Excellence is being able to perform at a high level over and over again. You can hit a half-court shot once. That's just the luck of the draw. If you consistently do it... that's excellence.
Jay-Z
Related You have to perform at a consistently higher level than others. That's the mark of a true profes... JOE PATERNO Why is it that if you hit a shot to within a tenth of an inch of the hole, it's a great shot, bu... DAVID L. WOLPER Remember, while the work can sometimes appear to be simple to a viewer, the ability to perform exper... RANDY WEST If all you're doing is playing it safe - trying to make the same movie over and over again - tha... KATHLEEN KENNEDY When you're younger, your inspiration is there. As you get older, it tends to waver. Once you fi... ELVIS STOJKO It's hard to say goodbye to the streets. It's all how you do it. You can pass by and say, ... SNOOP DOGG Once you get on the playing field it's not about whether you're liked or not liked. All that... LEBRON JAMES What about the rat race in the first place? Is it worthwhile? Or are you just buying into someone el... SHERYL SANDBERG As a scholar, you don't want to repeat yourself, ever. You're supposed to say it once, publi... DREW GILPIN FAUST A good trick I learnt early on is not to immediately look at playback because once you know the shot... AIDAN TURNER I love to fool you once, I love to fool you twice, I love to fool you a third time. And just when yo... HARLAN COBEN If you build a car, you can only sell it once. If you paint a fence, you only get paid for it once. ... MARKUS PERSSON In a person's career, well, if you're process-oriented and not totally outcome-oriented, the... DEEPAK CHOPRA You need to put what you learn into practice and do it over and over again until it's a habit. I... BRETT HOEBEL You need a commitment which is long term and a commitment to leadership, because that's the only... AZIM PREMJI Life's like a play: it's not the length, but the excellence of the acting that matters. LUCIUS ANNAEUS SENECA There's Jay-Z, who morphs a certain street hustler's cool and indifference into CEO extravag... MICHAEL PATERNITI You just realize that at the beginning of 'Scooby' you're just going to start at level t... MATTHEW LILLARD Jay-Z is as politically correct as some of the politicians. He's safe. There's points when y... CURTIS JACKSON If it turns out to be a hit, well, good luck dealing with fame. And if it's not a hit and you ca... EDIE BRICKELL The prison-industrial complex, poverty, and the school system has more effect on a young black male ... JOHN LEGEND Remember when Jay-Z wore a Che Guevara T-shirt? Nobody knew who Che was. Then Jay-Z wears it, and it... LAMAR ODOM I have always struggled to achieve excellence. One thing that cycling has taught me is that if you c... GREG LEMOND For some reason, I find jogging incredibly boring, but yoga is the only thing I've been able to ... ALEXANDRA DADDARIO Macklemore gets a Grammy over Kendrick Lamar. I still can't get over that. But again, it's n... ATO ESSANDOH It's an obstacle being a girl when you move all over and don't have half the things you need... ALEX MORGAN You know, I do speak the Queens English. It's just the wrong Queens that's all. It's ove... CYNDI LAUPER You going to call me arrogant for believing in myself? Come on! It's a competitive sport. Rappin... ASTRO That's just how I live my life. That's how I was raised: to demand excellence out of myself. EZEKIEL ELLIOTT You're the only one in control over your golf ball. It's not like tennis: you're hitting... LEE WESTWOOD A doctor once told me that with crying you aren't sure what its derivation is. If someone comes ... BILL VIOLA Excellence is not a skill, it's an attitude. RALPH MARSTON It's really a drag to do the same project over and over again. DAVID JOHANSEN What's important is that people realize that I can't be put into a box musically. I've s... TREY SONGZ I'm just so used to music videos or live TV, so to really see something that's scripted and ... MAREN MORRIS It honestly feels like high school or college all over again. You're comfortable; you see the ga... ERIC WEDDLE That's a hard shot to make. You can win a lot of games in H-O-R-S-E if you can make that shot consis... GEORGE NESSMAN I think naturally, if you're an actor, there's a high level of assertiveness that you need t... BRYAN CRANSTON Chris Cooper once told me to never have any regrets. After Chris said that to me, I walk into every ... JAKE GYLLENHAAL You can over-think things. If the script's