Ann Patchett Quotes

I do get funny people sometimes coming up to me in supermarkets in America with my picture in their pocket, which is a bit strange.

As a star you never know when people are really serious.

Most of us who got into film industry in early 2000s weren't prepared for the constant vigilance that being a celebrity requires, and there's no school for learning how to handle it well or gracefully. It's a hard thing to figure out. A lot of people don't deal with it well because they're either too paranoid or they're doing things they probably shouldn't be doing in public.

It's a little bit hard to have personal things subject to public scrutiny, and it's a pressure that other people aren't under, but then they're under a lot of pressures that we're not under.

I can still go grocery shopping and not get mobbed. But when I was in South Africa this summer, I had people asking for autographs, and that scared me.

My mom would leave her job, and there would be throngs of people screaming and banging on our car. I come from a very private family, but I was born into a public family.

All my first dates are interrupted by my fame because every picture taken is a fan that you can gain.

Growing up in public is a test, and not many people know how to do it.

If you lead a public life, people are much more on to you than you think.

As chancellor, I am - as it should be - constantly under the microscope from both the public and the media. It is also important to me that my staff tells me openly how they see things. And an additional good indicator is the mood in my own electoral district. When I am there, which happens frequently, no one is particularly excited or impressed anymore to meet the chancellor. People there tell me immediately what is going well and what isn't.

I think there are always gonna be challenges and people throwing themselves at you in a nondiscreet way. But it's just so public now that you have to be careful saying hi or giving somebody a hug, because then somebody will turn it into something else.

I've been a public person for most of my life. It has advantages and disadvantages. I can't take my kids to Disneyland. On the other hand, I can get a table at a restaurant or tickets to a play.

When you invest in people and lift them toward their potential, they will love you for it.

The truth is I've always been a Christian. What's amazing, is that the flaws that come with Christianity are really weird, because mine have a microphone and a camera attached to them. Most people don't have to live under that microscope.

I should just stop trying to control what's coming out of my mouth. I'm always going to keep what's important to me in mind and I completely understand considering that we're playing characters that are so coveted by so many people so I get why they want to know more about us. I just sort of have to not think about it.

When you get to a certain level of recognizability, celebrity, you can't go out of the house without someone going, "Can I just have one photo?" I don't mind, by the way, if anyone wants one we can take some photos. But sometimes you just wanna stay in the house or in the hotel room with the shades closed.

There's this thing that publishes pictures of people out and about. So when I go out, I do see pictures of myself. I don't know where those pictures come from - I mean, I don't see the cameras. But I guess I'm just not looking for them.

With fame, in just proportion, envy grows.

One of the biggest sacrifices in running for President, if there is one, is the loss of anonymity.

Rudy Giuliani needed to feel safe because he turned his life into a public mess. A public mess that the "New York Tabloids" covered daily.

Life becomes difficult when you're in this public eye, and I think that we all relate to each other and I try and really talk about it in my music.

Half the people who snuff people, that's what they want: recognition. Get their picture in the paper.

It's weird when people are just staring at you because the thing is, people are not quite sure ... I get a lot of: "Are you off the TV?" It's funny. I don't and I don't get to the sort of clubs where people expect to see you.

There are a lot of perks that come with fame and with every positive there's a negative and then it all kind of balances out. The travelling is great. You get to see so many different places but there's a downside; having everything splattered across every media resource that exists, being chased by photographers and have them sit at the end of your driveway every day. But it all kind of balances.

People ask me a lot of questions and I don't always have the time to stop and talk, but I do a lot of email mentorship with college students. So if I meet a college kid during a motivational speech or something like that I'll stop and say, "I see you need help in this area. Here's my email. Let me help." So, it's just my way of giving back.