Patrick deWitt Quotes

Part of the success of Girls Who Code is that I am a hustler. When people ask what my biggest strength is, it's that I'm shameless. I will ask people for help even when I don't know them.

Think of all the really successful men and women you know. Do you know a single one who didn't learn very young the trick of calling attention to himself in the right quarters?

You've got to ask! Asking is, in my opinion, the world's most powerful - and neglected - secret to success and happiness.

The name of the game is to talk to people. If you don't talk to people, you can't get started...You knock on twenty doors or so, and twenty guys tell you to go to hell, or that they haven't got time. But maybe at the fortieth or sixtieth house you find the one guy who is all you need. You're not going to organize everything; you're just going to get it started.

I met Steve Austin at an airport in 2005, and he gave me the best piece of advice I could ever receive - to keep running my mouth and never stop talking! I took that advice to heart, and it has helped me get where I am today.

I was networking every day from 21 to 28 years old. I sent 10 letters a day, which means I reached out to 3,000 people in a year.

If you don't toot your own horn, don't complain that there's no music.

Remember, if you don't promote yourself, then no one else will! Likewise, believe in yourself--or no one else will either.

The truth is I've been doing Kickstarter before there was Kickstarter; there was no Internet. Social Media was writing letters, making phone calls, beating the bushes.

Waiting to be hired, as an actor, especially, is soul-destroying... There is always something you can do... Create something, a play reading... Anything. But don't rely on other people to come to you. Put yourself out there.

I don't mean you have to be overbearing, but you have to stay on top of things - read the trades, know what's going on in the town. I call it 'dare to be stupid.' The worst thing they can say is, 'We got nothing for you.' So I've hustled a lot.

Those who speak up, those who use their connections, are more likely to succeed than those who sit and wait.

If you don't go talk to your boss, if you don't go talk to your mentors, if you don't go talk to people who can influence where you want to be, then they don't know. And they're not mind readers.

The dog that trots about finds a bone.

I spend a lot of my time on the phone, pestering people. 'What's new in your lab? Can I come visit your lab? When can I come visit your lab?' I'm basically a professional pesterer.

Self-promotion has never been a point, and I'm incredibly inept at self-promotion.

Approaching people for work has not worked for me. People who came to me with work has worked.

Keeping your head down and just writing is only part of the equation, so I surround myself with smart people to help sell my books.

I put my best foot forward to make the best impression I could have, and it's been serving me well ever since.

It's not me to toot my horn. The minute you toot your horn, it seems like society will try and disconnect your battery. And if you do not toot your horn, they'll try their darnedest to give you a horn to toot, or say that you should have a horn.

I always tell other actors that work begets work. You never know where your next job is going to lead you, down the road.

If you don't toot your own horn, it goeth untooted.

I sometimes tell a director that I want to work with him. I tell him twice. After that if he still doesn't give me a call, I move on.

I didn't get as far as I have from sitting back and being dopey. I know what it takes to get a job, and I'm going to pitch myself.

Once the opportunities knock on your door, you've got to try and go get them. If it doesn't happen, it doesn't happen. But at the same time, you've got to keep going.