Samuel R. Delany Quotes

When you look a certain way, or you have a certain presence, people take someone else's word over yours.

Unfortunately, your reputation often rests not on your ability to do what you say, but rather on your ability to do what people expect.

I really can't help what someone thinks of me because they are reading a paper and choosing to believe it.

It matters if people believe you or not.

Let's say for instance people say, "He's a really totalitarian, strict guy, he's hard to work with or whatever." I don't think it's true, but people's perception of me leads that direction, like I'm a fundamentalist person. I end up having to spend extra time saying, "I'm not a fundamentalist." I have other stuff to do.

People who trust me will not be swayed by what's been said about me, and for people who don't, no amount of good reports will persuade them.

It's hard to know now who, if anyone, in the media has any credibility.

I do come shackled with whatever people think I am.

The moment there is suspicion about a person's motives, everything he does becomes tainted.

A lot of people believe what other people say.

The reality is if you tell people something long enough, good or bad, they're going to believe it. And for a while the picture painted was that I wasn't exactly a favorable character.

If you put negative things out about anyone every day, they're gonna start believing it, sorta like propaganda if you think about it.

Some people assume I'm a spoilt trust fund kid who's never had to work for anything, while others think the best of me because of the good experience they had with my grandfather. It's difficult to digest the fact that they may never see me for who I am.

I think people can be quick to judge. The people that know me, they know what I am like.

Whatever I do, if people see me in a certain light, then they will always judge me in that light. Their impressions and perceptions will never change.

My last name is good and bad. It's great from an opportunity standpoint. The bad news is that you're prejudged often.

You're never going to get beyond other people's preconceptions of what you are and what you're about.

I've learned that you shouldn't have preconceived notions about anybody.

It is better to be seen as cruel than foolish.

It is difficult to make a reputation, but is even more difficult seriously to mar a reputation once properly made --- so faithful is the public.

My good opinion once lost is lost forever.

You cannot build God’s reputation if you aren’t willing to risk yours.

People take things at face value on social media. Earnestness is the assumption.

I don't believe in stereotypes. Most of the time, stereotypes are just that.

Somehow credibility comes into play if you do things that are too familiar.