Anthony Doerr Quotes

I've learned over the years that the best way to develop as an artist is to make things. So I tell young artists it's not enough to be an actor anymore, you have to be a filmmaker/writer/director. There's no excuse for waiting around for a job. You have to be active and make things.

I've done a couple of songs which are not up to the mark. So, mentally, I've set a goal that I should be more dynamic and try and push myself as much as I can.

I haven't been worried about my image so much as I have been trying to find projects to push myself further than before.

Self-education is, I firmly believe, the only kind of education there is.

Believe it or not, the first spark for everything I've done today came down to me meeting one person in college who changed my life. A student named Anthony Adams who lived across the hall from me in our freshman dorm showed me what it meant to be an 'entrepreneur' when I saw him launch his own start-up company.

I am your original autodidact.

The progress of an artist is a continual self-sacrifice, a continual extinction of personality.

I'm very happy with my lot. I like the variety I get. You don't want to spend your life repeating yourself. It's true of any kind of artist, you want to explore as wide and far as you can go, so that's what I've been trying to do.

I want to find my own rhythm and style. That's probably the harder way to approach it, but I think it will pay off in the long run.

I know what I'm like when I don't have a project coming up, and that's the mode I'm almost more comfortable in. That's when I get really scrappy and creative.

I just want to be better every day, to get better every day, not to be better than anyone else.

Create something for yourself that you feel proud of, that you are in control of, that gives you a better understanding of the type of artist you want to be.

I always try and hold to that saying, 'I want to work on things I'd want to see.' The vast majority, that's been true.

I just really want to continue to play those roles where I really have something to do, and mainly, above all, work with people that I can learn from - directors I think are so great.

It hasn't always been easy, but you get to a point where you're not doing the solo stuff with any kind of expectation in terms of commercial or a business outcome, you're doing it because you believe in this.

I didn't have time to be anybody's muse; I was too busy rebelling against my parents and learning to be an artist.

For me, what's important is to be inspired and keep moving to grow as an artist and as a person.

People who can actually challenge me and push me and almost push me to breaking point and extract a performance out of me, I really enjoy that.

No one in the Indian team gave me tips, but I should be mature enough to grasp little things by watching them train and play.

I grew up in this room filled with musical instruments, but most importantly, I had a family who encouraged me to invest in my own imagination, and so things I created, things I built were good things to be building just because I was making them, and I think that's such an important idea.

I'm entirely self-taught, which I think is both a blessing and a curse.

My biggest mentor is myself, I've always felt.

I've got to be the best person that Tyrann can be.

I was mostly self-taught on guitar and that had its benefits. It's a great thing to work through problems on your own.

Before finding a mentor, I feel it's essential to really find your own calling and passion. From my experience, this will become a guiding bond in this kind of relationship. Be curious and engaged - and push yourself actively. Be as good as you can at what you love to do, and you will certainly get a mentor's attention.