Tillman Quotes & Sayings

Christian music was music that I grew up listening to that I can't say has had much of an impact on anything I have done in my adult life. Maybe Christianity has, but certainly not the bullshit Christian music I was listening to when I was 12. To me there's not much substance in that music. I don't have a message or anything. — J. Tillman

My humor is my creativity, and my skepticism is a gift. — J. Tillman

Professor Tillman. Most of us here are not scientists, so you may need to be a little less technical.' This sort of thing is incredibly annoying. People can tell you the supposed characteristics of a Gemini or a Taurus and will spend five days watching a cricket match, but cannot find the interest or the time to learn the basics of what they, as humans, are made up of. — Graeme Simsion

As a reader myself, which precedes my being a writer, of course, I read in order to enter another world. — Lynne Tillman

People are less focused on the story, and more on how the story is told. — Lynne Tillman

In a practical sense, pain kept me from sitting down as much, so that sometimes I would have to stand to write. Not that I would necessarily have gotten anywhere anyway. But it definitely set me back to be in so much pain. — Lynne Tillman

Reading gave me great comfort and pleasure. When I started being able to write, around seven or eight, I wanted to be able to do that myself, to create that other world. — Lynne Tillman

I think everyone needs competition in life, whether it be myself, you, the President. — Charles Tillman

I've sequenced the questions for maximum speed of elimination,' I explained. 'I believe I can eliminate most women in less than forty seconds. Then you can choose the topic of discussion for the remaining time.'
'But then it won't matter,' said Frances. 'I'll have been eliminated.'
'Only as a potential partner. We may still be able to have an interesting discussion.'
'But I'll have been eliminated.'
I nodded. 'Do you smoke?'
'Occasionally,' she said.
I put the questionnaire away. 'Excellent.' I was pleased that my question sequencing was working so well. We could have wasted time talking about ice-cream flavours and make-up only to find that she smoked. Needless to say, smoking was not negotiable. 'No more questions. What would you like to discuss? — Graeme Simsion

I have a theory that everyone is as odd as I am when they are alone.
Don Tillman — Graeme Simsion

Instead of saying, ah, I don't have the money, just embrace it and do what we can do. And the scenes that we film and the characterizations in the scenes can come out interesting. And I really feel good about that, going into it. — George Tillman Jr.

There was a group of six women in my household. My mom, aunts and grandma. I watched them in the kitchen. — George Tillman Jr.

So use all that is called fortune. Most men gamble with her, and gain all and lose all, as her wheel rolls ... A political victory, a rise of rents, the recovery of your sick or the return of your absent friend, or some other favorable event raises your spirits, and you think good days are preparing for you. Do not believe it. Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. Nothing can bring you peace but the triumph of principles. — Pat Tillman

I would never want to write a character who was not thoroughly herself or himself. She's a very specific creature in my mind, and she has her thoughts, which range from skin to American history, philosophy, and the arts. — Lynne Tillman

It's going back to old school, the way it was done and I'm finding out there is something different, a little interesting. There is something just a little fresh about it because I haven't seen it done like that in a little while. I'm embracing it, you know. — George Tillman Jr.

Now that I am conscious of the world of chronic pain, when I see somebody walking down the street who's having trouble, I feel a sadness for them. I notice. — Lynne Tillman

Wolfgang Tillman's stunning large-scale pictures, being shown for the first time, were so offhand I failed to see them as art. — Jerry Saltz

I never paid attention to many of the Nicholas Sparks films. 'The Notebook,' which my wife liked, I felt that Ryan Gosling was a genius in it and Rachel McAdams has this thing about her that you just want to take care of her. I remember that chemistry between them. — George Tillman Jr.

I want to see that 'Anita' documentary. I want to see 'Lovelace'; I want to see 'After Midnight,' because I saw the other two and I loved them. I thought the last one was great. — George Tillman Jr.

