John Barton Quotes

In my estimation, the only thing that is more to be guarded against than bad taste is good taste.

I've been doing everything I can to reach out and understand why people voted against me. They were trying to send a message. I have to be more sensitive in the way I express myself, and I have to be more thoughtful in the positions I take.

I really understand that we have to be sensitive to people's feelings and to their sensitivities, but you also can't be muzzled to tell a story.

Use your imaginations, and use your empathy. If you don't do that, you're limiting yourself as an artist, and you're hurting the world.

Personally, I think people need to get over this 'being offended' thing. Being offended does not give you the right to silence people. I get offended by things all the time - it's just part of life. The right not to be offended is not a human right, especially in a democracy.

I don't want to tell fans what to think or what to believe or whatever, but at the same time, some things just hit you very personally.

Artists themselves are not confined, but their output is.

Cultural confinement takes place when a curator imposes his own limits on an art exhibition, rather than asking an artist to set his limits.

I've always been really opinionated, and mixed with being really open hearted, open to people shifting what I think all the time, but I like to speak with conviction.

Everywhere I go I'm asked if I think the university stifles writers. My opinion is that they don't stifle enough of them.

I don't want to be held down by genres so much.

For a long time, censors have been cutting my works. This makes me so sad, because many times they will tell me, 'Television won't like, so we have to cut, cut, cut!'

I think it is important for children to read different things to find out about their emotions and other people's emotions. It is an enormous source of education and culture.

I think people should have the common courtesy and judgment - the good judgment - not to be - not to offend other peoples' faiths.

I work in whatever medium likes me at the moment.

I don't feel that as an artist my job is to offer PR propaganda, whether for the good or for the bad.

I encourage people to find and use the power of their voices just as much when I do not agree with those voices as when I do agree with them.

There's a good many pictures I'd like to make; we'll see how many I'll be allowed to make.

I will never be a fan of any kind of political correctness: I think it's instant death to creativity.

Self-censorship is a lie to yourself; if you are going to be trying to seriously create art, to create literary art, and you decide to hold back, to censor yourself, then you are a fool to yourself and it would be better that you kept your mouth shut and did not speak.

I need someone who understands an artist's mentality. I couldn't be with someone who wouldn't let me have my freedom.

Writing makes you more human.

Anything that exists on the human palette is, from my point of view, fair game for artists to portray. You don't have to go see it if you don't want to, so don't go.

For no art and no religion is possible until we make allowances, until we manage to keep quiet the enfant terrible of logic that plays havoc with the other faculties.

I am not interested in telling you what to think. My job is to show you what I think. Period.