Dedication to Craft Quotes

Why would I give up so much to just be another singer or another person doing what he loves? I'm out here doing everything to the best of my capability to be the best.

Nobody learns a German aria overnight, except Jared Harris.

I have always tried to put content in my work. It is a consistent challenge.

Seclusion is the price of greatness.

Amy Adams is incredible and inspiring - she's amazing.

The only reason I ever do an independent film is that I believe in it, and I think it has something special to offer. I'm certainly not doing it to be a millionaire.

I have sworn to die painting.

I'm a workaholic. I love every movie I've been in, even the bad ones, every TV series, every play, because I love to work. It's what keeps me going.

I love when people are coming up and they're working hard and you can see that they're really focused on the process to their music. I really dig that. As a musician, it's nice to see people who really care about the process.

If anything in your life is more important than writing - anything at all - you should walk away now while you still can. Forewarned is forearmed. For those who cannot or will not walk away, you need only to remember this. Writing is life. Breathe deeply of it.

Great art is created only through diligent and painstaking effort to perfect and polish oneself.

My father was a watchmaker and an inventor. I saw him working in the house every day. The work ethic, I got from him. He worked hard and he never complained about it.

The weird thing is that, with actors, filmmakers and directors, it doesn't really matter if it's Robert Downey Jr., who's one of the biggest stars in the world, when you start to work, he's a hardworking actor. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter who's a big star and who's an unknown actor from wherever. It's all about the work you do.

It's a privilege to serve the poor, to be servants of noble Africans, but I better belong in the rehearsal room or in the studio with my band. That's where I want to be and I still wake up in the morning with melodies in my head.

I know that I am the kind of person that gets a little bit more nervous than other skaters, but that's because I care for my skating very much. I take all my emotions with me. I can't go out and say 'Now, this is just my job.' I really care.

If I look at it and feel there is someone who can do it better, I won't do it. Whether it's 'Party Down' or 'Piranha 3-D,' I'm going to bring something to it to make it special.

The separation of talent and skill is one of the greatest misunderstood concepts for people who are trying to excel, who have dreams, who want to do things. Talent you have naturally. Skill is only developed by hours and hours and hours of beating on your craft.

I would advice to focus on your craft. Nowadays, a lot of people come to quote-unquote Hollywood thinking that all they just have to be different or do something outlandish or have a huge personality to become a star. But I think that if you just focus on the craft, you'll have a better chance at longevity.

It is good for a professional to be reminded that his professionalism is only a husk, that the real person must remain an amateur, a lover of the work.

To my mind, talent doesn't really exist. Talent is like a card player's luck. It is motivation, ambition, and luck. It's just a drive to be the best. I think acting is a con game.

You'll nip anybody who's coming at you with bullshit. You don't play around. You take this craft very seriously. It's what separates you, what separates an actor from an artist.

Mere literary talent is common; what is rare is endurance, the continuing desire to work hard at writing.

The first essential to success in the art you practice is respect for the art itself.

I've always appreciated people like Graham Parker or Loudon Wainwright III, who spend their entire lives writing songs and working their asses off just to have complete artistic freedom. They're just sharing their lives with you through their music. That's the same kind of work that I'm trying to do, in my own weird way.

There are a lot of good actors who work forever and never make one good thing.