Porgy Quotes & Sayings

I allude to Back to the Future in the 1985 story to let folks know it was an inspiration and because it literally was the most time-travelly bit of pop culture we had in the mid 80's. I can talk about their tools for considering change. First, the book is metafictive in a traditional sense where I'm showing and telling the reader that the act of writing and reading is a reflexive way to push boundaries of real and literal time travel. Writers and readers are time travellers. The question is what we do with that time we traveled when we leave a book, leave a page. — Kiese Laymon

I've been on such a losing streak that if I had been around I would have taken General Custer and given points. — Joe E. Lewis

You don't find a style. A style finds you — Keith Richards

That's what George wrote! He wrote it. Why change it? There was this European company that I was speaking about awhile ago - course, didn't nobody know what Porgy was. — Cab Calloway

Singing songs like 'The Man I Love' or 'Porgy' is no more work than sitting down and eating Chinese roast duck, and I love roast duck. — Billie Holiday

When I first was exposed to 'Porgy and Bess' many, many years ago, I was blown away by it - loved the music, overwhelmed by the production at the Met that I saw, and thought I want to play Bess someday. But I also knew they were stereotypes that were considered racist. — Audra McDonald

Porgy is ... an interesting example of what can be done by talent in spite of a bad setup. With a libretto that should never have been accepted on a subject that should never have been chosen, a man who should never have attempted it has written a work that has a considerable power. — George Gershwin

I quit smoking cigarettes and with the $70 a month I am saving not smoking cigarettes I'm smoking $700 worth of cigars. — Ron White

I wanna chase down Denzel Washington, Jamie Foxx, Will Smith. I would love to start my film career. — Shemar Moore

I was a dancer for many years. I was a premier dancer with 'Porgy and Bess,' the opera. And I taught dance some, in different places. — Maya Angelou

Labour as long liu'd, pray as even dying.
[Labor as long-lived, pray as ever dying.] — George Herbert

To do nothing evil is good; to wish nothing evil is better. — Claudius

While I was strong enough to handle just about any damn thing that came my way, it felt good to have a little something to hold onto during the darkest times. — Colleen Vanderlinden

I weave the company into what we laughingly call 'Jack's novel.' I write this novel for them about who they are and what's going on in their world. When I had 90 people in 'Porgy and Bess,' each had a story, history and family relationship. — Jack O'Brien

Your mind is turbulent because you're filled with desires, frustrations. You want too many things. You are afraid of too many things. It is necessary to overcome both attraction and repulsion to still the mind. — Frederick Lenz

Comparisons of one's lot with others' teaches us nothing and enfeebles the will. — Thornton Wilder

'Porgy and Bess' has never been thought of as a dance show, and yet it's filled with dance. It uses dance to punctuate the action, or as background, or as atmosphere; even when it's front and center, it isn't crucial. — Robert Gottlieb

Because I love you. Because love, to some, is a weakness. A pressure point. Because I would give up anything for you, including the GP. And because I don't mean to give up either. — Chloe Neill

The truth ... When they have a similar structure to and are organized in as truthful a way as nature. When I look out of the window, then truth for me is the way nature shows itself in its various tones, colours and proportions. That's a truth and has its own correctness. This little slice of nature, and in fact any given piece of nature, represents to me an ongoing challenge, and is a model for my paintings. — Gerhard Richter

When you realize that the uncut 'Porgy and Bess' started me off, that I'd have the opportunity to do a ton of 'Stoppard,' 'Hairspray,' that I'm able to do 'Il Trittico' at the Met - how do I top that? — Jack O'Brien

In the '20s and '30s, there were these musicals either set on college campuses or based on classical stories, so any of the Rodgers and Hart musicals certainly influenced me. I was definitely influenced by any of the 'Porgy' songs; I was influenced by 'American Pie.' — Douglas Carter Beane