Alexander McQueen Quotes

I never sang for a Grammy, for money, for fame. That's my whole purpose for singing: for people, for the fans.

If you go to Hollywood, you've already sold out.

I never cared about money or fame, and I don't care now. I follow the groove, and money always follows.

I never sold any of my pieces. I had all the money I wanted. Then I would have lost my sculptures and just had more money.

Whenever you think you're writing what other people want to hear from you, and that it'll be commercial, you're doomed to disaster. Writing has to be as truthful and specific as we can make it. The minute we think that we're reaching more people and pleasing them, we get general. And audiences sense that and turn away, shun us.

I think whatever you believe in affects whatever you express, whatever you create. It shapes your morality in some way. But I don't think that's something that you have to shove down people's throats. I'd rather keep it in the background, and I'd rather people came to the music in an unprejudiced way. I'm glad, in a sense, that most people don't know about me, what I do, much. I'd rather they hear the music, and then say, "I wonder what kind of person created this."

Sometimes, you release an album and the record company just about ignores it, and so many people don't even know it's out. And I'm not about to jump up and down shouting, "Hey folks, look at me! I'm cool and groovy!" That's not what George Harrison is all about.

I'm prepared to forget about money if it affects my creativity because, remember, I started off with nothing. And I can do that again.

I . . . am always half afraid of finding a clever novel too clever--& of finding my own story & my own people all forestalled.

Be rich for yourself and poor to your friends.

A lotta cats copy the Mona Lisa, but people still line up to see the original.

No matter what I put out, no matter what genre - because I feel like I'm going to experiment with everything - I hope people will see that it's true to me, that it's honest, and nobody ever thinks that I'm inauthentic.

What other people think of me is not my business. What I do is what I do. How people see me doesn't change what I decide to do. I don't choose projects so people don't see me as one thing or another. I choose projects that excite me. I think the problem is that people refuse to understand what drag is outside of their own belief system.

My work is trying to at least define myself on my own terms, and then if other people enjoy things that's a lovely addition.

I don't know that I'm unique in that people relate to my music, but I would hope people would say that I'm honest and that I do the best work I can possibly do instead of coasting.

People afraid of criticism but I always put myself in a sacrificial position,they been know I ain't just rappin for fame

I just go in the studio and do what I love to do. People will be people, they'll come and go, they'll like you then not like you, I just try to stay true to myself first and that's what most important because that way when you are successful you can stand up and say look, I did it my way and I did it the way that I wanted to do it.

There are people who are not wealthy because they want to be comfortable.

I don't really have a style -- I'm just me. My style is kinda whatever I feel like wearing. A lot of girls feel like they need to wear what everyone else is wearing. But it's good to have your own trend. People will start following it!

The idea of massive amounts of fame-having my face on Walgreens end-caps and pizza boxes-I don't fantasize about that. I'm happy with just being a songwriter. I'd rather have smaller numbers [of fans] that are really into what I'm doing than a massive amount of people that don't really know what I'm about.

The time of getting fame for your name on its own is over. Artwork that is only about wanting to be famous will never make you famous. Any fame is a by-product of making something that means something. You don't go to a restaurant and order a meal because you want to have a sh*t.

What we make testifies who we are. People can sense care and can sense carelessness.

I'm going to work with Dan Clowes. After Charlie Kaufman, it's hard to fill up the gap. It's hard to find somebody who... A lot of writers, I can clearly see the desire of succeeding before the desire of expressing themselves. Sometimes people get upset when you want to be different. You were talking about "whimsical," which is a nice word. But sometimes they use the word "quirky" in the pejorative sense. I get frustrated, because they feel like I'm doing whatever I want, and there is no ground, and I don't really care. They feel it's cynical. But I don't think I have any cynicism in me.

People ask me all the time, "What are your influences? Are you trying to do Beckett?" It's like, "No, I'm trying to do me." Whatever that is. I don't know what that is, but that's the basis. I'm trying to be true and I'm trying to be honest.

There are certainly a lot of people - and I won't name names - who are getting by simply on expression. And I guess that's valuable in some sense. But songs are not better just because they're emotionally honest. To write a song well, you have to put some work into it and grind it out.