I'm very interested in animal behavior, and the relationship of human beings to other animal behavior. — Lynne Tillman

Passion is kind of an important word for me, whether it's playing sports or whether it's just living or whatever you're going to do. In my opinion you should be passionate about it or else, why do it? — Pat Tillman

Somewhere inside, we hear a voice. It leads us in the direction of the person we wish to become. But it is up to us whether or not to follow. — Pat Tillman

That was exciting man, because the killer is a different kind of character. There are a lot of people who wanted to play the role. I'm happy that Sony and CBS took a chance on a new face. I like the idea that he is from a different country. He has a British sensibility. I like that Billy Bob has a darker edge. — George Tillman Jr.

When something in a sequence is edited, if you repeat an image, but in a different place, the effect is different. Because the brain is remembering, and the different juxtaposition triggers other memories, thoughts, ideas, and so on. — Lynne Tillman

The right to pursue happiness sends me and other Americans, even here where we are meant to resist outside temptation, on a hunt for it. If I'm not hungry, I might seek other forms of happiness, or pleasure, which is part of my American birthright, though the most misconceived notion of them or the most difficult to realize; I can pursue several means and ways to be happy, if I am able to forget what makes me habitually sad. — Lynne Tillman

There's a lot of risk in putting what you suspect you really are into your music. — J. Tillman

I like the freedom of being able to just use the live show as an opportunity to more so deconstruct what's going on in the album than to recreate it. — J. Tillman

I try to make myself, and subsequently the audience, as uncomfortable as possible, whether it's completely desecrating a song they thought was one thing, or getting too drunk to really do a very good job. — J. Tillman

Writing and rewriting are the same thing to me. I don't believe what Allen Ginsberg said that "first thought, then - " I just don't believe that. — Lynne Tillman

Food was a labor of love you felt by cooking it and eating it. — George Tillman Jr.

I had this revelation, you are a lot better at the between-song stuff than you are at the song stuff. That was devastating. And I usually find devastating things to be pretty valuable. — J. Tillman

There are no such things as problems, only solutions! — Lowell Tillman Jr.

Oregano is the spice of life. — Henry Tillman

I hate to lose. And when I do lose, I don't lose the lesson, I don't miss the message. — Charles Tillman

It's a balance. Like, we are shooting the big car chase at the end and it's me with everybody. And I got my stunt coordinator who shot some stuff and I'm like, you are right next to me, why don't we do it together. — George Tillman Jr.

God forgives man the time spent looking at airplane photos. — Barrett Tillman

In our blessed and mostly peaceful society we're not as familiar with courage as we once were. We ascribe the virtue to all manner of endeavors that only really require skill, fortitude and a little daring, the qualities Pat Tillman showed on the football field. Pat's best service to his country was to remind us all what courage really looks like, and that the purpose of all good courage is love. — John McCain

Certainly there will always be stories, — Lynne Tillman

My last album as J. Tillman, 'Singing Ax,' that was really a premeditated death rattle of the aesthetic precedent I had set. I realized I wasn't creating spontaneously; I was enforcing all these parameters. I was too self-loathing or something, and there was this obvious dissonance between my conversational voice and creative voice. — J. Tillman

He was all of those things, of course, but none of those things. — Marie Tillman

Steve McQueen was the guy who said less, and everything was all behind his words and what he didn't say, and you still felt emotionally connected and rooted behind him. — George Tillman Jr.

Even looking at my last film, 'Notorious,' you got a perception about B.I.G. and who he was, but there was a different side to him. — George Tillman Jr.

Filmmakers are always in a bubble; along with our crew or writer, we don't really get to socialize with other filmmakers, so the great thing about Sundance is you can see many other filmmakers doing the same thing you do. — George Tillman Jr.

The saying "Getting there is half the fun" became obsolete with the advent of commercial airlines. — Henry Tillman

I don't really consider myself a writer. — George Tillman Jr.

As the director, I try to go in and know as much as I can about the material. I really try to go in and understand what all the characters are about, what the movie's going to look like. — George Tillman Jr.

