Raekwon Quotes

I have a perfectionist mentality; I want things to be right. But I've had a little duel over the years with that mentality. Because it can inhibit you.

I always say I've given 24 insufficient performances and I'm looking forward to the time in my life when I'll do something that I think is good. There's always stuff you can do better, stuff that maybe you didn't uncover enough. But if you do something that you truly believe is perfect, then that's got to be the last movie you do.

I don't mind people liking or not liking me. If you make something and then in the back of your mind you think it could have been a bit better, that can hurt a bit.

If I keep coming back to a painting and there's a little something that bothers me, I know I'm not going to get away with it. I'm going to have to fix it, change it, whatever it is, to something that I'm comfortable with, that doesn't make me itch when I look at it.

I'm never finished with my paintings; the further I get, the more I seek the impossible and the more powerless I feel.

Setbacks, on the other hand, just make us feel weak and stupid: I should have conquered this by now. I happened on a question not long ago that oerfectly expresses this mentality: How many times must I prove myself an idiot?

The relentless pursuit of perfection has been my problem over the years. It's maybe held me back.

I was really beating myself up about performances and how I looked and this and that.

One of the big songwriting things for me has always been: always think what you do sucks. Because the second you stop believing that, you suck. And that's a fact.

I still worry that I could be better. That's where standards come from, from not wanting to settle. The fear of not being good enough propels you.

I don't think there's ever a point when you turn to yourself and go, 'Yes, I've made a success of this career path.' You never feel like you've done your best work. You always think you could be better.

I am never satisfied with myself and that is what keeps me going - I have no post-satisfaction.

But I always feel that whatever I do, I could do better. I suppose it is perfectionism.

Were there stories I wrote along the way that were terrible clinkers? God, yes. But they were all a product of their time, and I did the best I could.

I don't want to call myself a perfectionist, because perfection is imperfection.

I've learned how my own perfectionism can cripple me.

I'm ultimately a perfectionist who doesn't believe in perfection.

I get in my own head, and at the end of the day, I'm my biggest critic, and I'm my worst enemy, too.

I am a self-critical perfectionist.

It's very rare I'll watch anything I'm a part of and think, 'I wouldn't change a thing.'

Art is something in which you are never an expert at any point of time. It's something you hone all the time and something which is elusive all the time.

For me, I am not a fan of any of my own matches, and it's both a blessing and a curse. Because I'm never satisfied, I'm always looking to improve in every area.

When I look back I either feel I did this mistake while shooting or writing. Eventually you try and make sure you do not repeat the same mistake with your next film. I always feel I could have made the film better.

When I was young, even though I received so much love, I used to pay attention to people who disliked me. That's why my lyrics were so sharp and dark.

I change my mind every five minutes. I'm very brutal with my own process. I throw everything away very quickly, and then I have to go out and rummage through the rubbish in the middle of the night to try to find a bit I'd written a week ago.