I opposed the Fatwa against Salman Rushdie. I read the book and took a critical distance. I did not think The Satanic Verses is a blasphemous book. I did not consider the book as being a great read, but as an intellectual I read, I assess, and I respond. I make a difference between true freedom of expression to which we owe a response and provocation, which we ignore.
What you have to assess is whether you have the will to fight.
If you're the guy who basically shows up with coal at the locomotive, they will put it in the train. Like, they won't even assess whatever or not it's good coal. Just throw it in there.
I tell you this: You are your own rule-maker. You set the guidelines. And you decide how well you have done; how well you are doing. For you are the one who has decided Who and What You Really Are-and Who You Want to Be. And you are the only one who can assess how well you're doing.
I've got enough money in my life to retire now and do nothing. But I've got a duty and obligation to see if we can create more jobs in this state, and the government's got an obligation to approve projects and to assess them for the benefit of the people of Queensland.
If we look more closely, we see that any violent display of power, whether political or religious, produces an outburst of folly in a large part of mankind; indeed, this seems actually to be a psychological and sociological law: the power of some needs the folly of others. It is not that certain human capacities, intellectual capacities for instance, become stunted of destroyed, but rather that the upsurge of power makes such an overwhelming impression that men are deprived of their independent judgment, and. . . give up trying to assess the new state of affairs for themselves.
You need to be careful not to over-reach and also assess the capacity you have to work with.
It's hard for me to measure them, or to assess my books because I'm so close to them.
I'll tell you what I really think about politicians. The other night I watched some politicians on television talking about Vietnam. I wanted very much to burst through the screen with a flame thrower and burn their eyes out and their balls off and then inquire from them how they would assess the action from a political point of view.
Low self-esteem comes from who you assess yourself to be. It's about who you are, and I didn't think I was anything or anybody.
Few artists are able to accurately assess just how valuable and great their work is - or how much it will be appreciated by its audience. In other words, insecurity is the name of the game.
From the age of 14 until I was 50, I just got on a treadmill and ran. I never stopped to assess what I was doing or to pat myself on the back.
Writing, for me, has to do with liberty of mind. The liberty to intuit, assess, be surprised, even to be ashamed and reconsider. To feel the integrity and generosity of words, but also their disruptive violence and volatility. To even begin to do them justice requires a radical letting go and stringent attention. I was interested in following that impulse toward liberty.
I am always wary of decisions made hastily. I am always wary of the first decision, that is, the first thing that comes to my mind if I have to make a decision. This is usually the wrong thing. I have to wait and assess, looking deep into myself, taking the necessary time.
To make something, you have to work within your abilities. Honestly assess what you can do and even more important, what can't you do.
I assess the power of a will by how much resistance, pain, torture it endures and knows how to turn to its advantage.
The way you create any outcome in your life is to hold the vision of your deepest desires. At the same time, though, you must honestly and accurately assess your current situation and how it relates to your greater vision. By doing this, you engage tension between what is and what can be. This tension is the primary creative force behind the manifestation of any outcome. It's as natural and powerful as the force of gravity.
With art criticism it's difficult to discuss beauty, to assess it, because there's always the possibility that we're insane.
I do not think I am entitled to assess the President of the United States. This is up to the American people.
I rarely assess live shows after I play them.