I don't think that just because a lot of my music has a quieter aesthetic; [it] excludes me from achieving that in a live setting, from being dangerous or something. — J. Tillman

I've been writing a lot about my encounter with love. Which is the white stag as far as songwriting is concerned because love songs are so banal, and my experience with love is anything but that. — J. Tillman

I like to compete. I think competition brings out the best in anybody. — Charles Tillman

Look at politics; they're always in competition over an election, who wants to win. It's just who we are, it's what we do. — Charles Tillman

It's not the writer who determines how good she is anyway. Writers don't determine that. It's readers who determine that. — Lynne Tillman

What? An alien. You think I'm from outer space." She snorts in disbelief. "I'm Kelly Tillman, you dumb-ass. From 41 Montana Avenue, Valentine, Texas. What's left of it. I canned seventh grade for a piece-of-crap job with lousy tips and lousy hours. You ain't telling me I'm the outsider here. No way. — Philip Webb

Love is just an institution ... — J. Tillman

I don't think anybody says to Coetzee or Dostoyevsky or Kafka, "Your characters aren't likeable." It's not about your character winning a popularity contest. That's not the writer's job. — Lynne Tillman

I'm trying always to leave out what I think is extraneous. And to find what I think is the most wonderful language to make a beautiful sentence. — Lynne Tillman

Is grey, and I like that about all the characters, the killer, the driver ... the movie has a very unlikely Hollywood ending, at the same time it helps you for a sequel too. Those are the things that I think are attractive, it's more, its real life, and people can identify with it and it just grounds it to a certain degree. That's the reason why. — George Tillman Jr.

Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the dead. — Lynne Tillman

I would play my Dungeons and Dragons songs and watch people's eyes glaze over, and then I would start joking around between songs, and all of a sudden people were lighting up and engaging. — J. Tillman

I think it's very hard to reconcile oneself to the notion that it may not matter what you think if you still want to write. — Lynne Tillman

Pat Tillman (for abandoning an incredibly promising football career to give his life for his country). — Peter Boghossian

So why the stress?" said Gene. "You have had sex before?"
"Of course," I said. "My doctor is strongly in favor."
"Frontiers of medical science," said Gene.
He was probably making a joke. I think the value of regular sex has been known for some time. I explained further. "It's just adding a second person makes it complicated. — Graeme Simsion

I do think we think repetitively. It's so hard to get certain thoughts out of your head. If you're angry at a friend, you're going to keep going back to that conversation. — Lynne Tillman

There are lots of unlikable characters in literature. It doesn't mean they're not fascinating. — Lynne Tillman

It's called 'Miles Davis, Prince of Darkness,' and it's about Miles Davis, the genius, and why he was the way he was, and how he changed music so many times. He changed music six times. So, I'm excited about that movie. — George Tillman Jr.

I definitely think moving around helped shape me and has helped me be a better player. — Charles Tillman

I was like, 'Josh Tillman, you are not a songwriter. You are an ape. Stop thinking of yourself as a songwriter.' — J. Tillman

Greetings. My name is Don Tillman and I am a suspected paedophile. I wish to put myself on standby for an assessment. — Graeme Simsion

You have to create the space for the possibility of people speaking as they do. If writing is supposed to lead us in any way or educate or suggest other ways of being, it can't do so by simply reflecting what's considered to be realistic. — Lynne Tillman

Now that I'm an older woman, I'm so much more aware of the changes - almost too aware. I feel sorry for being so dismissive. You have to think about what you're thinking about and realize that you're thinking it. — Lynne Tillman

With sad music, or music that's perceived as sad, there's a sense of solidarity that can be really powerful. My songs are all joyful to me. — J. Tillman

And I really haven't done a damn thing. — Pat Tillman

I love telling stories from a kid's point of view because they don't really see all the obstacles in front of them. They're resilient, and sometimes adults can steal that from them. — George Tillman Jr.