good, everything you need is in there. I just try and... OLIVIA COLMAN If you do things to the limit, and don't purposely go over that limit, then I think it's fin... MICHAEL SCHUMACHER I am careful not to confuse excellence with perfection. Excellence I can reach for; perfection is Go... MICHAEL J. FOX I'm not just a doormat. I'm not just being stepped on all over the place. If you look at the... LUCINDA WILLIAMS I'm over it. You strive to win a Super Bowl and you do everything you can to get there. But bein... DAN FOUTS When people start asking you to do the same thing over and over again, that's when you know you&... NEIL YOUNG I've always wanted to smash a guitar over someone's head. You just can't do that with a ... ELTON JOHN But if you have a point of view and you're an artist or a writer, it's kind of crazy to not ... DAVID LLOYD Barbecue is the good old technique of people making a fire and putting some stuff over the top - I m... GRAHAM ELLIOT At the time, there was a great disagreement over 'The Wild and the Innocent,' and I was aske... BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN There's tremendous shame with being bullied. I think there's a level at which you think that... MATT REEVES Desire is the key to motivation, but it's the determination and commitment to unrelenting pursui... MARIO ANDRETTI I think the greatest hip-hop artist of all time is Jay-Z, without a doubt. He just keeps amazing me ... JOHN CENA You can perform an act of excellence when tying your shoes. JEFFREY BENJAMIN I subscribe to the myth that an artist's creativity comes from torment. Once that's fixed, w... DAVID BYRNE Once I decide to do something, I can't have people telling me I can't. If there's a road... KITTY KELLEY Desire is the key to motivation, but it's determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit... MARIO ANDRETTI There is an event once a year that I'm able to sing at, through 'Passions,' in Tennessee... LINDSAY HARTLEY Karma, memory, and desire are just the software of the soul. It's conditioning that the soul und... DEEPAK CHOPRA I was probably more scared of my high school exams than I was of the Oscars. At the time you think i... HUGH JACKMAN In piano, if you try to force hitting this key and that key, it's very broken. It's not pret... MIRANDA LEEK There is no clear place to draw the line once you eliminate the traditional marriage, and it's t... LOUIE GOHMERT I think that business book reporting, it's all Jim Collins, it's the story of victory; it... BEN HOROWITZ In today's global economy, however, it is important to raise the bar of excellence even higher. ... KENNY MARCHANT The struggle isn't just about being straight or gay or transgender - it's a human struggle. ... BOY GEORGE Stairs to climb are difficult it takes time and effort and going down is easies job... what do I mea... DEYTH BANGER The secret of living a life of excellence is merely a matter of thinking thoughts of excellence. Rea... CHARLES R. SWINDOLL When you're writing for a sequel and there's a movie that's been deemed sacred ground by... TROY DUFFY All you can do is really the prep work and make sure you're ready to hit each golf shot. Outside... RICKIE FOWLER I don't like the process of meeting someone and you make a film and that's it. You think you... RYAN GOSLING And the part about being a professional artist is that you can tell and you can do it over again, ev... BRUCE NAUMAN Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday's success or put its failures behind ... BOB FELLER The way I look at it is that once you create a piece of art, and it's out in the world, there... DAVID LLOYD It's great to surprise people. If you do the same thing all over again, which people expect you ... MARTIN GARRIX I'm a fan of Jay-Z, I'mma always be a fan of Jay-Z. T-PAIN It's a taboo that comes back over and over, to suggest that women can feel divided - that you ca... RACHEL CUSK 'Rocky' is a movie that just happens to be about boxing. It's really about characters an... TRIPLE H I admire actors that consistently challenge themselves and play a wide range of different roles. Eve... JOE DEMPSIE I learned to embrace my individuality, and if that meant writing a song on one chord over and over a... BETH ORTON I remember seeing 'Spinal Tap' at a young age and being like, 'That's how you perfor... BILL HADER It comes up over and over and over again that a ten times increase in the weight-oriented density of... ASTRO TELLER In art, at a certain level, there is no 'better