Dianne Reeves Quotes

I'm not sure who I am. That's why I keep saying I'm an adventurer that goes out.

I had no idea I was gonna be a songwriter, because I was too young to know my own evolution. I started playing the violin as a way to express myself because I didn't have a lot of vocabulary when I was 14.

I just worked my own personal thoughts into my music, and just kept at it until I found a way in.

I had a lot of songs and words and scenes stuck inside of me. So Jacknife encouraged me to bring them all out. So, in essence, 'You and Others' is my diary.

I use acting to get away from myself and to live in someone else's skin, and I do singing to get inside my own skin. I need them both for my emotional health.

Acting was a godsend. I found myself because I loved acting.

Well, you know, it's been interesting because an album is just a snapshot of where you are at that time. Not all pictures of everybody are just in jeans and a 'T' shirt, or a ball gown. You have many different sides and this is a snapshot of where you are at that time.

The way it actually works is the reverse. You must first be who you really are, then do what you need to do, in order to have what you want.

I picked Dad's guitar up when I was 8. It hurt to play, so I put it down and picked it back up when I was 15 and dug in. The guitar helped me come out of my shell and kind of gave me an identity at school.

I want to explore more sides of humanity and myself. That's what acting is about.

I think the more important task for a young person than developing a personal brand is figuring out what she's great at, what she loves to do, and how she can use that to leave an imprint in the world. Those are tough questions, but essential ones. Answer those - and the personal brand follows.

As a singer I tried on all these hats, these voices, these clothes, and eventually out came me.

I think everyone is trying to figure out who they are and their own thing.

There are different sides to me; I wanted to make a personal film but I would not want to make any film that does not reflect me in it. At least, not right now. I'm just too young to be doing that.

Especially on unexpected journeys, you have time; you can figure certain deeper things out, like who you are and what you want. That's why I enjoy journeys.

Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves.

I had no idea what I wanted to be when I was 17. I just knew I wanted to be something larger than myself.

I have a really wide range of interests and I've still got time to work out my exact direction.

Never think you can separate who you are from what you're doing.

I'm 10-12 years into life as an out gay man, and I'm a different person. I think there are things about my journey that might be useful to other people, and coming up with a hit record on its own doesn't seem to be enough anymore.

I guess I was just always one of those guys who asked those fundamental questions: 'Who am I? What's this for? Why? What does this mean? Is this real?' All these pretty basic questions. I like making movies about people who are self-conscious in that way, and are trying to feel their way through the world.

At 26, I barely knew who I was.

Music was always ever present when I was growing up, and it's continued to be the most important and intrinsic part of me. It kept me from going off the rails as a kid, and it gave me rare purpose and self-confidence that I couldn't find from anything else.

I knew I had a lot to offer, and it was just about finding my niche and figuring it out.

Acting, I get to explore other people and other characters; with music, I get to express and explore myself.