I was an actor... or, at least, I was trying to be an actor.
Cynicism, to me, is trying to make people as unhappy as you are.
I didn't think I was helping other people. But I think that comes hand in hand with trying to be able to connect with people, and if you make things too personal, then it's harder for people to relate to you. Otherwise, it's just them listening to you read your diary.
I never set out to work on the concept of androgyny. For me, it was more about trying to find a wardrobe that would fundamentally appeal to both men and women: Trying to find the right shirt, the right jeans, the right trouser - but on different landscapes.
I think, generally, most people can't maintain anything that's particularly strict for very long. I watch people trying and failing to do that a lot.
I actually thought that it would be a little confusing during the same period of your life to be in one meeting when you're trying to make money, and then go to another meeting where you're giving it away. I mean is it gonna erode your ability, you know, to make money? Are you gonna somehow get confused about what you're trying to do?
Not to sound bad, but some girls are dumb. It's because they spend so much of their life trying to have the right look. On the other hand, some girls are just really smart. There are girls you can have conversations with that are healthy conversations. You can argue real life issues and solve problems together. That is what makes a woman sexy.
You will find peace not by trying to escape your problems, but by confronting them courageously. You will find peace not in denial, but in victory.
No man was ever eloquent by trying to be eloquent, but only by being so.
25 years later, you know, I haven't really put too much emphasis on any kind of individual goal, other than trying to win any particular night, trying to find a way to do that.
I think the big things for me are trying to keep running and staying active, but not forcing to do one hour or five miles but really going out and doing it until you feel good.
We're trying to evolve a lot away from YouTube because YouTube is awesome - they have a huge audience, and we started there - but then you're at the mercy of their algorithms a lot, too. They can change anything, and it's really up to them, and you can't say anything about it.
In the beginning I just wanted to survive. For the first three years, we made zero revenue. I remember many times when I was trying to pay up, the restaurant owner would say, 'Your bill was paid.' And there would be a note saying, 'Mr. Ma, I'm your customer on the Alibaba platform. I made a lot of money, and I know you don't, so I paid the bill.'
What sets 'Some Nights' apart from anything we've ever done is the hip-hop influence. Not so much the actual sound of hip-hop, but more the vibrato and the artistry that comes with it. Right now, the artists that seem to be pushing to be the greatest artists and are trying to change the world are hip-hop artists.
It's a violent world we live in. I don't agree with trying to hide that or cover it up.
I think that we are at a point in our country where we're trying to decide what role should religion play in the political arena.
You've got Corey Feldman doing his thing, and the problem is, they're trying to be pop stars. You can't compare Salty to any of the other actors out there playing music.
The news in Europe, West and East, is still showing America in flames, flood, etc. Cities are shown underwater; befuddled American officials are shown trying to explain why we are winning the war on terrorism.
I'm a social writer in the sense that I want to record, but not in the sense of trying to change people's minds.
There are plenty of examples of people who have had busy lives out there in the world, trying to do good, and written very well at the same time.
Anytime someone uses one of my songs for anything - a ceremony or a sacred moment - that, to me, is a high honor. I'm proud of the song at that point because I'm trying to write something for humans - whichever humans want to get on board and put this in their soundtrack to their soul's development or spiritual lives.
My dream is to be a doctor. I'm almost working in a laboratory, because I'm trying new techniques, new directions and fabrics, new weaving.
Just to go into a shop without getting stared at would be nice. I mean, I don't walk around like, 'Oh, I'm trying to be famous' - I try to lead as normal a life as possible - but sometimes it's annoying. It's fine; it's not a massive problem, but sometimes it's just a bit uncomfortable.
Fashion choices are never arbitrary. Even if you say you don't care, that's a decision. There's something you're trying to say.
We gave up on the idea of trying to make the record a good representation of the live performance.
It was a somber place, haunted by old jokes and lost laughter. Life, as I discovered, holds no more wretched occupation than trying to make the English laugh.
I was just talking about women, just in terms of understanding them as much as we can ever understand the opposite sex. I'm trying to let go of certain male approaches to things that you inherit, that you grow up with.
I'm a Scrabble nut, and I need something to do while I'm travelling. Scrabble keeps me occupied, I play against myself. I have a high score of 718 that I'm always trying to beat. I'm a good player. You don't want to play me for money, that's for sure.
I tell my colleagues that it is actually all right to make mistakes, and I am worried when they do not make them, because it means that they either hide them from me or are not trying hard enough.
I don't like people telling me what to do, or trying to MAKE me write songs.
As commentators like the American psychologist Gary Marcus have noted, it's extremely difficult to teach a computer to recognise cats. And that's not for want of trying.
There's nothing I despise more than people trying to be something that they're not.
I've always gone back and forth between acting and music, but for music I'm not trying to be a pop star - I just like to do it.
I've spent a lot of time trying to understand how all the big cosmetics companies get away with the placebo science and unscientific claims.
My family was entirely political, all the time, on the left. The opposite of that is not to be political on the right. It's trying not to be - politics is not everything. There's life other than politics. Politics intrudes.
Before you take your address, while you're still reading the putt, imagine the ball tracking on the line you've chosen and falling into the cup. If you don't believe you can make every putt, why bother trying?
