Claire Messud Quotes

I'm not entangled in shaping my work according to other people's views of how I should have done it.

If you're creating anything at all, it's really dangerous to care about what people think.

No one tells me what to do with my music. Real. My mom doesn't tell what to say, how is someone else going to?

To the extent that independent means you're willing to attempt to put your own ideas, personality, and commitment to the material on screen, then of course I hope I'm independent until the day I die.

I think the most important thing for an artist is to not worry about what anybody else thinks. You just have to do what comes from your heart and your being and put it out there-that's true in any of the arts.

I'm fascinated with what happens to the creative output when you isolate yourself from the approval and disapproval of the people around you.

You can filter certain stuff - it depends what artist you are - but you're never going to be true to yourself if you're worried about what other people think.

I try to ignore people's opinions about my music - you don't want to hold yourself back because of that stuff.

I'm certainly not who people think I am. I always do whatever I want to do, and my films are personal to me.

I never think about what others are doing. I do a film for myself, not others.

I don't want ever to be guilty of what my critics claim: doing formula without original elements.

To be a true artist, I have to be true to who I am now and write that way.

The minute you succumb to outside pressure, you cease to be creative.

Everyone has his own sound. I'm not going to presume how to tell anybody how to write.

I think the moment you start trying to please a fan base is when you start going downhill. I'm going to always, always write about what I want, even if it doesn't necessarily cater to most of them.

I think as long as you're being creative and finding your own work interesting, that's all that matters.

It's nice to create something you believe in. It's even nicer to dance to your own tunes sometimes.

No, I don't make my work in order to challenge or confuse other people's expectations - I only do what I find natural.

More than anything, I think the best thing you can do as an artist is just stay as true to yourself as possible and hope that your fan base will appreciate that.

I will not let my sales figures dictate what I say on the blog, because the blog is what I want to say.

I'd just like to inspire people to be themselves and do what they want and not conform to the rigid guidelines of the music or entertainment business.

I just write songs from the heart, and you never know who'll like the songs. I try to make sure that I don't allow anybody's expectation to weigh on me. I have my own expectation of life. I believe in letting people be free.

If you consider the definition of authenticity, it's saying something and actually doing it. I write my own songs. I made my own videos. I pick my producers. Nothing goes out without my permission. It's all authentic.

My early experiences in animation taught me that following someone else is not a great idea.

It's strange: I've done so many things up until I did 'Obvious Child,' including writing children's books and making 'Marcel the Shell.' To me, the through-line is incredibly clear: it all comes from wanting to be connected to my own inner voice and not wanting to be on somebody else's agenda if that means that I can't be myself.