John Waters Quotes

Public opinion shapes our destinies and guides the progress of human affairs.

When I was very young, I was attracted to men and to government. I assumed that my attraction for men would likely interfere with my activity in government. I could not have believed that today, my attraction to men is much more politically acceptable than my attraction to government.

Build what you want to see in the world.

You are not likely to see any general reformation, till you procure family reformation.

I just kind of live a life, and I let all the gossip live somewhere else. If you go too far down the rabbit hole of what people think about you, it can change everything about who you are.

The number one responsibility for each of us is to change ourselves with hope that others will follow.

It was kind of interesting: [People] didn't really want to talk about it too much. And then after the election, it's kind of like they've been unleashed.

I still feel like the same person, in every way - it is just some of my surroundings have changed and there are lots of new people in my life.

I'm a good guy at the end of the day, you know what I'm saying? A lot of people will believe what they see in the media from a long time ago. I'm just growing as an artist and as a person.

Psychology cannot tell people how they ought to live their lives. It can however, provide them with the means for effecting personal and social change.

If I was to stop making music tomorrow doesn't mean suddenly there is this gap. You don't get elected. The people decide where you are. Whether I'm here or not, if they want you to be at the top then the people will move me out the way.

There is no authentic inner freedom that does not, sooner or later, also affect and change human history.

For most of my life, I've been, ‘Hey, I'm not into it, but I respect your right to believe whatever you want'. But as time goes on, weirdly, I'm growing less liberal. I'm more like, 'No, religion is ruining the world, you need to stop!’

What people think about you is not supposed to matter much, so long as you yourself know where the truth lies; but I have found out, as have others who move in and out of newspaper headlines, that on occasion it can matter a good deal. For once you enter the world of headlines you learn there is not one truth but two: the one which you know from the facts; and the one which the public, or at any rate a highly imaginative part of the public, acquires by osmosis.

We've always had anti-Americans. We've always had left-wing protesters and so forth, but they were always off to the left kooks. They were always oddball nutcases. Now they're not. They come across as ordinary, everyday mainstream people. It just disgusts me. It's so unfortunate, so unnecessary.

You can't have Rosie on The View and Elton John packing Mom and Pop in at Caesars Palace and gay people all over television, and then have these politicians run out there with a straight face and say that gay and lesbian relationships are a threat to the family. We are winning in the culture - which is why we'll ultimately win the political war.

Change yourself and you have done your part in changing the world

I started to do everything I could to succeed, but found that the more successful I became, the less people liked me.

I really never thought people would think that I was funny, I thought (my friends) thought I was funny because I was their friend, but other people would just think I was an asshole. I was at least partly right.

I really feel strongly that we can make change for every person. And it will be radical in the person's life.

You cannot change the world if you don't change your own world first.

The public only takes up yesterday as a stick to beat today.

Only changed people can change the world. Start with yourself.

In the long run the ideas of the majority, however detrimental they may be, will carry on. The future of mankind depends on the ability of the elite to influence public opinion in the right direction.

Do I feel famous? I feel more famous than I did 10 years ago, absolutely.