Ta-Nehisi Coates Quotes

I think all of us feel like we're a bit on show, all the time.

Any eyes on me - a late-night street sweeper, some dude texting in his parked car, the homeless guy talking to himself - make me feel uncomfortable when I skate. Everyone expects me to do certain things.

It is really funny to see people that you know acting unpleasantly just because there are TV cameras on.

I mean, I don't really pay too much attention publicly to what people think.

There is always shame in the creation of an object for the public gaze.

I've got to be right on top of the action, or else all those people watching the game will say, 'This guy's not very good.'

Ordinarily during the stage of your life when you're going through your adolescence and you're completely awkward and uncomfortable, the rest of the world isn't watching you with bated breath. It's different when you're an actor and you choose to work your way through that period because it only makes it worse.

It puts you in a kind of a strange situation where everybody is looking at every little thing you do.

Now I kind of have to watch where I go. I can't just wear whatever when I go out because somebody might want to take a picture. People are, like, taking pictures of me in my car when I'm driving. It's crazy. I kind of hate it sometimes.

There's always people watching you, no matter who you are or who you're playing for.

You're here to sweat. This program is live. There's about one thousand million people watching you. So, you remember - one wrong word, one foolish gesture and your whole career could go down in flames. Hold that thought and have a nice night.

Everyone gets the feeling that they know you and they know your life, and I felt really embarrassed by that.

I would never consent to a lame publicity stunt at a time when I already want to hide.

I don't want to end up being a circus act, doing my most famous tricks when I'm 70.

Most people care what people think about them... we all do.

It is hard to manage a personal life when everything you do is amplified in the public media.

The entertainment industry, in particular, is all about communication and being aware of what's going on, which can take over an actor's life.

I flinch when I see my name in the newspapers.

Fame... it's been a challenge, let's put it that way. It's a privilege and a responsibility, and I'm not sure I carried the responsibility well at times, which is embarrassing. And I've had to look and be disappointed in myself occasionally for how I behaved in some circumstances.

Standing by myself, just having everybody looking at me the entire time, is not my idea of a good time.

I walk into a restaurant, and people stare as though I've just landed from another planet. Every time I walk out in public, it's like the alien freak show has arrived. It does have its advantages. I hardly ever get bothered by the paparazzi, probably because of some of the more edgy characters I've played in movies.

You always have to be on at times, and occasionally people get upset if you say no to a picture when you're eating dinner or something, and that's kind of the hard part. Or if you get crazy rumors that swirl around you from time to time that are just silly.

My mother's mantra was, 'How would it look to the neighbors?' And so you don't do anything because you're worried about how it would look to the neighbors.

It's all well and good when it's going good and people have an opinion on how well you're playing, but it's the hidden things they don't see.

No one wants to be a source of anxiety to everybody they know.