Inspirational Quotes
Words to motivate, inspire, and guide you.
David Bowie Quotes
PerceptionPublic ImageSurprise I think Mick Jagger would be astounded and amazed if he realized that to many people he is not a sex symbol, but a mother image.
Spiritual Search An armchair Jungian would say the whole thing is about my own ongoing spiritual search. My interior life has always been one of trying to find a spiritual link, maybe because I'm from a family of separate religious philosophies: Protestant and Catholic.
UniquenessPerspectivePerseveranceWriting If I had a talent, it was for looking askew at everything, possibly more than my contemporaries. But I had to really push myself to be a writer.
HonestySelf-awarenessChange I change my mind a lot. I usually don't agree with what I say very much. I'm an awful liar.
Expression Of EmotionsStorytellingArtistic TransformationEmotional ResilienceCreative Process These are all personal crises, I'm sure, that I manifest in a song format and project into physical situations. You make little stories up about how you feel. It's as simple as that.
IndividualityIndependenceSelf-RelianceSelf-Motivation I'm just an individual who doesn't feel that I need to have somebody qualify my work in any particular way. I'm working for me.
Self-ExpressionMusicCommunication I had to resign myself, many years ago, that I'm not too articulate when it comes to explaining how I feel about things. But my music does it for me, it really does.
EnjoymentMusicPassion I'm wallowing in the whole idea of just being a guy out there with a band, with songs. It's a real enjoyment.
Self-BeliefInfluenceExcellence To not be modest about it, you'll find that with only a couple of exceptions, most of the musicians that I've worked with have done their best work by far with me.
ArtPassionChangeCreativity I felt I really wanted to back off from music completely and just work within the visual arts in some way. I started painting quite passionately at that time.
FamilyReligious Differences My mother was Catholic, my father was Protestant. There was always a debate going on at home - I think in those days we called them arguments - about who was right and who was wrong.
IdentityTransformationSelf-AcceptancePerseveranceMental Struggle I re-invented my image so many times that I'm in denial that I was originally an overweight Korean woman.
SpiritualitySelf-QuestioningFaithIdentityChange Questioning my spiritual life has always been germane to what I was writing. Always. It's because I'm not quite an atheist and it worries me. There's that little bit that holds on: 'Well, I'm almost an atheist. Give me a couple of months.'
RespectInspirationEgoAcceptanceValidation I do value the respect I get from my contemporaries, but to have Oasis cover my song, to have Puff Daddy cover a song, to have Goldie come along to my gigs - that's where my ego is at. To have my fellow musicians like what I do, that's very cool.
Artistic IdentityCreative ProcessAlter Ego I think much has been made of this alter ego business. I mean, I actually stopped creating characters in 1975 - for albums, anyway.
AgingAcceptanceEmbracing Change I don't have a problem with ageing - in fact, I embrace that aspect of it. And am able to and obviously am going to be able to quite easily... it doesn't faze me at all.
IdentityLabelsConnectionAuthenticityRejection I never really felt like a rock singer or a rock star or whatever.
AdmirationTalentIntelligenceVirtuosity I went through all the musicians in my life who I admire as bright, intelligent, virtuosic players.
CreationDetachmentAuthorship Once I've written something it does tend to run away from me. I don't seem to have any part of it - it's no longer my piece of writing.
ResilienceGrowthAcceptancePride I've made over 25 studio albums, and I think probably I've made two real stinkers in my time, and some not-bad albums, and some really good albums. I'm proud of what I've done. In fact it's been a good ride.
PerformanceInner PeaceObligationAuthenticityStress Relief Frankly, if I could get away with not having to perform, I'd be very happy. It's not my favorite thing to do.
MusicFavoritesBands GYBE are among my, erm, two favourite Montreal bands, Arcade Fire being the other.
AuthenticityWritingSelf-DiscoverySimplicity I guess, taking away all the theatrics or the costuming and the outer layers of what I do, I'm a writer... I write.
National CharacterPerspectiveCultural Differences The Americans at heart are a pure and noble people; things to them are in black and white. It's either 'rawk' or it's not. We Brits putter around in the grey area.
ArtHumanitySpiritualityExistence All art really does is keep you focused on questions of humanity, and it really is about how do we get on with our maker.
PrioritiesInterestsTheatreMime I don't profess to have music as my big wheel and there are a number of other things as important to me apart from music. Theatre and mime, for instance.
IdentityRecognitionDehumanizationStruggleAutonomy I guess it's flattering that everyone believed I was those characters, but it also is dehumanizing.
AutobiographyFundrasingPersonal BrandingSelf-PromotionPersonal Ambition I'm looking for backing for an unauthorized auto-biography that I am writing. Hopefully, this will sell in such huge numbers that I will be able to sue myself for an extraordinary amount of money and finance the film version in which I will play everybody.
CreativityOvercoming ChallengesPerseveranceInnovationDedication When I'm stuck for a closing to a lyric, I will drag out my last resort: overwhelming illogic.
Early RisingMorning RoutineReadingDiscipline I'm an early riser. I get up between five and six, have coffee, and read for a couple of hours before everyone else gets up.
IntroversionAuthenticityPrivacy I don't crave applause. I'm not one of those guys who comes alive on stage. I'm much more alive at home, I think.
ArtInterconnectednessCreativity I don't see any boundaries between any of the art forms. I think they all inter-relate completely.
TransitionChangeContentmentEmbrace Everything I read about hitting a midlife crisis was true. I had such a struggle letting go of youthful things and learning how to exist and have enthusiasm while settling into the comfort of an older age.
ChangeProgressSelf-ImprovementAdaptabilityConfidence I feel confident imposing change on myself. It's a lot more fun progressing than looking back. That's why I need to throw curve balls.
GratitudeLegacyAcceptanceMaximizing Potential But I've got to think of myself as the luckiest guy. Robert Johnson only had one album's worth of work as his legacy. That's all that life allowed him.
ExclusionSelf-ReliancePerseveranceAgeism You get to a certain age, and you are forbidden access. You're not going to get the kind of coverage that you would like in music magazines; you're not going to get played on radio, and you're not going to get played on television. I have to survive on word of mouth.
Self-PerceptionIdentity Funk, I don't think I have anything to do with funk. I've never considered myself funky.
TraditionAuthorityIdentityFamily DynamicsDestiny The name Zahra was to have been lman's own name at birth, but a senior member of the family changed it to lman at the last minute.
ChangeIntimacyTransformationMortalityCourage Confront a corpse at least once. The absolute absence of life is the most disturbing and challenging confrontation you will ever have.
MusicSelf-DiscoveryInner Emotions On the other hand, what I like my music to do to me is awaken the ghosts inside of me. Not the demons, you understand, but the ghosts.
DreamAmbitionFocusCulture I would dream. I focused all my attention on going to America. The subculture, James Dean, the rock n' roll, the beat writers.
ConfidenceIdentityTransformation Even though I was very shy, I found I could get onstage if I had a new identity.
RepetitionExplorationPerspective There are half a dozen subjects that I return to time and time again, and that doesn't bother me. Because most of my favorite writers do that, to hunt down the same topic or theme from different directions each time.
Music IndustryFutureTouringChangeAdaptation Music itself is going to become like running water or electricity. So it's like, just take advantage of these last few years because none of this is ever going to happen again. You'd better be prepared for doing a lot of touring because that's really the only unique situation that's going to be left.