than.' It's just about trying to operate... FRANK OCEAN No one tells you that your life is effectively over when you have a child: that you're never goi... ANNE LAMOTT Me not being able to play the way that I can play, that's when you kind of know it's that ti... CHAUNCEY BILLUPS China's got a billion people and a hit record over there is a million records. You know that ain... QUINCY JONES It's difficult because nothing's preordained by plan and you can't control it. That'... BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH The 'OK Plateau' is that place we all get to where we just stop getting better at something.... JOSHUA FOER It's simple: You get a part. You play a part. You play it well. You do your work and you go home... DENZEL WASHINGTON Their starting pitcher had two really tough pitches. His fastball was moving all over the place, and... DANNY DIAZ But I think Steve's main contribution besides just the pure leadership is his passion for excell... ANDY HERTZFELD For film and television, it's interesting how fans feel that their particular ways of manifestin... CARRIE BROWNSTEIN Sometimes, what you do you have no control over because it's predestined. It's gonna happen ... PAUL MOONEY For all my friends in the media who like quotes, mark this quote down. From this day on I'd like... SHAQUILLE O'NEAL For all my friends in the media who like quotes, mark this quote down. From this day on I'd like... SHAQUILLE O'NEAL We're pretty good at putting bunts down and really good at hitting. I know as a pitcher, when yo... JACOB DEGROM As African-Americans, that's what's being played fast and loose with, our citizenship. When ... CLAUDIA RANKINE If you have a piece by Bach, he often develops the piece to such a high level that you can hardly do... DAVID RUSSELL I've been living the American Dream for over 25 years - just being able to do what I do, be crea... DR. DRE Recording - once something's done, it's done, there's not much you can do about it. It... ERIC BURDON I would do a Byrds tour or a Byrds record in a minute. I miss that band now. I've tried to convi... DAVID CROSBY If you can't see the rotation and tell if it's a sink - a fastball, then you have to be able... REGGIE JACKSON
More Jay-Z
Rap for me is like making movies, telling stories, and getting the emotions of the songs through in ... JAY-Z My mom had early rap records, like Jimmy Spicer. In the middle of the records was a turntable and a ... JAY-Z I'm a mirror. If you're cool with me, I'm cool with you, and the exchange starts. What y... JAY-Z Successful people have a bigger fear of failure than people who've never done anything because i... JAY-Z I collect art, and I drink wine... things that I like that I had never been exposed to. But I never ... JAY-Z Rosa Parks sat so Martin Luther King could walk. Martin Luther King walked so Obama could run. Obama... JAY-Z One of the reasons inequality gets so deep in this country is that everyone wants to be rich. That... JAY-Z I don't sit around with my friends and talk about money, ever. On a record, that's different... JAY-Z All my businesses are part of the culture, so I have to stay true to whatever I'm feeling at the... JAY-Z It's hilarious a lot of times. You have a conversation with someone, and he's like, 'You... JAY-Z I'm far from being god, but I work god damn hard. JAY-Z The burden of poverty isn't just that you don't always have the things you need, it's th... JAY-Z I treat people based on who they really are, not the name. Everyone has to be respectful and be a hu... JAY-Z I love what I do, and when you love what you do, you want to be the best at it. JAY-Z Your job is to inspire people from your neighborhood to get out. JAY-Z I've never looked at myself and said that I need to be a certain way to be around a certain sort... JAY-Z Belief in oneself and knowing who you are, I mean, that's the foundation for everything great. JAY-Z It was a very intense and stressful situation. There was playing in the Johnny-pump (an opened fire ... JAY-Z I grew up in Marcy Projects in Brooklyn, and my mom and pop had an extensive record collection, so M... JAY-Z If just the presence of Tidal causes other companies to have better pay structure or to pay more att... JAY-Z It was a weird mix of emotions. One day, your best friend could be killed. The day before, you could... JAY-Z I'm hungry for knowledge. The whole thing is to learn every day, to get brighter and brighter. T... JAY-Z The average rap life is two or three albums. You're lucky to get to