want there to be a computer on stage. When I see people with computers on stage, I think, 'Are you sending e-mail?' That's so corny.

Some of our stuff ends up looking too corporate. I'm going to be a lot stricter from now on.

After my time in the Marine Corps with 'don't ask, don't tell,' I didn't want to hide any more.

I'm ordinarily pretty correct in what I say.

I'm part of the fashion system, but I don't want to follow all the rules. I don't want to be contrarian - I just want to do my own things, which are most honest and correct to do.

I won't think about what people will say, even when I am actually seeing someone. Somebody will say something, then someone else will contradict it. I can't keep chasing all of them and try and correct everyone.

I'm not trying to erase my culture or my faith, I'm trying to be the best version of myself, and it's really hard. I don't think I'm right, I don't claim to be correct, I'm just trying to figure it out and figure out a balance.

When you hear something that's not correct, it really starts to irk someone.