Rockwell Quotes & Sayings

It wasn't easy telling my family that I'm gay. I made my carefully worded announcement at Thanksgiving. It was very Norman Rockwell. I said, 'Mom, would you please pass the gravy to a homosexual?' She passed it to my father. A terrible scene followed. — Bob Smith

If they were starting their careers today, Rockwell and Picasso would probably both be painting on black velvet. — Brad Holland

It's a hard truth for Americans to face, that neither team in Washington is going to guard what we love the most. That is something we are going to have to face. Liberty is for the citizens to guard themselves. — Llewellyn Rockwell

A man who knows a thing, recognizes a given danger, and sees with his own eyes the possibility of a remedy, damned well has the duty and the obligation not to work 'silently', but to stand up openly against the evil and for its cure. If he does not do so then he is a faithless, miserable weakling who fails either from cowardice or from laziness and incompetence ... Every last agitator who possesses the courage to defend his opinions with manly forth-rightness, standing on a tavern table among his adversaries, accomplishes more than a thousand of these lying, treacherous sneaks. — George Lincoln Rockwell

Where Norman Rockwell is the Artist for the man on the street, O'Henry is his author. — Sonia Rumzi

We got a Chinese Elvis painted by Norman Rockwell. — Steve Hackett

The people and the warmakers are two distinct groups. We must never say 'we' when discussing the US government's foreign policy. For one thing, the warmakers do not care about the opinions of the majority of Americans. It is silly and embarrassing for Americans to speak of 'we' when discussing their government's foreign policy, as if their input were necessary to or desired by those who make war. — Llewellyn Rockwell

If a picture wasn't going very well I'd put a puppy dog in it, always a mongrel, you know, never one of the full bred puppies. And then I'd put a bandage on its foot ... I liked it when I did it, but now I'm sick of it. — Norman Rockwell

Big wheels work for us. — Anne F. Rockwell

Family dinner in the Norman Rockwell mode had taken hold by the 1950s: Mom cooked, Dad carved, son cleared, daughter did the dishes. — Nancy Gibbs

Maybe because it's entirely an artist's eye, patience and skill that makes an image and not his tools. — Ken Rockwell

Capitalism, and capitalism alone, has rescued the human race from degrading poverty, rampant sickness and early death. — Llewellyn Rockwell

The startling truth is this: as this narrative unfolded, amidst all the voices breaking free, telling their stories for the first time, the loudest voice of all was that of Norman Rockwell. — Jane Allen Petrick

What the American worker needs is more of what WalMart offers and less of what the government offers. — Llewellyn Rockwell

The laws of economics tell us that the expansion of the central state can't go on forever. Its limit is reached when the looted turn on the looters. — Llewellyn Rockwell

Prosperity is an essential partner in civilization itself. It is the basis of leisure, charity, and a hopeful outlook on life. It is the means for conquering poverty at the lowest rung of society, the basis on which children and the elderly are cared for, the foundation for the cultivation of arts and learning. Crush an economy and you crush civilization. — Llewellyn Rockwell

I like entertainment and think mastery is good, though I don't feel like a master. If a theme means having a story that's legible, then that's certainly what we do. But we don't treat design as an add-on layer. — David Rockwell

As one needs happiness so have I needed love; that is the deepest need of the human spirit. And as I love you utterly, so have you now become the whole world of my spirit. It is beside and beyond anything that you can ever do for me; it lies in what you are, dear love - to me so infinitely lovely that to be near you, to see you, hear you, is now the only happiness, the only life, I know. — Rockwell Kent

"I tried, once," said Bernard, with a rueful smile. "Yup! I tried." He gazed thoughtfully out the window. — Carey Rockwell

The View of life I communicate in my pictures excludes the sordid and the ugly. I paint life as I would like it to be. — Norman Rockwell

It isn't a coincidence that governments everywhere want to educate children. Government education, in turn, is supposed to be evidence of the state's goodness and its concern for our well-being. The real explanation is less flattering. If the government's propaganda can take root as children grow up, those kids will be no threat to the state apparatus. They'll fasten the chains to their own ankles. H.L. Mencken once said that the state doesn't just want to make you obey. It tries to make you want to obey. And that's one thing the government schools do very well. — Llewellyn Rockwell

You can't prove Rembrandt is better than Norman Rockwell - although if you actually do prefer Rockwell, I'd say you were shunning complexity, were secretly conservative, and hadn't really looked at either painter's work. Taste is a blood sport. — Jerry Saltz