your second album in rap! JAY-Z When the TV version of Annie came on, I was drawn to it. It was the struggle of this poor kid in thi... JAY-Z I think in London - and I don't wanna offend anybody in America, but this is a real statement - ... JAY-Z That's why this generation is the least racist generation ever. You see it all the time. Go to a... JAY-Z I've got a nice collection of paintings - a Basquiat, a black-and-white Warhol that's like a... JAY-Z I was forced to be an artist and a CEO from the beginning, so I was forced to be like a businessman ... JAY-Z I've talked to Bill Clinton - he's the ultimate rock star; no one's more charming than h... JAY-Z I didn't go to many movies. My mom would make a family outing and bring chicken in the theater. ... JAY-Z It wasn't until sixth grade, at P.S. 168, when my teacher took us on a field trip to her house t... JAY-Z I try to make music with emotion and integrity. And authenticity. You can feel when something's ... JAY-Z Wherever I go, I bring the culture with me, so that they can understand that it's attainable. I ... JAY-Z The burden of poverty isn't just that you don't always have the things you need: it's th... JAY-Z As kids we didn't complain about being poor; we talked about how rich we were going to be and ma... JAY-Z I think it's very important for hip-hop, when an artist reaches a certain level, to ascend to ex... JAY-Z Politics - I still think it's a bunch of liars and a bunch of self-interest. It's not about ... JAY-Z I'll make a song with Rick Rubin, a song with Beyonce, a song with Lenny Kravitz. I just believe... JAY-Z Hip-hop is more about attaining wealth. People respect success. They respect big. They don't eve... JAY-Z Providing - that's not love. Being there - that's more important. I mean, we see that. We se... JAY-Z I'm just saying the producers and people who work on music are getting left out - that's whe... JAY-Z Hip-hop gave a generation a common ground that didn't require either race to lose anything; everyone... JAY-Z Rap has been a path between cultures in the best tradition of popular music. JAY-Z You could name practically any problem in the hood and there'd be a rap song for you. JAY-Z A poet's mission is to make words do more work than they normally do, to make them work on more than... JAY-Z Only God can judge me so I'm gone, either love me or leave me alone. JAY-Z I got love for Damon Dash as I did before. I don't know if we can be around each other in that w... JAY-Z I can think of no one more relevant and credible in the hip-hop community to build upon Def Jam'... JAY-Z Around 20. I'd been trying to transition from the streets to the music business, but I would mak... JAY-Z Successful people have a bigger fear of failure than people who've never done anything because i... JAY-Z What people have to understand is 'Billboard' is a magazine. They're like elected offici... JAY-Z Biggie was the King Of New York as a rapper. There's a lot more dangerous guys than Biggie Small... JAY-Z I'd rather die enormous than live dormant. JAY-Z He who does not feel me is not real to me, therefore he does not exist. So, poof... vamoose, son of ... JAY-Z If you look at my career and you look at the span of my work and the things I have done, as far as t... JAY-Z The day Obama got into office, rap was less important because Obama gave kids an alternative. But wi... JAY-Z I was a really good student. In the sixth grade, I was reading at a twelfth grade reading level. But... JAY-Z When Basquiat was hanging out with Madonna and Fab Five Freddy, and all those worlds were colliding,... JAY-Z I was an artist, I was executive producer on my first album, so I've always had to manage both. ... JAY-Z Hip-hop has done so much for racial relations, and I don't think it's given the proper credi... JAY-Z I've said the election of Obama has made the hustler less relevant. People took it in a way that... JAY-Z Nothing me and Kanye can do musically was gonna match the event of what we were trying to do. So we ... JAY-Z I listen to everything - from Sarah McLachlan and Alanis Morissette all the way down to rap like Sca... JAY-Z For me, being with Obama or having dinner with Bill Clinton... it's crazy. It's mind-blowing... JAY-Z They say a midget standing on a giant's shoulders can see much further than the giant. So I got ... JAY-Z Primarily I see myself as so much more than a rapper. I really believe I am the voice for a lot of p... JAY-Z Companies that pretend to care about music and really care about other things - whether it be hardwa... JAY-Z No matter where you go, you are what you are playa JAY-Z They say a midget standing on a giant's shoulders can see much further than the giant. So I got the ... JAY-Z Can I live? JAY-Z Hip-hop has done more for race relations than most cultural icons; and I say save Martin Luther King... JAY-Z I don't profess to be a political rapper, like groups such as 'Dead Prez' or 'Public... JAY-Z I think that's what happened to the record business when 'Napster' came around. The indu... JAY-Z If I go into a studio and find my truth of the moment, there are a number of people in the world who... JAY-Z I've always believed in good music over bad music. I believe in two sorts of musics. And the lin... JAY-Z Rosa Parks sat so Martin Luther King could walk. Martin Luther King walked so Obama could run. Obama... JAY-Z May the best of your today, be the worst of your tomorrow. JAY Z May the best of your today, be the worst of your tommorrow. JAY Z My first album was mainly dealing with street issues, and it was 'coded': it was called '... JAY-Z I am against discrimination of any kind, but if I make snap judgments, no matter who it's toward... JAY-Z As an artist, you make music. And if you see people who don't know how to market your music, you... JAY-Z I have inherited two of the most important brands in hip-hop, Def Jam and Roc-A-Fella. Reid and Univ... JAY-Z Hip-hop from the beginning has always been aspirational. It always broke that notion that an artist ... JAY-Z Racism is taught in the home. We agree on that? Well, it's very hard to teach racism to a teenag... JAY-Z When you're growing up, your dad is your superhero. Once you've let yourself fall that in lo... JAY-Z No, I'm not interested in politics. I have zero interest. I have interest in hope and people. JAY-Z I remember the first time I saw the 'Sugarhill Gang' on Soul Train. I was 11 or 12. I was li... JAY-Z When I came into the music, I was forced to be a CEO. I was forced to be an entrepreneur; I was forc... JAY-Z I don't think any rapper can go back. You can be a car salesman, a bank teller - I mean, really ... JAY-Z I think the problem with people, as they start to mature, they say, 'Rap is a young man's ga... JAY-Z And all you other cats throwin' shots at Jigga, | You only get half a bar: fuck y'all niggaz. JAY-Z I'm a hustler, baby; I sell water to a well! JAY-Z You know the type: loud as a motorbike but wouldn't bust a grape in a fruit fight. JAY-Z The art of rap is deceptive. It seems so straightforward and personal and real that people read it c... JAY-Z I'm not a businessman, I'm a business, man! JAY-Z I don't know where streaming will go in the future. The analytics that we're seeing tell us ... JAY-Z I would run into the corner store, the bodega, and just grab a paper bag or buy juice - anything jus... JAY-Z It's always been most important for me to figure out "my space" rather than trying to check out what... JAY-Z I'm here to tell niggas it ain't all swell. There's Heaven then there's Hell niggas One da... JAY-Z I learned to ride a ten-speed when I was 4 or 5. My uncle gave me the bike, hand-me-down, and everyo... JAY-Z He slid her a skeptical look. “What is that?” She almost laughed at the suspicion in his fa... Z. ROCKWARD No matter how advanced the technology, sometimes things just needed a good knock. Z. ROCKWARD When no one need you to comeback home..
Keep strong...
Because they are still a home for you..
Your ... JAY Write what you love. Love will hold you through the hard times and hold the world during the good ti... MARK Z. DANIELEWSKI I think of myself as a plain human being who happens to be an American. LAURA Z. HOBSON I grew up in an agnostic broad-minded family. LAURA Z. HOBSON The continuous invention of new ways of observing is man's special secret of living. J. Z. YOUNG One of the best parts of being a writer means that researching all kinds of cool stuff actually coun... GAIL Z. MARTIN Getting to share the stories in my head with other people and have them enjoy those stories, and hav... GAIL Z. MARTIN The 370-year-old antique shop Trifles and Folly is the heart of 'Deadly Curiosities,' my new... GAIL Z. MARTIN I always send new writers to 'Writer's Digest Books' line-up of how-to books. I read the... GAIL Z. MARTIN My father loved antique shops and shows, and quite a bit of my childhood involved outings to dim, du... GAIL Z. MARTIN I grew up around old stuff that was not necessarily valuable, but certainly unusual. GAIL Z. MARTIN I call myself, 'The