Don Clifton Quotes & Sayings

I told the others which trees to chop, where to get the mud, even though I was not the official leader. My father used to say, 'Thing like a boss, not like a worker.' He meant that it is better to use your brain and be active than to be sullen and passive, as most workers are. I worked harder than anyone in the crew because it kept my mind sharp and because it kept me from thinking about other things. — Haing Ngor

Oblivion has been noticed as the offspring of silence. — Hannah More

I just want to stay away from people and read books. — John Green

You start acting just as soon as you walk into the door of that casting office. You can't just be yourself because they don't want to hire you. — Clifton Collins Jr.

Muhammad Ali: Superman Don't need no seat belt. Flight Attendant: Superman Don't need no airplane, either. — Clifton Fadiman

We must let go of those things that don't serve us. In order to receive the blessings intended for us, we have to make room for them. — Clifton Anderson

I don't go get a poem. It calls me and I accept it. — Lucille Clifton

My father could be very strict, but very fair. His father was the same. We all respected my grandfather; he was the head of the clan. Every morning, we all had to say good morning and kiss his hand. But not me. I jumped on his lap and bit him. — Azzedine Alaia

I was trained as an actress. But I wasn't a very convincing actress, so I started doing punk poetry and then fell into doing stand-up. — Jenny Eclair

The problem, simply put, is that we cannot choose everything simultaneously. So we live in danger of becoming paralyzed by indecision, terrified that every choice might be the wrong choice. — Elizabeth Gilbert

People can rock together, people can do great things together, and that's what you love when you're working with characters and it's all going well. — Jamie Lidell

The very controversial National Identification Act of 1991, requiring all United States citizens to carry identification, has greatly enhanced the ability of law enforcement officers to identify criminals and terrorists. — Richard Lamm

There is no one on Earth quite like you. No one can compare to you. Three questions: Do you realize how special you are? Do you believe how special you are? Do you demonstrate to the world how special you are? Don't live your life trying to live someone else's life. Be you! — Clifton Anderson

The only one I'd like to talk about Augustus Waters' death is Augustus Waters. — John Green

Fifty years later, in the 1920s, the American DuPont Company independently set up a similar unit and called it a Developmental Department. This department gathers innovative ideas from all over the company, studies them, thinks them through, analyses them. Then it proposes to top management which ones should be tackled as major innovative projects. From the beginning, it brings to bear on the innovation all the resources needed: research, development, manufacturing, marketing, finance, and so on. It is in charge until the new product or service has been on the market for a few years. — Peter F. Drucker

He had slowed up to avoid the inevitable end of his thought:
"
the frontiers of consciousness." The frontiers that artists must explore were not for her, ever. She was fine-spun, inbred
eventually she might find rest in some quiet mysticism. Exploration was for those with a measure of peasant blood, those with big thighs and thick ankles who could take punishment as they took bread and salt, on every inch of flesh and spirit.
Not for you, he almost said. It's too tough a game for you. — F Scott Fitzgerald

Don't write out of what I know; I write out of what I wonder. I think most artists create art in order to explore, not to give the answers. Poetry and art are not about answers to me; they are about questions. — Lucille Clifton

Things don't fall apart. Things hold. Lines connect in thin ways that last and last and lives become generations made out of pictures and words just kept. — Lucille Clifton

Fear swept in to fill the silence. Fear of disappearing, of the dark, of the unknown. Fear or being somewhere without this love to define him. 'Don't stop talking,' he tried to say. — Tommy Wallach

If God is a crutch, then atheism is a coma. — Brad Stine

Go on a living spree. While you're here, why not live it up? Make your list, then go be, do, and have everything you want. Live life to the fullest. Live a life of no regrets. Strive toward your potential. NO restrictions apply. This offer is good for a limited time only. Don't miss this opportunity. Go on a living spree! — Clifton Anderson

As for those who think they don't like to read, well, I know they're making a mistake, just as all of us do when we try to judge ourselves. Now is the time to give reading a chance, for if you don't get the habit when you're young you may never get it. And if you don't get it, you may grow up to be just as dull as most adults are. — Clifton Fadiman

Don't be afraid of poetry. — Clifton Fadiman

My son is 7 years old. I am 54. It has taken me a great many years to reach that age. I am more respected in the community, I am stronger, I am more intelligent and I think I am better than he is. I don't want to be a pal, I want to be a father. — Clifton Fadiman

Children when they ask you why your mama so funny say she is a poet she don't have no sense — Lucille Clifton