Claire Messud Quotes

I always feel as if I'm a disappointment: that people want a grand dame in furs like Barbara Taylor Bradford.

I wish I could just relax sometimes and make some money, but I always feel like I have to prove some kind of big, profound point.

I'm not just going to go back to my bedroom, get a job and 'get real with myself' - come on. I'm already too old, and I'm lucky to have a job at all.

I heat myself up over the fact that I am never going to be as good as I want to be.

Even the largest of my dreams and ambitions, I realize with increasing dismay, were puny, measly, compared to the object of my dreaming. I would not say my life to date has been built overmuch of compromise, but still, it surrounds me.

No one is satisfied with their life's work.

You don't get old until you replace dreams with regrets.

I do have high standards. I look at everything I have done and think, 'Why wasn't that better?' Part of my motivation is from crippling self-doubt - I have got to prove myself wrong.

I'm most scared of failing, of disappointing people.

There are times when I think, 'I'm going to get this part. I know I am. I'm going to get this.' And then I don't, and I'm wondering, 'What happened? I went back five times!'

I'm never happy with my performance.

I'm never happy with the work I put in. No. I need to be told by my director and people around me that it is fine. Otherwise, I'll even go, like, 'One more take.'

I will say, there's not an episode in existence where whatever didn't come out the way I wanted it to or is an actual mistake that won't nag at me until the end of the time.

I would look at my profile and be like, 'Look at this girl! She has, like, the most perfect life!' and I would feel so guilty for not feeling blessed all the time.

I've got to be honest, with every job I do there's a part of me, that child in me, that goes, 'This is the one.' And it rarely actually is.

Ever since I can remember, over-expectation and pressure have been my worst enemies.

Everyone's just looking at you. They're expecting you to win every game, and it's just not possible.

I'm such a pessimist. I find it impossible to enjoy anything, especially while it's happening. I'm thinking about how to get the next thing right.

I wrote lots of pages. I showed what I wrote to Iowa friends, and they said, 'Good start.' That was discouraging because I thought it was almost done.

Many times after a game, I get the feeling that I have not done enough, I should have done better, of course there is room for improvement.

I am not so gifted as at one time seemed likely.

I think when you're a teenager, you always feel as if life is happening somewhere else - it certainly isn't happening to you. And then you get to the place where you think your life is supposed to be, and you look around and realize it doesn't exist.

Now, more than ever, I realize just how illusory my undeserved success has been. I still hold out some hope of doing better, but age and unhappiness have sapped my strength.

Sometimes it's just enough for me to have the idea. I don't need to see it through to the end. When it actually happens, I'm always disappointed because it's never like what I imagined in my head. When an idea becomes a reality, then it's a job. I'd rather just think about it.

She tried to be someone people liked. She tried to be someone people disliked. But all I became was someone who didn't succeed with anything I tried to be.