John Quotes

To do your own work well, whether it be for life or death.

As long as there are cold and nakedness in the land around you, so long can there be no question at all but that splendor of dress is a crime.

Great art is precisely that which never was, nor will be taught, it is preeminently and finally the expression of the spirits of great men.

An artist should be well read in the best books, and thoroughly high bred, both in heart and bearing. In a word, he should be fit for the best society, and should keef out of it.

We are only advancing in life, whose hearts are getting softer, our blood warmer, our brains quicker, and our spirits entering into living peace.

It is better to be nobly remembered than nobly born.

Work first and then rest. Work first, and then gaze, but do not use golden ploughshares, nor bind ledgers in enamel.

I cannot think of a greater blessing than to die in one's own bed, without warning or discomfort, on the last page of a new book that we most wanted to read.

I don't believe anything. I only know some things to a greater degree of certainty than others.

Punk's not dead, it's just at K-Mart.

Things just evolve. I sort of have no control over what happens with the songs. Sometimes I'm afraid I might wake up one morning with an entire record of polka songs.

I think the work is always personal. This album differs. It seems to be a lot more positive. It seems to have a certain amount of optimism about it.

I don't write music for critics or hipsters. I write for me.

I don't like critics; I really don't like them. I think most of them are ignorant and don't have a clue!

I'm a guy so I equate vulnerability with fear.

When people try to stop free speech, stop people from talking, it creates pressure in the system that might cause people to act out.

We have a country that we have to take care of.

In many cases, you're forced to make deals that are not the deal you'd make.

Presidents have to learn how to adapt. Every president comes into the job, it's different than they expect, they must adapt.

One of the things that voters have said about Donald Trump, since he has no government experience, is that he will be able to surround himself with good advisers.

The country is split. There are - more people voting for Hillary Clinton than Donald Trump, but he's the president.

Why should anybody who doesn't like Donald Trump think, oh, well, I should think he is legitimate now?

The task that lies before me is daunting and the rewards are uncertain. I should probably let someone else do it.

Today, life will offer me many lessons. I will learn nothing.

My father was a really great man. I'll never forget the last thing he ever said to me. Nor will I ever repeat it.

Many people talk as if they have all the answers, whereas I know I don't. That's probably why no one listens to me.

Actually, I'm a strong supporter of comprehensive tax reform.

Price creates incentive, and energy will be developed if there's demand for it at the price you can develop it.

Despite some struggles of our own, Americas business and economic system remains the envy of much of the world.

I haven't forgotten where I came from.

We took the insurance companies out of the driver's seat.

I just try to live the right way the best I can. I make plenty of mistakes but I just try to do the best I can and be a great example for my kids.

I've always been sort of interested in the rural countryside. Things happen out there that are very strange to city dwellers.

Catholics don't scream about Jesus, they scream about the bishop.

Most people who are trying to write kind of sit in their basements and pull it out of their imaginations.

You have the feeling that if you get a Pulitzer, you're somehow set for life.

Gonna rain like a cow pissin' on a flat rock" [drugstore clerk to detective Virgil Flowers] Dark of the Moon, p.7

I never thought about being a writer as I grew up. A writer wasn't something I wanted to be. An outfielder was something to be. Most of what I know about style I learned from Roberto Clemente.

America is a very divided country now. Not only are there red states and blue states, there are now red facts and blue facts. The right-wing believe in creationism. The left in evolution.

I don't have a social agenda. I just don't choose to ignore what's in front of me.

I don't write [screenplay character] biographies beforehand. I usually go in knowing some sequences: this is where I want to start, this is where I want to end.

It's a mixed crowd at the dogs - black, white, hispanic - but to Walt they all look like Jackie Gleason. Heavyset guys with big plans and polyester souls.

I figured, 'When is that ever going to happen again?'. So I basically set out the opposite way movies are made; I set out with a budget first. I said, 'What can I do well for $40,000?'.

When I was really young I didn't know that there was such a thing as a screenwriter. I wrote stories.

The media in America has become so cowed and compromised.

Michael Moore, whether you like him or hate him, has done something very important.

The less money and time you have, the more you haveto plan ahead and be careful about your coverage. It's like a gas:it expands or contracts depending on the size of the container.

If you write a movie for Roger Corman, it's going to get made. You saw it almost the next day.

I probably wouldn't have done as many as I did in one year, which I did when I was trying to raise money.

I'm never at a loss for new projects.