Goapele Quotes

What is it in us that makes us feel the need to keep pretending... we gotta let ourselves be.

Having grown up so familiar with creating a pleasing facade, I now end up compelled to reveal things inside and say, 'Okay, now you really see me. Do you still love me?' And then it's never enough; it always has to be total self-revelation.

You can be true to the character all you want but you've got to go home with yourself.

Playing is just about feeling. Playing isn't necessarily about misery. Playing isn't necessarily about happiness. But it's just about letting yourself feel all those things that you have already on the inside of you, but you're all the time trying to push them aside because they don't make for polite conversation or something.

I feel what I feel. If I wanna cry, I'm gonna cry - regardless of who watches me.

Sometimes, it's hard holding back the truth, how you really feel, and sometimes the best way is let it out and move forward.

It's such a release to show yourself as not a charming person but just someone who is vulnerable.

I looked at myself and realized I had a lot of boundaries up about what I would talk about, what was private for me and what wasn't. I decided to just get rid of them. It was quite liberating.

I just have to open up when I'm on stage because that's what I did in my life. I want people to know what I've been through, and the love and the honesty that I have kept inside me. I just open my heart and let my heart go free.

I am always amazed that so many people are concerned with wanting to be what they are not;What is the point of making yourself look ridiculous? You don't always have to pretend to be strong,there is no need to prove all the time that everything is going well,you shouldn't be concerned about what other people are thinking. Cry if you need to,it's good to cry out all your tears,because only then you will be able to smile again.

Whatever it is that I feel, I express it! I am free with my joy, my laughter, my pleasure, my pain, and I am blessed in that way as an actress that I can access those feelings within myself and not be ashamed to show whatever that is that's appropriate for the character.

The songs come from a vulnerable place, but expressing that part of yourself can also make you feel fearless.

It's the face and the body and the thing that we hide inside that can keep us from the world, but my voice is my voice.

I take deep breaths and be true to my heart.

Letting go of things and not being afraid of being ridiculous or over the top - I think that's the main thing for me to work on.

Soul is about authenticity. Soul is about finding the things in your life that are real and pure.

I don't have to put on a front. If I had to, it would be difficult and tiring.

I don't mind finding these ugly sides to my personality and exaggerating them because that's something you can write towards.

All I knew was that I was writing something out of my very guts, and that I was content.

We hold back our true feelings and beliefs, whether it's from a sense of being polite or fear of hurting someone's feelings. But what I have seen on 'The Oprah Winfrey Show' is that no one benefits from holding back and keeping things bottled up inside. So I pride myself on speaking my mind and not being afraid to give honest feedback.

Victory doesn't lie in taming our nature but in progressively discovering and revealing more of it.

I think if you have any fear or shame, it's really hard to want to express yourself.

If I hold back any part of me, I suppress that much energy and potential. The question I want to ask myself now is not what behavior is good or bad, but in what ways would I express myself with greater energy if I didn't hold back.

I think women are amazing for being able to show what they feel. I admire women who do. I think it's a mistake when women cover their emotions to look tough. I say let's own who we are and use it as a strength.

As an actor, I'm allowed - encouraged! - to explore emotions that have been basically unacceptable in my life. I have a huge well of emotional stuff, and once I give myself permission as an actor, it all comes to the surface. But I'll be damned if I can give myself permission to bring it out as a man.