Quotes About Inspiration

Growing up on set, the director is the person that, as a child, you admire and gives you validation.

College gave me validation: I gained a lot of confidence, just from once or twice saying something in class and the professor saying, 'Great idea.' That experience has certainly helped me say to a director, 'Actually, I think my idea is at least worth talking about.'

The only rule I have found to have any validity in writing is not to bore yourself.

All good performance pieces have some philosophical validity. That's the difference between mere theater and performance art.

When I'm writing, I'm constantly thinking about myself, because it's the only experience I have to draw on. And I don't see an exact reflection of myself in every face in the audience, but I know that my songs have validity to them, and that's why the fans are there.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made straight and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.

My favorite place to go is Zabriskie Point in Death Valley. If you see it at sunrise and sunset, it's like you're on Mars.

Before I came to Silicon Valley I was in Beijing, China and I was twenty-seven. When I saw the Internet, I immediately realized that it was going to change everything.

Obviously, everything that has been built in Silicon Valley is something that a lot of places are trying to mimic, and rightfully so. There's been a lot of amazing companies that have come out of there.

Every weekday morning, I picture my first paragraph while I hike with my dog Milo near Mulholland Drive, looking out over the San Fernando Valley. I edit the paragraph, then memorize it, so that when I get back home and sit down at my computer, the blank screen's tyranny lasts only a second or two. A brief reign!

I'm often stunned when I come up over Mulholland, and I'm looking down at the Valley, and I can see for thirty miles; I can see the mountains, or all the way to the ocean.

I used to write in a room overlooking the valley from where I could see too much, whether checking the sheep and alpacas or seeing the trout rise on the lake.

I formed my first band when I was going to Valley Torah High School in Los Angeles.

I read a lot when I was young. All the obvious, all the greats, from 'Le Grand Meaulnes,' 'To Kill a Mockingbird,' 'Fear and Loathing,' 'Catcher in the Rye,' 'The Bell Jar,' 'The Female Eunuch,' 'Valley of the Dolls,' 'The Feminine Mystique,' Tom Wolfe. Then, film took over for me. Film was so exciting in the '70s.

I think sometimes with new characters, you can kind of hit a creative valley, and it's important to recognize when you're in that valley so you can get back out and get back to that peak.

Girls are going to school again in Swat Valley. And that is great.

Look at Loretta Lynn. Look at Jeannie C. Rily singing 'Harper Valley PTA' and Tammy Wynette singing about divorce. They were ahead of their times in a lot of ways.

I gave a Collings dreadnought to a young guitar player in the Valley where I live because he didn't have a good acoustic, and he's a terrific player.

I've spent a good part of my life in Silicon Valley, California, and I really like that place.

I was just sitting on my bed in a dormitory room, and I started writing. The thing that was magic about it was that once you put down one word, you could cross it out. I figured that out right away. I put down 'mountain,' and then I'd go, 'No - 'valley.' That's better.'

When I came to the United States in 2004 to attend university at Stanford, I was instantly inspired by the stories and advice from startup leaders in Silicon Valley and beyond, who had endeavoured to create new opportunities and improve lives around the world.

I went to Fountain Valley High School. I remember watching Grove Shakespeare productions here. It left a big impression on me.

Since high school, I've always been super into photography. I event went to Valley College for photography.

I've spoken to people in Silicon Valley, and many times they have said to me, 'X storyline, or that thing that happened in your show - pretty much verbatim has happened to me.' And it's either identical or similar enough to be scary.