Twyla Tharp Quotes

How do you rebel in a family of rebels? That's the age-old question. I guess I could have by not going into the arts, but the thing is, I couldn't do anything else.

I kept hearing all these rules: 'You can't say that in country music.' 'You can't use that kind of beat.' I became so frustrated. It may have slingshotted me, in a rebellious way, toward doing something different.

I'm a creative person, and I'm gonna be creative, so whoever's upset because of that, that's too bad.

Painting something that defies the law of the land is good. Painting something that defies the law of the land and the law of gravity at the same time is ideal.

Rap is rock 'n' roll. Rock is when you push the buttons in the system; when you say, I'm not going along with what you're saying. That's rock, whether it's done with guitars, or it's done with just beats.

I'm not a critic. I'm not a journalist. I'm not a philosopher. Arguing that punk has run its course is like saying painting ran its course after the Renaissance. Punk is an idea. It's freedom. And it'll be around 200 years from now for the people who want it.

I love to do the things the censors won't pass.

I'm an artist, and expressing myself in a sexual way, no matter how that changes throughout the years, is something that has always come naturally to me. At this point of my life, I'm 32 and I feel sexier than ever because you know what you want.

I spent most of my teen years trying to figure out the rules of life, theories for why things happened, why people behaved as they did, and mostly I came to the conclusion that either there were no rules, or the rules sucked. Reading science fiction wasn't about imagining myself into some more exciting life filled with adventure, it was about finding a world where things worked the way I wanted them to.

People talk to me a lot about, "Why don't you ever rebel?" And I feel like I do rebel. To me, rebelling is - is that rush you get when you sing a song about someone and you know they're in the crowd.

Much arrogance is necessary equipment for an artist, I think. Not sufficient, but necessary. It carries one across the gaps.

The first ten million years were the worst," said Marvin, "and the second ten million years, they were the worst too. The third ten million years I didn't enjoy at all. After that I went into a bit of a decline.

Isn't art about breaking rules, about challenging existing systems, isn't it about discovering meaning in things or situations before others see anything in them??

Must one become seventy years old to recognize that one's greatest strength lies in creating musical kitsch?

Anxious, inexperienced writers obey rules. Rebellious, unschooled writers break rules. Artists master the form.

I was a strange child. I was the kid with funny hair listening to dodgy music [...] I'd come in with my hoodie and skate-shoes, with purple hair under the hood. I got away with it because I spent all my time in the art room, so they figured I was 'artistic'. I was that kind of kid, listening to Green Day and the Deftones and all that kind of thing.

I am not a political man and I have no political convictions. I am an individual and a believer in liberty. That is all the politics I have. On the other hand I am not a super-patriot. Super-patriotism leads to Hitlerism - and we've had our lesson there. I don't want to create a revolution - I just want to create a few more films.

You kind of have to be like " What have you been working the last five years for? Why are you complaining?" It's essentially me talking myself out of being a crybaby indie rock butthead.

Don't create for the masses. Create for the people who are your kind of weird.

An artist should always bite the hand that feeds him - but not too hard.

I've never had that fear of going against the grain.

I write movies about mavericks, about people who break rules, and I don't like movies about people who are pulverised for being mavericks.

... maybe that's all anyone who writes or paints or sculpts is doing anyway -- excusing themselves for refusing to live like other people or be like them.

I'm a painter first, and a musician second.

I do beg you to have some regard for my pride. A million years? I assure you I would stop asking after the first thousand.