Harold Brodkey Quotes

I finally decided if I was going to make a living, I was gonna have to come to New York.

New York means so much to people. If you're inclined to leave the nest, New York is where most people think they have to go, and it's been that way since the first skyscraper.

As always, the blessed relief of starting, a feeling that was like falling into a hole filled with bright light. As always, the glum knowledge that he would not write as well as he wanted to write. As always the terror of not being able to finish, of accelerating into a brick wall. As always, the marvelous joyful nervy feeling of journey begun.

Who am I? The sum of your dreams, the thrill you refuse to grasp, the unknown you fear.

If I'm doing something I know I can pull off, then that's not the book I should be writing.

I had no idea who I was when I started. I was frightened to death and had no natural performing skills.

There's one thing now that I experience every day when I'm making a film. I get up and think to myself, 'Am I going to be able to do it today?' I figure as long as I have that fear, I'll be alright.

I don't know, you know, when I look at it now, I don't know what in the world made me think I could become a director. I really don't.

Sometimes I really wish that I could sit back and enjoy it, live in the moment more. But I am terrified, and I want to better myself, not that I want to prove anything to anyone other than myself. I am ambitious, and there are many things I want to do. It doesn't get any easier.

The first years when I came to New York, everything was too big and too much. For me, it was too difficult here, but bit by bit, it became one of my favorite places.

I don't mean to sound like a Pollyanna, but for me, New York is the ideal because of the diversity here. 'Billy on the Street' is really informed by that.

When I went to New York to try and make it, I never thought it wouldn't happen.

When you take on new roles that you don't feel comfortable with, that require you having skills you don't have, it's terrifying.

I'm just propelled by insecurity; that's what really leads me to want to do better.

To arrive in a city like Milan as a young man was a huge challenge.

Chicago was a good place for me. Maybe New York will be better.

I came to New York to prove who I am.

I moved to New York because I thrive there.

I'm one of those people who says 'Yes' to everything, and in New York, that's a real liability. In the city, I could be playing seven nights a week and not finding the time to finish my own compositions.

I remember all the stages in my career where I almost didn't have enough confidence to try for something, almost didn't have the guts to follow something I was excited about doing, because I didn't know anyone else who'd done it, or other people made me question it.

Fear of failure is a great thing. It pushes you past your comfort levels.

There was this moment, particularly after I had my first child, where I felt like, 'I don't know if I'll ever make a record, or if this is always going to be something just floating around in my head.'

Any motivation starts with some type of doubt.

I am always scared when I start something new. That hasn't changed.

I've always been afraid to fight in New York. I don't know why. I always had this weird feeling.