Rodney Crowell Quotes

I guess what I'm trying to say is that writing is mysterious; you don't ever truly know where it is coming from, so don't edit yourself line by line. Don't get in your own way. Whatever is truly there at the core, that is your voice.

I wanted to create a body of work that I was proud of. It's come from honesty and integrity, without forcing anything from myself, the ideas had to come instinctively and organically. Whether that translates to people in that way, it's kind of out of my hands now.

Tommy Smothers is my longest mentor, and Dave Eggers is my youngest.

The best advice comes from people who don't give advice.

Every bit of me is devoted to love and art. And I aspire to try to be a teacher to my young fans who feel just like I felt when I was younger. I just felt like a freak. I guess what I'm trying to say is I'm trying to liberate them, I want to free them of their fears and make them feel that they can make their own space in the world.

I don't necessarily have one mentor or 'a' mentor. But I do pull inspiration from people, and that's always kind of served me well.

I must follow my heart.

I love creating things that come from my gut and my soul.

There are things to learn from people who have already done what you're trying to do.

I've been following my intuition and what moves me.

Take everything you can from what people say. Keep going and stick to your instincts. And what your soul tells you to do, use that.

My mentors were very good.

My father-in-law, Mike Sherman, coached a long, long time, and he just said, 'Be true to yourself. Be who you are, and people will follow you.' And I found that way to work for me.

All my life, I believe what my mind tells me; what my heart tells me. All the way back to Congo, it has worked for me.

If you are really true to yourself and really follow your intuition in the most rigorous way, there is a moment that becomes universal, that reaches everybody. That’s the real magic of Björk-she teaches us the courage to be ourselves.

Be yourself. Follow your heart. I know it sounds obvious, but it's the best advice at anyone ever. Take advice from other people, but take from it what feels right for you.

I just do whatever I feel. Whatever the beat makes me say, I do that and I run with that.

The ideal condition would be, I admit, that men should be right by instinct; but since we are all likely to go astray, The reasonable thing is to learn from those who can teach

I learned life from some good teachers.

I think leadership is not something you learn; it's something you discover.

I have, I think, eight mentors. It's crazy, but I need them. They are all really important to me. They keep me grounded and advise me.

I have been blessed to have had many excellent teachers. The further I get away from school, though, the more I realize that the greatest teachers in my life have come from outside of academia.

What I would say to filmmakers, if I may be so bold or so arrogant, is to draw inspiration from other filmmakers, but go to the place in your own gut where everything is nothing. That's a very Zen thing to say, but that place of nothing is where real creativity comes out of.

It's been very important for me to follow my gut or my heart, or whichever organ you want to go by.

There's a lot of wisdom that my dad and my grandparents and my uncle have been able to impart on me, and what I've treasured the most is I've seen examples in my life of people embracing their creativity, not feeling insecure about their artistic inclinations.