Quotes About Authenticity

Stats don't define me.

A film career does not define me. There is a other side to my life.

Just as basketball doesn't define who I am, neither does being gay.

Some people make records that are defined by their sexuality, but mine really are not.

I don't want to be easily defined.

My whole life is not defined by what Hollywood does.

What defines a Western? I've probably seen three my whole life.

I definitely don't see what people do for a living. I feel that doesn't define you as a human being; who you are defines you. I couldn't care less about what you do.

To live your truth and sing your truth, that defines success.

In terms of my work, I've never been reticent in terms of defining my sexuality. I write about my life.

If you stop trying to restrict yourself by defining yourself and love in other people's terms, it's the most liberating thing.

I know that cursing isn't for everybody, but it is definitely for me.

I think by definition you need to have lived a little bit to write anything that's humanly true.

To defer to someone else's definition of a life well-lived is a Faustian bargain.

I hate to say 'chain restaurant,' but we're sort of a corporation now. How do we defy that concept, where people assume each restaurant can't be good?

I've not had a deliberate image makeover.

The look of being too deliberately dressed, with everything cautiously matching, always bores me.

I don't have a lot of time for things that are deliberately, achingly cool.

With 'Someone New', I was at my rawest, and I didn't want to cover it up. And same with 'You Should Know' and 'Under the Table.' I wanted it to be the lyrics and the chord progressions, and the intricacies of the guitar of 'Someone New' are so delicate, sometimes that's all you need.

The mark of a writer is to make a story as likely as possible, and I've done my best to deliver authentic atmosphere.

The American media is delivering nothing but fakeness.

Part of what makes my character work is the delivery of the truth behind my comments.

Early on, I played a Chinese delivery person, and even that, which was very innocuous, felt like I was somehow betraying myself. I felt very self-conscious on set doing that role, with a crew that was almost entirely white.

You've got to demand the truth from yourself.