Henrik Ibsen Quotes

If I was going to pretend to be the supermom next door, it would've been counterfeit and a lie. I figured I had to write something out of a new place.

I am quite certain in my heart of hearts that modern music and modern art is not a conspiracy, but is a form of truth and integrity for those who practise it honestly, decently and with all their being.

I do not just write, I write what I am. If there is a secret, perhaps that is it.

I always write what feels really true and honest and me.

I don't write anything that I haven't lived. In terms of integrity, you have to write what you live. And if you write beyond what you live, it is theory. And theory is not helpful. It is just not.

If the writing is honest it cannot be separated from the man who wrote it.

If I can't be honest with music, forget it.

I want to be unique and original and truthful.

I write what I write, say what I say, 'cause I feel what I feel, and if I did it different, it would make me a liar! So I'd rather be an honest person than a good liar.

When I write I am the real me.

Don't try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; figure out what you have to say.

I write songs about my own experiences. You can't lie to yourself. You can't pose to yourself.

One can be absolutely truthful and sincere even though admittedly the most outrageous liar. Fiction and invention are of the very fabric of life.

Through language, we can tell the truth and hear the truth spoken, just as we can be deceived. Sometimes it's a painful realization: we can be lied to. As I write, I think of myself as putting my eye under oath, so that what I write is the truth about my characters.

I certainly want people to like my writing, but I know that if I write with the intention of trying to please people, the writing will not be good because it will not be authentic. So, ironically, I have to be willing to write something strange or unlovable in order to write anything truly good.

There's a bit of truth in everything I do, you know.

I think the success of my work stems from being truthful.

I am an honest artist.

One should never write down or up to people, but out of yourself.

Life would be so much harder if I had to lie about who I was.

I don't believe that saying things because you feel they are what people want to hear is the right way to be in any part of your life.

You can't try to be authentic. You either are or you aren't.

All stories should have some honesty and truth in them, otherwise you're just playing about.

Being honest is my job. That's what music is for me.

In my heart, I'm 100% real. You can't pull out nothing in my past that can say I'm not 100% real.