Pinkney Quotes & Sayings

I try not to respond with a pep talk, such as, "Everyone has talent, just try, you'll see." I skirt those kinds of answers. — Jerry Pinkney

But I don't want anybody to say have the right to say well if you bloody Brits don't like it go home. And they have the right to say that if you haven't become a citizen. — Lynn Redgrave

A sense of community has always been important to me. I understood very early that I could not grow as an artist or as a person without being connected to institutions and clients that served the community. — Jerry Pinkney

I never leave home without my writing notebook, and get a lot of writing done in transit. One great place to create is while riding the subways of New York City, where I live. — Andrea Davis Pinkney

When I'm not writing or working on books as a publisher, I'm doing things that make me happy. One is skiing with my kids and husband. I love sports. — Andrea Davis Pinkney

I'm a true opera buff. Operas make the best stories. — Andrea Davis Pinkney

If I were to give myself a pat on the back, it would be for sticking with bookmaking as my primary way of expressing myself over the span of fifty years. — Jerry Pinkney

I meet young artists and it becomes clear that with some the main motivation is getting a show in Chelsea. It strikes me that this is very different to the way it was for me, which was that I wanted to understand photography and the world and myself. — Stephen Shore

I visited the Museum of Modern Art and viewed the exhibition of Picasso's sculptures, and I couldn't help but think about what it would be like to have a room full of school children explore Picasso's approach to making art. — Jerry Pinkney

Most important, however, is the third avenue to meaning in life: even the helpless victim of a
hopeless situation, facing a fate he cannot change, may rise above himself, may grow beyond
himself, and by so doing change himself. He may turn a personal tragedy into a triumph. — Viktor E. Frankl

Make it all about the work. Everything else will follow. — Jerry Pinkney

I wanted to show that an African-American artist could make it in this country on a national level in the graphic arts. I want to be a strong role model for my family and for other African Americans. — Jerry Pinkney

I don't like to compare clubs or players from way back. It's different today. Your ballparks are better. In the days when I played, we had eight teams in each league. Now you have more. — Red Schoendienst

The blues have hope wrapped inside them. — Andrea Davis Pinkney

As a publisher and author, I'm a big fan of historical fiction and also memoir. — Andrea Davis Pinkney

One of the good things about a Catholic church is that it isn't respectable," she had told Richard. "You can find anyone in it, from duchesses to whores, from tramps to kings. — Rumer Godden

I've always felt that if I worked hard enough and continued to refine my craft, while staying curious about our times and our world, I just might have something to contribute. — Jerry Pinkney

One of the most refreshing changes I've seen in recent years is the blending of genres - the pushing past the hard-and-fast lines of specific publishing categories. — Andrea Davis Pinkney

I think I'm still chewing on my years as a foreign correspondent. I found myself covering catastrophes - war, uprising, famine, refugee crises - and witnessing how people were affected by dire situations. When I find a story from the past, I bring some of those lessons to bear on the narrative. — Geraldine Brooks

We got a call from across the street that a black woman had broken into this house."
"And you were going to arrest her without even knocking on the door?"
"We had to secure her first. Um. Are you okay, ma'am?"
"Of course I am. Don't you see me?"
"Because we have her in custody. You don't have to be afraid."
"I'm not afraid of my daughter-in-law, Mrs. Theon Pinkney. She's the one who should be afraid. Four big men grabbing her and putting her in chains. What's wrong with you?"
The police stood there, slightly confused. I could see that they felt justified, even righteous, for grabbing me in Marcia's driveway. There was no question in their minds that I was a criminal and that they were on the side of the Law.
Marcia glanced at me then. We'd spent hours together but it was as if she hadn't really gotten a good look at me until seeing the tableau in her driveway. — Walter Mosley

Though the blame cannot be placed entirely on publishers, I do think a more diverse pool of editors would go a long way toward broadening the perspective. Our role is to work together to create books that act as wide-open doors - books that allow all children to walk through and feel safe enough to stay. — Jerry Pinkney

I want kids to understand that making pictures is similar to making music; there are so many instruments and so many tunes that the possibilities for how you play are truly limitless. — Jerry Pinkney

We live in a time when there is an abundance of ways we can express ourselves. — Jerry Pinkney

Modern science was largely conceived of as an answer to the servant problem and ... it is generally practiced by those who lack a flair for conversation. — Fran Lebowitz

One of the challenges of wearing so many hats, is that I love each and every one of them! — Andrea Davis Pinkney

She felt so human that he could barely carry on a conversation. — L.A. Weatherly

The internal dialogue is what grounds people in the daily world. The world is such and such or so and so, only because we talk to ourselves about its being such and such and so and so. The passageway into the world of shamans opens up after the warrior has learned to shut off his internal dialogue — Carlos Castaneda

Receiving both the Coretta Scott King - Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement and the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award suggests I have succeeded, at least in terms of my own goals, in my intent to make art that moves children. — Jerry Pinkney

Where are you, Fred? Because it's cold. There's snow in the wind. — Truman Capote

The best advice I can give to any aspiring author is to write every single day. Work at the craft of writing. Take it seriously. — Andrea Davis Pinkney

I never demonstrate how art should be made or what the outcome should look like. Instead, give kids the tools and the materials to make their own art. Have them experience the process. — Jerry Pinkney

Like any working mother, I have to balance and manage my time very carefully. My children and husband come first, of course, then my work. — Andrea Davis Pinkney

I do think it's important to expose kids to artists. — Jerry Pinkney

I've toured the world with David Foster and all kinds of different people. It's been a great ride, and I don't think it's about to stop any time soon. — Ruben Studdard

I wanted to show young people that taking a stand can be done by simply standing firm in your convictions. — Andrea Davis Pinkney