Sam Rockwell has a fantastic sense of rhythm — Duncan Jones

Commonplaces never become tiresome. It is we who become tired when we cease to be curious and appreciative. We find that it is not a new scene which is needed, but a new viewpoint. — Norman Rockwell

Socialism crushes human rights, builds the state, impinges on the liberty of conscience, and breeds social, cultural, and economic degeneration. — Llewellyn Rockwell

I copied everything I did in Galaxy Quest from Bill Paxton in Aliens, I owe him some credit. — Sam Rockwell

Every project is an opportunity to learn, to figure out problems and challenges, to invent and reinvent. — David Rockwell

Dreams are meant to be realized, not broken. — Michael A. Rockwell

Dear God, grant me the violence to crush mine enemies.
Dear God, give me mechanical lungs, for when I'm drowning. — Aaron W. Rockwell

Democracy has turned out to be not majority rule but rule by well-organized and well-connected minority groups who steal from the majority. — Llewellyn Rockwell

The most encouraging trend of our time is the widespread loss of faith in government. No longer do people look to the government as the great problem solver, economic planner, social unifier, or cultural czar. The government is more likely to be seen for what it is, a haven for grafters, liars, and would-be tyrants. Americans, like the Russians, no longer believe anything until it is officially denied. — Llewellyn Rockwell

I don't believe in democracy. In the second place, neither did our white forefathers. I believe, as they did, in a republican authoritarian republic with a limited electorate
just like the one the writers of our Constitution meant this country to be. When these white Christian patriots sat down to write the Declaration of Independence, there were no black citizens for them to worry about. — George Lincoln Rockwell

Libertarianism is a theory of politics that is so compelling that once you have absorbed it, it becomes the lens through which you end up understanding all economic and political events. — Llewellyn Rockwell

I get great joy from creating the perfect Norman Rockwell holiday. This is why I think I might be Martha Stewart's brother from another mother. — Jesse Tyler Ferguson

I talk as I sketch, too, in order to keep their minds off what I'm doing so I'll get the most natural expression I can from them. Also, the talking helps to size up the subject's personality, so I can figure out better how to portray him. — Norman Rockwell

Photography is the power of observation, not the application of technology. — Ken Rockwell

I'm happy that I'm finally getting some lines in my face. I always looked too young for the kind of roles I wanted. It was constraining. My face didn't fit my innards until I reached 40. — Sam Rockwell

What we need is a new consciousness concerning the idea of human liberty. — Llewellyn Rockwell

I've done so many independents for so many years. Leads that nobody's seen. — Sam Rockwell

Inside was a tableau of frustration that might've been straight out of Norman Rockwell, if Norman Rockwell had painted people doing hard time in jail. — Ransom Riggs

No matter how advanced your camera you still need to be responsible for getting it to the right place at the right time and pointing it in the right direction to get the photo you want. — Ken Rockwell

It was very much like Norman Rockwell: small town America. We walked to school or rode our bikes, stopped at the penny candy store on the way home from school, skated on the pond. — Dorothy Hamill

Good restaurant design is about achieving equilibrium between the food, service, and design - in effect, telling a complete story. — David Rockwell

The Balopticon [a machine that projects photos on canvas to trace the lines] is an evil, inartistic, habit-forming, lazy and vicious machine! It also is a useful, time-saving, practical and helpful one. I use one often-and am thoroughly ashamed of it. I hide it whenever I hear people coming. — Norman Rockwell

In our highly mediated, technologically driven world, we're all looking for meaningful ways to connect. This has constantly inspired me to create environments full of lively, immersive, experiential elements specifically crafted to foster human connection. — David Rockwell

He says he'd rather be dead than leave me. According to him, we're family. I guess that makes me the psycho uncle no one wants to talk to. And he's the kid with only imaginary friends for company. 'Normal' Rockwell, here we come. (Jared) — Sherrilyn Kenyon

This time we'll hate, alright - but we'll hate the ENEMY - the vicious gang of colored scum attackers and Jewish-Communist traitors - rather than one part of our own people hating another part for the benefit of the Jews and their army of SCUM! — George Lincoln Rockwell

Briefs need limitations and invitations — David Rockwell

To centralize power in the name of freedom is akin to putting a crime syndicate in charge of rooting out corruption. It is the normal state of politics that the more centralized it is, the more damage it does. Fast-track authority [for government-to-government trade agreements] centralizes power and is therefore part of the problem. — Llewellyn Rockwell

It's hard to make a good movie in four weeks. It's hard. I've done it, but it's not easy. — Sam Rockwell

Things aren't much wilder now, I don't think, than they were back then. Of course I just read about all the goings-on now. Ha. — Norman Rockwell

