Ian Hamilton Finlay Quotes

As a filmmaker, I always try not to concern myself with the outcome of things. I make the movie, and I do that as honestly and good as I can. I don't want to pollute my thoughts with what is going to happen with it afterwards, because I have to work inside-out.

The less attention I pay to what people want and the more attention I pay to just writing the book I want to write, the better I do.

I don't care what people do. I don't care how people remember my albums. I do them for my own reasons.

I only write music for myself, I don't try and appeal to anyone else.

The most honest form of filmmaking is to make a film for yourself.

If people like something you've done - or don't like it - this shouldn't determine what you write or how you write it. Those are two separate things entirely: your work and the world's response to it.

I can only say that I myself wrote always as I wished, without a tremendous desire to find the latest thing possible.

I was always a bit concerned about purity of essence. I never wanted a job that might affect the way I wrote or thought.

Sometimes, there's a preconceived notion of how a scene or how a work should be delivered. And I see young performers sometimes try and deliver that, and it's not really true to their voice or who they are.

I never think about what others are doing. I do a film for myself, not others.

I'm not entangled in shaping my work according to other people's views of how I should have done it.

I'm confident in my intentions and why I'm making music. I'm not making music because I want to be on your TV screen or the cover of your magazine.

Sometimes, being a feminist artist, there are times where I'm in a position where I just want to feel like I'm saying all the right things politically, or I feel like I have to mention my own project over other people's projects. But I don't do that anymore. I just want to be off the cuff and honest.

There is a sense of purity in theatre which always attracts me. Deep down, I feel I am more of an artist than a commodity, which Bollywood turns you into. I want to strike a balance.

This is not Tolstoy. I don't want to know what critics and professors think of what I'm writing. It might hurt my feelings.

When I make movies, I don't ever go out there to please anyone other than myself. I never try to make a film for the masses. I just try to tell my story.

I've never... when I was having songs on the airwaves, and that sort of thing, I never felt a sense of pressure anywhere except from myself, to do things the way I wanted to do them; to feel authentic; to feel like I was presenting my true self to the world.

I think the moment you start trying to please a fan base is when you start going downhill. I'm going to always, always write about what I want, even if it doesn't necessarily cater to most of them.

All my big mistakes are when I try to second-guess or please an audience. My work is always stronger when I get very selfish about it.

I try to forget about the expectation that's out there and the audience listening for the next thing so that I'm not trying to please them. I've spent a huge amount of time not communicating with those folks and denying that they exist.

I have nothing to hide in art. The initial force alone can bring anyone to the end he must attain.

Don't try to follow any trends, just concentrate on writing great songs and knowing your instrument. All the other stuff will fall into place.

If I knew anything about what people wanted and was popular, I'd still be writing for 'Saturday Night Live'. I can only write what I want, and hopefully people will like it.

No, I don't make my work in order to challenge or confuse other people's expectations - I only do what I find natural.

I will not let my sales figures dictate what I say on the blog, because the blog is what I want to say.