Quotes About Artistry

I really dislike it when people talk about "experimental," because any good writer is experimental.

All good art is abstract.

Good writing is good writing, but that doesn't mean you can't orchestrate it or tweak it.

Sly Stone doesn't make good albums: only good records. His style is so infinite and revolves around so many crucial aspects that it has only come together perfectly on a handful of his singles.

My father was a very good craftsman. He made furniture, he made silverware and he had an incredible gift in terms of how you can make something yourself.

I don't think it matters what the frequency is of me writing or directing a movie. It doesn't really matter to anybody else. I'm just trying to put good things out there.

50 Words of Snow just didn't seem to have the complications that quite a lot of albums have. It felt to me like it had this very good flow of energy.

It is one thing to write a good sentence, another to write a good book.

He who is afraid to use an "I" in his writing will never make a good writer.

I started writing songs, I guess, when I was about 13 or 14, but I didn't know if they were good enough yet or anything.

Second records aren't usually very good. Even Bob Dylan's was a bit disappointing.

Lyrics need to be good, but they don't need to be obvious right away.

As long as we keep learning new music and getting better musically, there's a good chance that the record deal won't change anything.

When somebody like Elvis Costello comes along, anybody can make a good record with him.

Diaghilev was the first to notice good character dancers and that sort of thing.

Trust is everything between two artists, or between subject and artist. You have to have trust or nothing good will come out of it.

I just always try to find an interesting story and tell it well. That's a hard enough thing to do, whether it's a piece of fiction or it's a small piece of reality. I just look for good story.

Prog rock, with a little good taste, is ok. I tried to bring some of it into this century, I guess.

Nobody ever wrote a good book simply by collecting a number of accurate facts and valid ideas.

A good story needs only a good storyteller.

To the artist, the Book of Genesis is an account of six days in which God suggested some really good ideas.

My goal was not to be famous or rich but to be good at what I did. And that required going to New York and studying and working in the theater.

I'd rather sing a good lyric written by someone else than one of my own that is terrible.

There are no teachers, saints, prophets, good people, but the artists.