To say that everything without exception is going straight to hell is not an alternative vision but only an inversion of the mainstream's 'everything's fine.'
The last thing I'd learn, well into my career, was how to get on, how to say hello, how to get in with the audience.
I guess what I'm trying to say is, I'm a helluva kisser.
Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere; some say the poorest in the world.
I mean to say that Congress can hereafter decide whether any states, slave or free, can be framed out of Texas. If they should never be framed out of Texas, they never could be admitted.
The 'Daughter of the Regiment' that I did in Boston was vintage Sarah Caldwell, which is to say it was brilliant. Before my career was over, I'm sure I sang the role of Marie at least a hundred times, often in productions that cost a fortune, but none touched hers.
I obviously have a knack for getting on paper what a lot of people have thought and didn't realize they thought. And they say, 'Hey, yeah!' And they like that.
Detroit in its heyday - let's say, 1920s to the '60s - was never a huge downtown-living thing. People lived in the neighborhoods.
I have high expectations of my audience, and in general, I would say they've met that.
Carrying out the thing, getting it to the point when one might say: There, now it is good - that point is hard to reach. Often, one sets very high goals for oneself. Perhaps too high.
I get standing ovations at meetings when I say Britain should be involved in human spaceflight. Unfortunately, that goal has been blocked by a handful of people in high office.
I have to keep working because, although I have land, I'm not cash rich and don't have the wealth of high-profile actresses - don't say I'm an 'actor.' That's a bit too modern.
My grandma would say if someone else calls you a hillbilly, you might need to punch them in the nose. But if we call ourselves hillbillies, it's a sort of a term of endearment, something that we have co-opted.
The Hindus say, 'Nada brahma,' one translation of which is, 'The world is sound.' And in a way, that's true, because everything is vibrating.
Whenever I come out with a hit record, they'll say, 'Ah, that's because of R. Kelly. Oh, it's because of Ashanti. Oh, he's lucky.'
I want to have hit records, but I'm not searching to say, 'All right, I need this to be in the club. I need this, that.' I'm just making quality music.
My daddy used to say that I was too big to ride and too little to hitch a wagon - no good for a damn thing.
If an umpire misses a called third strike and the other side ends up scoring because of it, I'm not going to forget it. If there are runners on second and third and two out, and if the umpire has just given the hitter an extra strike and the next pitch goes into the hole and both runs score, I've got to say something to the guy.
Writers often say that characters begin to write themselves, and I never used to believe that. I always thought that was complete hogwash.
Growing up in the South, we say 'Yes Ma'am' and 'No Ma'am.' Here in Hollywood, people get offended.
