Amanda Beard Quotes

It is always a challenge to work when people have big expectations. I would much rather feel comfortable working without expectations.

Faced with ostracization at school and confinement at home, I turned to karaoke.

Don't you ever feel that - that you just need to get away? From everything? That it's all too much?

It has gotten worse as I'm becoming more successful. My nerves. Just because there's a bit more pressure, and people are expecting a lot more from me.

I don't feel the breath of a thousand people over my shoulder.

Me, I don't want to put the pressure on myself.

The questions that loom can be intimidating. 'What kind of moves is she gonna make? What is she gonna do?' There is this pressure that you're supposed to keep impressing.

I think that 'Sound of My Voice' is about the claustrophobia of living today, and how do you crawl out of the claustrophobia towards the light?

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

I carried around a lot of weight and anxiety - expectations of being a top draft pick and fulfilling those. It was really burdensome and not fun. Stressful. I had to go through some things before I finally turned that around and got back to playing for the right reasons.

I just can't put the pressure on of winning a championship, winning a championship, because then I'd never be able to sleep.

I don't pay any attention to records. I don't want pressure. I just want to get to that line.

For without you, I swear, the town Has become like a prison to me. Distraction and the mountain And the desert, all I desire.

For many of us, the hospital was as much a refuge as it was a prison. Though we were cut off from the world and all the trouble we enjoyed stirring up out there, we were also cut off from the demands and expectations that had driven us crazy. What could be expected of us now that we were stowed away in a loony bin?

It's the boredom that kills you. You read until you're tired of that. You do crossword puzzles until you're tired of that. This is torture. This is mental torture.

I used to go away for weeks in a state of confusion.

I know I'll be under a spotlight, I know I'll be under the microscope.

I suffer depression only in the sense that I am a writer. We don't have proper jobs to go to. We are on our own all day. Show me a writer who doesn't get depressed: who has a completely stable mood. They'd be a garage mechanic or something.

It seems that we have it backward in our society. We tend to look up to people who are under a great deal of stress, who can handle loads of stress, and those who are under a great deal of pressure.

I was really worried that sitting at home by myself in front of a computer was going to make me crazy.

We need to distinguish between stress and stimulation. Having deadlines, setting goals, and pushing yourself to perform at capacity are stimulating. Stress is when you're anxious, upset, or frustrated, which dramatically reduce your ability to perform.

I push every day against forces that say you have to go faster, be more effective, be more productive, you have to constantly outdo yourself, you have to constantly outdo your neighbor - all of the stuff that creates an incredibly productive society, but also a very neurotic one.

When I first started as an editorial cartoonist, I was terrified on a daily basis. Filling that hole the next day, knowing that tens of thousands of people were going to expect something funny. There is still that pressure, but you kind of learn how to cope with it a little better.

Some people thrive under pressure, but pressure can also ruin your performance, it can push you down angles which you don't want to go.

I love to play; a stage is a safe place for me to be. It's not that way for most folks, but I'd be lost without it.