George Saunders Quotes

I love 'I'm British But...' It's such a sweet, innocent, open-hearted film, and it has the sort of openness that I still aspire to with everything I do. It wears its heart, head, everything on its sleeve.

Anytime I hear songs that are so honest, whether they make the person who's singing it look good or not, there's a level of honesty that resonates with people.

To make music that means something, you kind of have to drop the cool. You have to be prepared and willing to be uncool.

Honesty and vulnerability endear us to people; they don't endanger us in our relationship.

So release yourself from that. Don't be strategic or coy. Strategic and coy are for jackasses. Be brave. Be authentic. Practice saying the word 'love' to the people you love so when it matters the most to say it, you will.

I want to be loved despite my faults. It isn't exactly true that I'm a provocateur. A real provocateur is someone who says things he doesn't think, just to shock. I try to say what I think.

I certainly wear my heart on my sleeve, and I think that comes out in the characters that I play. There's a yearning, or something, that comes out of me that people relate to.

I think that people respond to honesty in music, so I only choose songs that are the truth for me.

Music to me is about being honest, and it's what I've always pictured music as. I don't see the point of expressing yourself if you are going to be cryptic about it.

I feel what I sing, and I sing what I feel. Really, that's all I can do.

I'll never sing something that I've never been through. So even if I didn't write it, I have to have at least experienced it.

To have a songwriter that wrote so specifically what I felt to be true... I've never been much of an actor either. If something is real for me, then I can do it.

I was raised not to be afraid to show emotion or imagination.

I live my life pretty emotionally, for better and for worse. I'm pretty thin-skinned and transparent. I lead with my heart, and I wanted to make a movie that did the same.

If you show you're human and have something to say, people will connect with you.

Never be ashamed of what or how you feel... just be honest.

To be honest with my music... for me to expect anyone to connect it has to come from a place of honesty.

As a fan, I connect with realness. Whether it's strong or vulnerable, if it's real, I can connect with it.

I've learned not to hide behind a veil of irony - to talk about my work in a more honest way.

In my music and my life, I'm honest with my feelings, and people appreciate that. That's just the way I am.

If you write, write about what you do and who you are, and you can't be wrong. Don't lie about anything. You are very similar to everybody else in the world. You love, you hate, you have friends, you have enemies. Be who you are.

I feel as though there are things that I'm trying to do - you know, capturing truthfully some aspect of human experience - and I'm trying really hard not to be fake. And in writing, as in life, it's harder than you think.

I think when I show my vulnerability, people relate with that because they know deep down inside that they have vulnerable moments, and they can really connect and identify with me on those things.

To hear someone talk about their life - you get to know the way their eyes moisten up, how big the smile is or how comfortable their body language is while talking to someone.

As I found again and again as a writer, when you're completely honest about something, people respond to that.