Even as the government dominates the headlines, private entrepreneurs are busy every day working to improve products and services that improve our lives. They do it without taxing us or regulating us, or making us suffer through tedious elections or political debates. They make their products and offer them to us in a way that pleases the consuming public the most. We can choose whether we want them or not. — Llewellyn Rockwell

We must never again let America be led into a fratricidal war like the last two world wars, for the sake of alien, minority interests. — George Lincoln Rockwell

In education, it is said that the state must impose schooling on all children, else the parents and communities will neglect it. Only the state can make sure that no child is left behind. The only question is the means: will we use the union and bureaucracies favored by the left, or the market incentives and vouchers favored by the right. I don't want to get into a debate about which means is better, but only to draw attention to the reality that these are both forms of planning that compromise the freedom of families to manage their own affairs. — Llewellyn Rockwell

It's fun to improvise, but I still think it's better to have a great script, you know, like a Charlie Kaufman script. — Sam Rockwell

I had a couple of million dollars' worth of ... stock once. And now it's not worth much more than wallpaper. I guess I just wasn't born to be rich. — Norman Rockwell

I'm originally from San Francisco. I might move there some day. But, I like L.A., I have fun in L.A. It's a fun town if you've got money in your pocket. It's a good town. — Sam Rockwell

Some actors don't want to, but I prefer to. I like to collaborate. Sometimes you have to keep it to yourself, and people want to do their own thing. — Sam Rockwell

If something is wrong for you or me, it is also wrong for the cop, the soldier, the mayor, the governor, the general, the Fed chairman, the president. Theft does not become acceptable when they call it taxation, counterfeiting when they call it monetary policy, kidnapping when they call it the draft, mass murder when they call it foreign policy. We understand that it is never acceptable to wield violence nor the threat of violence against the innocent, whether by the mugger or the politician. — Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.

The only reason for a government service is precisely to provide financial support for an operation that is otherwise unsustainable, or else there would be no point in the government's involvement at all. — Llewellyn Rockwell

To concede that there are social problems that cannot be corrected without the state is to give up the entire argument over the future of liberty itself. — Llewellyn Rockwell

My best efforts were some modern things that looked like very lousy Matisses. Thank God I had the sense to realize they were lousy, and leave Paris. — Norman Rockwell

All things look good from far away and it is man's eternally persistent childlike faith in the reality of that illusion that has made him the triumphant restless being he is. — Rockwell Kent

Used to be, conservatives revered the Average American, that Norman Rockwell oil painting of diner food, humble faith, honest toil, and Capraesque virtue. — James Wolcott

The '20s ended in an era of extravagance, sort of like the one we're in now. There was a big crash, but then the country picked itself up again, and we had some great years. Those were the days when American believed in itself. I was happy and proud to be painting it. — Norman Rockwell

I used to break dance. I can do some good James Brown footwork. But now I think I've danced too much. My girlfriend made fun of me: 'Enough with the dancing.' — Sam Rockwell

The color and spectacle of Mexico's streets sparked my interest in community driven space and experience, a passion that I began to develop while studying architecture at Syracuse University and then at the Architectural Association School in London. Having been immersed in such a diverse array of lively environments, it would be impossible for me not to use these memories and experiences as inspiration for my work. — David Rockwell

Guys like Philip Seymour Hoffman or Sam Rockwell are the guys I look up to and have the kind of career I'd like to emulate. — Justin Long

Nobody complains that Bernini's sculptures are too darn real, right? Or that Norman Rockwell's paintings are too creepy. Well, robots can seem real and be loved, too. We're trying to make a new art medium out of robotics. — David Hanson

I share something in common with Norman Rockwell and, for that matter, with Walt Disney. In that I really like to make people happy. — Thomas Kinkade

I just wanted to do something important. — Norman Rockwell

I've studied a technique called the Sanford Miesner technique, that teaches you how to focus. It's mainly about daydreaming. And the technique's really about imaginary circumstances. Using your imagination to sort of daydream about stuff. It makes you emotional in a scene. — Sam Rockwell

Communism is as Jewish as the Mafia is Italian. It's a fact that almost all of the convicted spies for communism have been atheist Jews like the Rosenbergs. And international communism was invented by the Jew Karl Marx and has since been led mostly by Jews - like Trotsky. — George Lincoln Rockwell

I love the challenge of playing characters forced on life-changing emotional journeys. To work on a project with Billy Crudup and Sam Rockwell is just a dream come true. — Douglas Booth

I do everything I can to have a diverse career because I just want to have options. I know that I can do Hamlet or I can do Stanley Kowalski, you know. — Sam Rockwell