Estee Lauder of the garden world.' I'm my own little conglomerate. C. Z. GUEST The most important thing is to enjoy yourself and have a good time. C. Z. GUEST What I don't understand is these people who go on the street wearing riding clothes, and they ha... C. Z. GUEST All the girls today want to be famous, but they haven't earned their spurs. C. Z. GUEST I like the classic look. Keep it simple. There's only so much you can wear. C. Z. GUEST If God invented marathons to keep people from doing anything more stupid, the triathlon must have ta... P. Z. PEARCE Maturity, one discovers, has everything to do with the acceptance of ‘not knowing. MARK Z. DANIELEWSKI The night is the hardest time to be alive and 4am knows all my secrets. POPPY Z. BRITE When the great white silence comes and fills the boughs of the trees with a thickening, glistening b... J. Z. KNIGHT Who has never killed an hour? Not casually or without thought, but carefully: a premeditated murder ... MARK Z. DANIELEWSKI It takes a kind of shabby arrogance to survive in our time, and a fairly romantic nature to want to. EDGAR Z. FRIEDENBERG If our nation wants to reduce global warming, air pollution and energy instability, we should invest... MARK Z. JACOBSON Every dollar spent on nuclear is one less dollar spent on clean renewable energy and one more dollar... MARK Z. JACOBSON At the heart of any terror is the fear of losing what we find meaningful. MARK Z. DANIELEWSKI I've always felt that having a garden is like having a good and loyal friend. C. Z. GUEST Some nights are made for torture, or reflection, or the savoring of loneliness. POPPY Z. BRITE Anger is one way to respond to fear. I say one way because responses are categorically multiple. MARK Z. DANIELEWSKI The greatest of love letters are always coded for the one and not the many. MARK Z. DANIELEWSKI By now you've probably noticed that except when safely contained by quotes, Zampanò always steers c... MARK Z. DANIELEWSKI The ruminations are mine, let the world be yours. MARK Z. DANIELEWSKI You'll be sick or feeling troubled or deeply in love or quietly uncertain or even content for the fi... MARK Z. DANIELEWSKI No one ever really gets used to nightmares. MARK Z. DANIELEWSKI And where there is no Echo there is no description of space or love. There is only silence. MARK Z. DANIELEWSKI Here then at long last is my darkness. No cry of light, no glimmer, not even the faintest shard of h... MARK Z. DANIELEWSKI Some people reflect light, some deflect it, you by some miracle, seem to collect it. MARK Z. DANIELEWSKI ...and there you have it, another body on the floor surrounded by things that don't mean much to any... MARK Z. DANIELEWSKI Love of love written by the broken hearted, love of life written by the dead. MARK Z. DANIELEWSKI What miracle is this? This giant tree. It stands ten thousand feet high But doesn't reach ... MARK Z. DANIELEWSKI Prometheus, thief of light, giver of light, bound by the gods, must have been a book. MARK Z. DANIELEWSKI I took my morning walk, I took my evening walk, I ate something, I thought about something, I wrote,... MARK Z. DANIELEWSKI Why did god create a dual universe? So he might say ‘Be not like me. I am alone.' A... MARK Z. DANIELEWSKI I am not a fool. I am wise. I will run from my fear, I will outdistance my fear, then I will hide fr... MARK Z. DANIELEWSKI Losing the possibility of something is the exact same thing as losing hope and without hope nothing ... MARK Z. DANIELEWSKI Sublime is something you choke on after a shot of tequila. MARK Z. DANIELEWSKI For some reason, you will no longer be the person you believed you once were. You'll detect slow and... MARK Z. DANIELEWSKI Scars are the paler pain of survival received unwillingly and displayed in the language of injury. MARK Z. DANIELEWSKI I still get nightmares. In fact, I get them so often I should be used to them by now. I'm not. No on... MARK Z. DANIELEWSKI This is not for you. MARK Z. DANIELEWSKI You shall be my roots and I will be your shade, though the sun burns my leaves. MARK Z. DANIELEWSKI We all create stories to protect ourselves. MARK Z. DANIELEWSKI Little solace comes to those who grieve when thoughts keep drifting as walls keep shi... MARK Z. DANIELEWSKI It may be the wrong decision, but fuck it, it's mine. MARK Z. DANIELEWSKI This much I'm certain of: it doesn't happen immediately. You'll finish [the book] and that will be t... MARK Z. DANIELEWSKI Who has never killed an hour? Not casually or without thought, but carefully: a premeditated