Vanessa Carlton Quotes

Anybody can be a rapper, but not anybody can be a classical artist.

Too many young musicians today want to win polls before they learn their instruments.

I will never be good at the oboe. No matter what happens, I will never be good at it because I just don't have that much time on my hands. I don't have the gift of going back to being a child and having my brain develop around this instrument.

My goal is to just be able to play as many instruments as I possibly can.

I feel like everybody that saw my videos was like, 'Oh this dude's about to rap.' They just played my videos, and I feel like I shocked a lot of people.

I have always loved music; whoso has skill in this art, is of a good temperament, fitted for all things. We must teach music in schools; a schoolmaster ought to have skill in music, or I would not regard him; neither should we ordain young men as preachers, unless they have been well exercised in music

I think I'll always feel a little in awe whenever I see someone in their 20s or 30s carrying a cello or violin case - because I know, if they're doing it professionally, how many years of practice have gone into being able to make music with them. And the sounds they can make just hit me very hard, and feel full of limitless complexity.

It all began with a shoe on the wall. A shoe on the wall shouldn't be there at all.

In terms of brain development, musical performance is every bit as important educationally as reading or writing.

One of the things that benefited me that anyone can learn is classical technique. That shows the orchestra that exists within the instrument.

I don’t think anyone knew I could act until I put on a bathing suit.

I don't even understand why I have 1.7 million Twitter followers. Every day, I want to remind them and say, "Do you realize I'm an astrophysicist? Do you know what you're doing here?"

God made poor woman with no heart, But gave her skill, and tact, and art, And so she lives, and plays her part. We must not blame, but pity her.

I only sing in my church choir. Except the other night, I stole the show at karaoke night.

Not everyone can become a great artist; but a great artist *can* come from *anywhere*.

I read the other day that Minor White said it takes twenty years to become a photographer. I think that is a bit of an exaggeration. I would say, judging from myself, that it takes at least eight or nine years. But it does not take any longer than it takes to learn to play the piano or the violin. If it takes twenty years, you might as well forget about it!

Nobody thought I'd be a great coach. I'm the kind of guy you'd expect to be driving an 18-wheeler through town.

I've been writing music since I was 9. I took harmony and counterpoint classes when I was studying the clarinet. So, I've been writing for an awfully long time. It just became part of everyday life.

A miracle is an act or event out of the order of nature and unaccountable, as beating a normal hand of four kings and an ace with four aces and a king.

You can never tell what the public will think! But when something goes well and is well-received, it's a great surprise!

Oh, what the hell did I know? I went to the set the first day in full makeup and the director told me to take it off. So I did the film without makeup. I had nothing to do with anything I did. I never understood why I was so famous.

I think it does surprise me a bit when people have a very fixed idea of what I'm like, based upon the work that I do, which is something that is very separate.

It is only the unexpected that ever makes a customs officer think.

I'm kind of shocked any time somebody hires me and even more shocked any time somebody hires me to play a character like Lex Luthor, which I only knew from the public consciousness of him being a bald, brooding villain who is older than me.

Very often, people who actually pick up a book of mine for the first time are kind of surprised. And I get these letters saying, well, who knew that you were good, you know?