I still have a feeling that I haven't written the best that I can write. I think all poets must feel this: that there is constantly something new to be discovered in the language. It's like a thrilling encounter, and you can find things.
For a long time now I have tried simply to write the best I can. Sometimes I have good luck and write better than I can.
One time I can stand fiddling in front of the mirror for an hour and another time I think: well hack, this is just the best it can get. Only if I have to go to work I really try to look fantastic.
I go for as much feeling as I can rather than show what I can do up and down the neck. I don't play to show people ability.
I don't describe myself as a sociable person now. I can be quite... you know... grumpy? Is that a word? I guess I can be a bit grumpy.
Who am I that I have to sing under an umbrella? These people are my fans, and if they can stand in the rain to hear me sing, I can stand in the rain.
I can forgive, but I cannot forget, is only another way of saying, I will not forgive. Forgiveness ought to be like a cancelled note - torn in two, and burned up, so that it never can be shown against one.
When I have to do something fast, I wear the most unflattering rubber pants over my pants and a big easy sweater. I can get on my knees in the garden in whatever condition, and when I'm done, I can take it off, get in the car, and drive to the office...
I don't like getting older, but there's nothing I can do. Hitting 60 wasn't great, but I think I was lucky in not being that beautiful; it can be really cruel on people who have been stunning.
I approach film no differently than I approach a role. I want to make sure the movie is right, the characters are right, I can really bring something to it as a visionary, a storyteller. It's great to point a camera, but can you tell a story?
I have a pretty good math mind, so I can see patterns, but I don't have a great ear. It's like a tragedy - I can see so much more natural musical ability in so many other people.
In figure skating, your body can only last for so long. I can't be 50 and trying to skate but I can be 50 and be in fashion, so I have to look to my future and what I want to achieve.
I don't save people. God saves people. I can point them in the right direction. I can say, 'There's that door. I think if you walked through it, you'd be happier than you are.'
I have no problem with my hips - I can still do the things that I used to do. I can run, I'm just not the fastest person on the field anymore.
I think I can be pretty special. I think I can impact a lot in the NBA, especially with my size and my shooting ability and athleticism and just being a humble person.
I've been blessed so abundantly that I can never get over it. I just feel so richly blessed that I want to extend that to others wherever I can.
I'm attracted to stories that excite my imagination, stories that, as I'm reading the script, I feel it, I can see it, I can hear the characters. I'm attracted to characters that are real, that tap into something inside me that I haven't explored yet...
I'm fortunate: I can play as long as I want to play. There's no coach or trainer who is going to say to me that I'm dropped or sacked, it's time to move on. I can play as long as I want to play.
For me, my taste isn't limited to magical films. Whatever I read and I like, I go up for, and a lot of the time it's an American accent which can be quite trying, but I'm working on it as much as I can.
I can sort of do what I want. Maybe I have to work harder to prove myself in some new relationship because they've heard some wacky stories about me. But at least I can get the meeting.
There's a lot of music at my fingertips that I can be influenced by. And just because I play a horn, I don't need to sound, or try to capture, what was happening before me. I can just respect it and learn from it.
