Kenneth Koch Quotes

I make films that are what they are. Some people like them, and some people don't.

When you're in a songwriting class, and you write a song, and you hand it in to a teacher to grade, I'm still going to say that it's a really awesome song whether I got an A or a D. I learned to stick to my guns and take the tools as tools and not as rules.

Either you live by the barometer of the music critics, or you live by your own. I choose the latter.

Art is subjective. I'm not looking for people's praise.

With an artist no sane man quarrels, any more than with the colour of a child's eyes.

I don't listen to what art critics say. I don't know anybody who needs a critic to find out what art is.

I'm so critical of my own work that it's difficult for me to disassociate myself and watch it as an audience.

We have no other means of recognising a work of art than our feeling for it.

I think every director has a different take, some are good, some are bad. The directors you get on best with sometimes don't make the best films, so who's to say who is right.

I'm more critical of the films I make than anyone else.

First and foremost, you have to make the movie for yourself. And that's not to say, to hell with everyone else, but what else have you got to go on but your own taste and judgment?

How do you rate works of genius? Partly by personal inclination, partly by accepted wisdom, partly by popularity.

I don't think that I'm over his influence but they probably don't look like Picassos; Picasso himself would probably have thrown up looking at my pictures.

I don't feel like I'm on a mission. I'm trying to play music that I like to play and like to listen to.

I never want to be in a position where I have to defend my material. It's too subjective. It's for other people to defend or not defend.

Well, I don't really concern myself too much with what other people make of my work.

Obviously I know if you're putting yourself out there, saying, 'Hey! Listen to my music!,' with pictures of yourself in the magazines, then people are going to judge you. 'I hate her music. I hate her hair. I hate her production. I hate her videos.' Fine: don't care. That's the great thing about art: it's not for everyone.

The first record I made, when I listen to it, I understand. I understand perfectly well why certain musicians were unhappy with me. I had to decide: was I unhappy with me? I liked it. If they didn't like it, it was on them.

It's hard for me to judge my own films as an artist sometimes. But as an artist, I did feel a fulfillment working on them, you know?

I'm the greatest critic of my work.

There will always be some films that the audience would like and some that they don't. But if I start becoming a slave to appreciation, I will be subjecting myself and my talent to one particular type of taste. I don't want to do that.

Movie criticism is very subjective and everyone has the right to voice their opinion. You go to a movie and decide whether you like it or not.

The reason why I'm not a pop star is I would have hated it. I'll stick to being an artist. I'm not trying not to be commercial; I am just doing what I do. I have finely tuned tastes, and that gets prioritized above everything else. That's just how it is.

At the end, we can embrace and love whatever we want of an author's work. But we also can't ignore a writer's express wish just because we don't happen to agree with it.

Stuff I like is getting trashed and stuff that is being praised I think is terrible. I don't really feel in sync with what's happening, but at the same time, what I think keeps me afloat is that I try not to be, and don't want to be, very indulgent. I try to make the films as lean as possible, and to not spend a lot of time crawling up my own ass creatively.