Quotes About Introspection

The '90s weren't my finest years artistically. I wrote some good songs in there, but in terms of my vision of getting the paint on the canvas, that was not my best time. I didn't like the fact that I had fallen into mediocrity.

Oftentimes I feel like I can, through the music, paint a picture of something that I can't look anywhere and see in my real life.

I might have painted myself into a bit of a corner doing all these big, serious David Lean-esque movies.

The painter should paint not only what he has in front of him, but also what he sees inside himself.

My personality is more the personality of a painter.

There does not exist a painter who knows himself or knows what he is doing.

As a painter, it seemed easier to sort of disappear.

The lovely thing about being an actor is being anonymous, it's never having to explain yourself. And that's what I find interesting about actors or painters I admire. I don't want to know about their lives.

If he sees nothing within, then he should stop painting what is in front of him.

I always feel attacked when I'm asked about my painting.

I think people have to choose between living with contradictions or painting themselves into a corner. I have a lot of contradictions.

When I go to an art gallery and stand in front of a painting, I don't want someone telling me what I should be seeing or thinking; I want to feel whatever I feel, see whatever I see, and figure out what I figure out.

There was a point after the whole intensity of the Clash finally subsided when I just found that painting grounded me in a way that music didn't.

Really, I do not know whether my paintings are surrealist or not, but I do know that they are the frankest expression of myself.

I did a little soul searching to explore where I had gone wrong, why I made the decisions I did, how my definitions of success and ambition were off. I love a great new pair of shoes - I love to look at my bank account and see zeroes - but what is it attached to?

I have seen myself pale and I don't look like myself.

My life is an open pamphlet.

I used to panic about everything - family, friends... I'd think, 'Is that person okay? Can I fix this?'

When we were writing for Panic whether we knew it or not, having that name over the songs we were trying to do made me second guess things and change things. I started to go against my instincts.

My favorite thing is to be alone in a room with a blank paper in front of me and the time to fill it.

I am probably exaggerating a little, but I owe my equilibrium to ink and paper.

'Ghost City' began as a idea. I felt that I hadn't read or heard a great deal about the sort of life that I thought I had, and I just thought that it would be interesting to sit down and see if I could put it down onto paper.

I don't read the papers or watch TV.

Life is not all a bowl of cherries. There are days when you aren't going to feel up to par. And it's healthy to see it in yourself and to ask, 'Hey, what's going on?'