It's hard to not get typed in Hollywood. They really want to type you. I'm trying to avoid that, because I want to do a lot of things. I know what I'm capable of. I forgive them because they don't know. They haven't seen me play Hamlet. They're not going to cast me as an English aristocrat. I'm going to have to prove that on my own. That's okay. That's what you have to fight for if you want to be an artist. — Sam Rockwell

Money out of nothing is money that is eventually worth nothing. — Llewellyn Rockwell

I did some martial arts training for 'Confessions of a Dangerous Mind,' since the character was an assassin. — Sam Rockwell

For much of America, the all-American values depicted in Norman Rockwell's classic illustrations are idealistic. For those of us from Vermont, they're realistic. That's what we do. — Bernie Sanders

Norman Rockwell, the Brueghel of the 20th century bourgeoisie, the Holbein of Jell-O ads and magazine covers; by common assent, the most American artist of all. — Jerry Adler

I'm tired, but proud. — Norman Rockwell

As Rockwell Kent said in his Alaskan journal, 'The wonder of wilderness was its tranquility.' I wish I had said that first. It grasps the salient point: not just tranquility, but wonder at tranquility. Wilderness is a surprise. We were raised on nature films that converted nature into thrilling entertainment; we still expect to find predators lurking everywhere in the wildness, and danger and excitement. But instead we find tranquility. And wonder at it.

Interesting word, "wonder." From Old English wundrain: 'to be affected with astonishment.' Its antonyms name the most pervasive symptoms of modern life: indifference, boredom, ennui. The dictionary strains to explain wonder, mentioning awe, astonishment, marvel, miracle, wizardry, bewilderment (note the 'wild' in 'bewilderment'). Finally it offers this: 'Far superior to anything formerly recognized or foreseen.'

Indeed. — Jack Turner

I think it's wrong, ladies and gentlemen, for anybody to to be terrorized out of investigating anything. You have the right to read any book. You have the right to hear any speaker and that includes the vile communist that I'd just as soon gas - but you ought to hear him before we gas him. — George Lincoln Rockwell

Some folks think I painted Lincoln from life, but I haven't been around that long. Not quite. — Norman Rockwell

Eisenhower had about the most expressive face I ever painted, I guess. Just like an actor's. Very mobile. When he talked, he used all the facial muscles. And he had a great, wide mouth that I liked. When he smiled, it was just like the sun came out. — Norman Rockwell

Socialized medicine must fail for the same reasons all socialism must fail: it offers no system for rationally allocating resources, and instead promotes the overutilization of all resources, ending in bankruptcy. — Llewellyn Rockwell

I sometimes can't do movies just for the money. I really can't. I mean, I've tried. Believe me, I'd love to just take the money and run. — Sam Rockwell

I don't keep secrets from my parents, really; it's pretty open. — Sam Rockwell

Anything other than free enterprise always means a society of compulsion and lower living standards, and any form of socialism strictly enforced means dictatorship and the total state. That this statement is still widely disputed only illustrates the degree to which malignant fantasy can capture the imagination of intellectuals. — Llewellyn Rockwell

Without thinking too much about it in specific terms, I was showing the America I knew and observed to others who might not have noticed. My fundamental purpose is to interpret the typical American. I am a story teller. — Norman Rockwell

Well look at that. He's got the Rockwell genes. Maya's father gloated loudly over what Maya assumed was his third leg. — Melisa M. Hamling

Mr. and Mrs. Hankshaw were summoned from the waiting room where Saturday Evening Post fantasies had clouded their instinctive parental concern the way that Norman Rockwell's sentimental ideas cloud the purity of a blank canvas. — Tom Robbins

I paint life as I would like it to be, — Norman Rockwell

It was a pretty rough neighborhood where I grew up The really tough places were over around Third Avenue where it ran into the Harlem River, but we weren't far away. — Norman Rockwell

I'm not going to just do a dumb zombie movie, although I love zombie movies. — Sam Rockwell

It is my opinion that Norman Rockwell and his ilk have done more to make already anxious people feel guilty than anyone else. — Laurie Colwin

I work from fatigue to fatigue at my age there's only so much daylight left. — Norman Rockwell

Good acting is good acting, however you learn it. Some people who haven't studied are amazing. Some people like Leonardo DiCaprio are naturally gifted - he's learned technique by working with people early on. — Sam Rockwell

I have memories of films that nobody ever saw, that I was very proud of, and those are still great memories. — Sam Rockwell

I just think you people would be happier back in Africa where you came from. — George Lincoln Rockwell