Chinua Achebe Quotes

It's not always about huge giant commercial success. It's about art.

I want to sing because I want to sing.

I always said that I'm not the best singer in the world, just the loudest.

Don't make music for some vast, unseen audience or market or ratings share or even for something as tangible as money. Though it's crucial to make a living, that shouldn't be your inspiration. Do it for yourself.

Singing your own songs is all about individual expression.

I don't want people confusing what it is that I'm about. I just stand there and sing. And I don't do stunts or anything. if I wanted to do all that, I don't think I'd get away with it.

I try to please myself. I don't try to anticipate what people want to see.

I didn't start making music in order to be famous.

I'm confident in my intentions and why I'm making music. I'm not making music because I want to be on your TV screen or the cover of your magazine.

I think comedians should focus on what makes them happy, what art form fulfills them the most. Don't be calculated about it and say, 'Okay, I'm gonna tweet, and I'm gonna podcast, and I'm gonna do standup, and one of those things is going to lead me to my own TV show.' I don't think that should be the goal.

I don't care about the charts; I just want to make great music that I enjoy performing on stage and I'm proud of.

If people would like to come to my concerts I'd love them to come. And if they like the music that I make, I love that too. But I do not make music for other people. I make it to please myself.

The way I choose projects is based on what I think is most real and most interesting, not on what's paying the most money or what's most popular.

Singing is my passion, regardless of anything else that I've ever done. That's the one thing that no one can ever take away from me is my voice, and that is what I really want to do.

I'm not playing for other people; if I start thinking in those terms I would put too much pressure on myself. I play basketball because that is what I love to do.

I work as an artist, and I think the audience of one, which is the self, and I have to satisfy myself as an artist. So I always say that I write for the same people that Picasso painted for. I think he painted for himself.

I'm not bad at singing - at least in the shower.

I suppose we'll make money off our album and our singles and stuff, but, like, they were made as we wanted them, exactly with what we had to say, and done exactly how we wanted them, right? And, like, we didn't put them out to make money. We put them out because we wanted to do them, do you know what I mean?

I only make those films that I would love to watch.

I enjoy the music I make because I have to - if I didn't, I wouldn't want to make it, and I wouldn't want it to be heard by other people.

I have never done films to prove a point to anyone; I have done them for myself.

I'm very comfortable singing myself, first of all. Secondly, there's a certain disconnect when you write the song and you have someone else sing it for you. And it's kind of like a fakeness about it.

I want everything we do to be beautiful. I don't give a damn whether the client understands that that's worth anything, or that the client thinks it's worth anything, or whether it is worth anything. It's worth it to me. It's the way I want to live my life.

When I sat down to write 'Rules of Civility,' I didn't write it for anybody but myself. I wasn't trying to make my mark or make money. I wasn't anxious about feeding my kids or whether my father would be proud of me.

I can hold a note, but that's about it.