murder ... MARK Z. DANIELEWSKI I'm a big believer in big books, and that doesn't necessarily mean long books. MARK Z. DANIELEWSKI Passion has little to do with euphoria and everything to do with patience. It is not about feeling g... MARK Z. DANIELEWSKI New Orleans cuisine is Creole rather than Cajun. POPPY Z. BRITE the seriousness of emotional deprivation: It is not difficult to understand how children ... MARK Z. DANIELEWSKI All weakness tends to corrupt, and impotence corrupts absolutely. EDGAR Z. FREIDENBERG My childhood may have been more demented than most, because I learned to read very early and was all... POPPY Z. BRITE Yeah, I think A Confederacy of Dunces is probably the perfect New Orleans book. POPPY Z. BRITE What we must decide is perhaps how we are valuable, rather than how valuable we are. EDGAR Z. FRIEDENBERG The age of a woman doesn't mean a thing. The best tunes are played on the oldest fiddles. SIGMUND Z. ENGEL You can power the entire U.S. vehicle fleet with 73,000 to 145,000 five-megawatt wind turbines. That... MARK Z. JACOBSON In high school I was the dog, always, and I never have felt comfortable or right in my body, and par... POPPY Z. BRITE This is the point being missed by readers who lament Liquor's lack of hot sex scenes, probably b... POPPY Z. BRITE In France, for instance, one magazine writer was convinced that On The Road had been a huge influenc... POPPY Z. BRITE No one has ever done anything too bad to be forgiven R. Z. SHEPPARD At some point you have to start letting people save their own life. POPPY Z. BRITE An able practitioner of glitz lit. R. Z. SHEPPARD Physics depends on a universe infinitely centred on an equals sign. MARK Z. DANIELEWSKI Then no matter where you are, in a crowded restaurant or on some desolate street or even in the comf... MARK Z. DANIELEWSKI Not only do most people accept violence if it is perpetrated by legitimate authority, they also rega... EDGAR Z. FRIEDENBERG An old man loved is winter with flowers. EDGAR Z. FRIEDENBERG [Ken] Kesey practices what has come to be known as gonzo journalism. The reporter, often intoxicated... R. Z. SHEPPARD His reserve of disdain appears endless. He could no sooner shut it off than a vampire could forgo hi... R. Z. SHEPPARD The 'teenager' seems to have replaced the Communist as the appropriate target for public controversy... EDGAR Z. FRIEDENBERG The short story is like an old friend who calls whenever he is in town. We are happy to hear from it... R. Z. SHEPPARD It was like discovering that your innermost fires and terrors, the things you believed no one else c... POPPY Z. BRITE In the end Navidson is left with one page and one match. For a long time he waits in darkness and co... MARK Z. DANIELEWSKI The San Francisco Bay Area [is] the playpen of countercultures. R. Z. SHEPPARD Two kisses in one kiss was all it took, a comfort, a warmth, perhaps temporary, perhaps false, but r... MARK Z. DANIELEWSKI Youth always tries to fill the void, an old man learns to live with it. MARK Z. DANIELEWSKI You could power America with renewables from a technical and economic standpoint. The biggest obstac... MARK Z. JACOBSON ...life's big. If you can't fix it, give it a spin. MARK Z. DANIELEWSKI And I can't think of a reason I'd ever use a pseudonym, as I wouldn't want to publish so... POPPY Z. BRITE Because the enormous narcissism of their parents deprived Will and Tom of suitable role models, both... MARK Z. DANIELEWSKI Let the night come. We are not afraid. POPPY Z. BRITE The last dying days of summer, fall coming on fast. A cold night, the first of the season, a change ... POPPY Z. BRITE Her smile, I'm sure, burnt Rome to the ground. MARK Z. DANIELEWSKI You wouldn't believe how much harder it's getting for me to just leave my studio. It's really sad. I... MARK Z. DANIELEWSKI Absolutely nothing visible to the eye provides a reason for or even evidence of those terrifying shi... MARK Z. DANIELEWSKI Beautiful women are always drawn to men they think will keep them beautiful. MARK Z. DANIELEWSKI Explanation is not half as strong as experience but experience is not half as strong as experience a... MARK Z. DANIELEWSKI People frequently comment on the emptiness in one night stands, but emptiness here has always been j... MARK Z. DANIELEWSKI Even the brightest magnesium flare can do little against such dark except blind the eyes of the one ... MARK Z. DANIELEWSKI Of course there always will be darkness but I realize now something inhabits it. Historical or not. ... MARK Z. DANIELEWSKI