John Berryman Quotes

Praise will lead you to vanity, and blame will lead you to self-pity, and both are bad for writers.

At the end of the day it's going to hurt your feelings if someone says something mean about you, but I've learned to take a step back and ask myself if it's really going to affect me, if this person who I'm never going to know or meet doesn't like me - and it doesn't.

To pay attention to flattery or criticism is a waste of time for artists.

If you take everything personally and to heart, it will tear you apart. Take criticism, learn, adjust, and move on.

Not taking criticism of your writing personally is an enormous step towards surviving the studio system.

Are you sure self-pity is a luxury you can afford, Jack?

I've learnt that you shouldn't take people seriously, whether they praise you or trash you.

If there is truth or merit in the criticism, try to learn from it. Otherwise, let it roll right off you.

Being sorry for myself is a luxury I can't afford.

And it's just anathema to being a writer. It's not healthy. But in another way, when I'm writing, what it's about for me is being good on the page. None of that noise could change the way I feel about my writing. Which is not always particularly positive.

My brother, do men grieve over the fight of cats and dogs? So the jealousy, envy, and elbowing of common men should make no impression on your mind.

Thank everyone who calls out your faults, your anger, your impatience, your egotism; do this consciously, voluntarily.

In writing you work toward a result you won't see for years, and can't be sure you'll ever see. It takes stamina and self-mastery and faith. It demands those things of you, then gives them back with a little extra, a surprise to keep you coming. It toughens you and clears your head. I could feel it happening. I was saving my life with every word I wrote, and I knew it.

I am human and I am very sensitive, so of course it hurts when there is someone out there criticizing you. You work to do your best, you work to receive appreciation. It definitely hurts me lesser today because with time and experience I have learned to reduce the negativity and truly recognize the positivity in life which is so much more.

Aikido can be summed up like this: True victory is self-victory; let that day arrive quickly! (True victory) means unflinching courage; (self-victory) symbolizes unflagging effort; and (let that day arrive quickly) represents the glorious moment of triumph in the here and now.

Remember that no talent, no self-denial, no brains, no character, are required to set up in the fault-finding business. Nothing external can have any power over you unless you permit it.

It changed my whole outlook. I lost a decade to self-pity, and the next thing I knew I was turning 40.

How do I change? If I feel depressed I will sing. If I feel sad I will laugh. If I feel ill I will double my labor. If I feel fear I will plunge ahead. If I feel inferior I will wear new garments. If I feel uncertain I will raise my voice. If I feel poverty I will think of wealth to come. If I feel incompetent I will think of past success. If I feel insignificant I will remember my goals. Today I will be the master of my emotions.

I give myself a good cry if I need it. But then I concentrate on the good things still in my life. I don't allow myself any more self-pity than that. A little each every morning, a few tears, and that's all.

I believe an artist is the last person in the world who can afford to be affected.

Any actor will tell you, as soon as your ego and your vanity come into the mix, it destroys your work. Completely destroys it.

I may have lost my heart, but not my self-control.

I let myself feel good and sorry for myself, but only for a second. Daddy always said that the most useless of all human emotions was self-pity.

I used to say that the newspapers were tomorrow's fish and chip paper, but I didn't really mean it; I could still be hurt by what they said. After Athens, I just didn't care.

The artist doesn't have time to listen to the critics. The ones who want to be writers read the reviews, the ones who want to write don't have the time to read reviews.