James McBride Quotes

A sailing ship is no democracy; you don't caucus a crew as to where you'll go anymore than you inquire when they'd like to shorten sail.

In Nine Inch Nails, I've been the guy calling the shots since inception. I'd gotten used to that.

Democracy can tie your hands in a rock 'n' roll band, you know? It can be a great thing, but if you've got a certain amount of vision and you write a lot of songs, it's sometimes better to have your own band and make your own decisions.

I've played Frankie Cosmos shows where the promoter or whoever sees that I'm the lead singer, and then they go up to David, the bassist, and are like, 'So, do we pay you?' And he's like, 'No, you pay her; she's the boss.' Those are moments where I'm just like, 'I'm clearly in charge.'

First of all; Frank was the BOSS. We didn't question any of his motives or decisions at the time.

Roger Goodell is doing his job. He's front office. Whatever he says goes, and I'll leave it at that.

Here's what I tell people now when they come to my shows: 'First of all, thank you for stimulating the economy, or at least my economic package.'

The point of having a director is that they make the final decision; it's their point of view, they set the rhythm and they make the final decisions.

Some single mind must be master, else there will be no agreement in anything.

In Korea, the director has the final word. If the director makes a decision, that decision is final. In Hollywood, every decision needs to go through the producer, the studio, and sometimes even the main actor. There is a certain procedure that needs to be followed.

It's all about who's where on the food chain. When I'm the story editor, I expect my writers to follow my vision. When I'm working for another editor, I'm obliged to follow their vision.

Even when you’re in charge, you’re not sure who’s in charge.

Campaigns are not, and should not be, democratic processes. Otherwise nothing would ever get done.

Structure is not about moving boxes around on a chart. Structure is about power.

Bottom up democracy is hard for our leaders to accept. It is cultural. Chinese culture is based on the family. The daddy makes all the big decisions for everyone. It is top down.

If I wanted to have total control and be a dictator, I would do ice sculpture in my basement. If I want to make a movie, I'm going to work with 500 people, and I will have to work with their strength and their weakness.

If you've been on top of the food chain in the Armed Forces, that's who you are. You're used to dealing with your life in a particular way.

I'm a band dictator.

I work directly for the boss. I listen to everybody, but I have one man whose voice is louder than everybody else's.

When I was working in the Pentagon, I had to own the recommendations I made up the chain of command.

Luckily, as a director I can just tell people what I need and I don't need to tell them how to get it.

How many kings are governed by their ministers, how many ministers by their secretaries? Who, in such cases, is really the chief?

Being in command means making tough decisions. Not being in command means shutting up and doing what you're told. --Artemis Fowl

I mean loyalty - you know, look, first we serve the people. I've always looked at that. You serve the people first. But having said that, you never forget who's in charge. You never forget who the CEO of a country is when you decide to serve. And so everyone works at the pleasure of the president. And that's what, you know, we have to remember is if he doesn't feel comfortable, he can do something about it.

I'm not much of a song-and-dance man.