In depression, you're flattened. Your energy level is gone. When I'm anxious, I tend to have more energy. But it depends on the nature of the anxiety. The anxiety to finish something would seem to be more productive than the anxiety that says, "You're feeling sick." — Lynne Tillman

Laurel Canyon is kind of grotesque. It's this nature-themed place, and everybody is kind of angry. — J. Tillman

McChrystal never should have been hired for this job given the outrageous cover-up he participated in after the friendly fire death of Pat Tillman. He was lucky to keep the job after his 'Seven Days in May' stunt in London last year when he openly lobbied and undercut the president on the surge.
But with the latest sassing, and the continued Sisyphean nature of the surge he urged, McChrystal should offer his resignation. He should try subordination for a change. — Maureen Dowd

I've never taken the steps to be 'successful': I've never had a manager or signed to a publishing house. — J. Tillman

Whatever the style is, I want to have a sense that the writer is thinking, and really trying to get at something, and that there's a sense of discovery as the writing goes along. — Lynne Tillman

Sometimes I get into the movies and into the roles; it's hard for me to move on. — George Tillman Jr.

I guess with the way that I've conducted myself I'm in the logical spot and I'm fine with that. Even my limited interactions with success have left me confused and bummed out, so I don't think the two can co-exist. — J. Tillman

It's a vanity to think that a legitimate shamanistic experience can be purchased. — J. Tillman

These guys at Fox knew that as a filmmaker, I could always tell different types of stories and each can emotionally connect to a universal audience. — George Tillman Jr.

It wasn't that I wanted to be an artist. But when I took my first drawing class with the painter Doug Ohlson, I could never finish a drawing. — Lynne Tillman

You can't make an action movie without action, and so, you can't make a romance movie without romance. — George Tillman Jr.

I don't feel any obligation to make my intentions for a song accessible to a listener or an audience. I'm not interested in conveying anything to them so much as what's best for me. — J. Tillman

People in the upper classes can just as easily be indifferent to their own body, or treat themselves as badly, as people who don't have the money. There are always differences among differences. — Lynne Tillman

I subject my sentences and the words to a kind of Grand Inquisition. — Lynne Tillman

The mind is a powerful tool. — Charles Tillman

Energy is what I had lived so long beside. Energy is who I had married - the energy that permeates life, that comes out of every pore and explodes into the world. — Marie Tillman

Restaurants are minefields for the socially inept — Graeme Simsion

A book coming out into the world can be a harsh, harsh time. And your feelings are on the line. Everything that publication is about is really not what your writing is about. Your writing is coming out of something else, and publication and being in the public are something else. And those of us who have published, in whatever way we're published, are very fortunate. — Lynne Tillman

I just felt like, you know, I read a lot of scripts out in L.A., out here in the industry and I just felt like this film was just being genuine. I just felt like it had really great characters. And all the three different characters have completely different stories and they're all kind of intertwined together thematically. So I just thought it had great characters, great themes — George Tillman Jr.

The truth is not what we received today. Once again, we are being used as props in a Pentagon public relations exercise. — Pat Tillman

Life is something that everyone should try at least once. — Henry Tillman

Our lives should have depth, which means pushing ourselves out of our comfort zones and not taking the easy way out all the time. — Marie Tillman

People, no matter the economic class, find ways to feed their narcissism. — Lynne Tillman

I'm interested in reality but I'm not interested in realism at all. I'm interested in the ways that I think people want to relate. — Lynne Tillman

Funny is a good foil. Humor is illuminating, and it also gives you power. — J. Tillman

If my peers had a significant impact on my music, my music would probably be a lot more popular. — J. Tillman

Here was the heart of dread. It was not fearsome. It was fetid, noxious, hopeless. A deep and exhausting misery, a crevasse so bottomless that, in the blackness, all one could make out were the contours of despair. — Laura Tillman

I shoot a lot of film - that's one of the things I try to do, and it's one of the things I learned how to do with Robert De Niro on 'Men of Honor.' — George Tillman Jr.