Scott Westerfeld Quotes

I think it's funny how excited people can get about things I say that don't have anything to do with music. I made a disparaging comment about McDonald's on Twitter once and people flipped out on me.

I've stayed away from Twitter for a long time because I sort of didn't trust myself with such an intimate but very public way of relating to the world, but I feel like I've studied it enough.

It feels like every day or two, people on Twitter and the Internet are outraged about something.

Words can hurt you. In the larger world, it frames how people think about you, and it can hurt you in lots of little, subtle ways.

There's no amount of money that makes you feel better when people think of you as a joke or a hack or a failure or ugly or stupid or morally empty.

You lose your anonymity just like a helium balloon with a string. Therefore people are going to have their own opinion and they're going to write in whatever clever manner they desire.

The first time I ever experienced someone hating something I did on television was on 'Boy Meets World.' I remember these kids coming up to me and calling me a 'home-wrecker,' and so I had flashes of that going into my role on 'Mad Men.'

In a world where a lot of people's sense of self is dominated by how many people are following their Twitter feed, what does fame really do, and why is it important?

I feel like every time I tweeted something that was a little opinionated, or every time I posted something on Tumblr that seemed a little private, it's all of a sudden making news relationship-wise.

I get asked that a lot: "What do you think your role is, with all the people that look up to you?" I'm an entertainer, you know? I'm not trying to bombard anybody with anything, but at the same time, face-to-face or in real life, if I'm talking to some kid, I have opinions just like everybody else does.

When you start searching for your name, you might be thrilled with what a lot of people say and it just takes one person. And it can hurt your feelings, but I have been aware of the fan bases and stuff like that and realize how deeply involved they are.

There are two types of people on social media: people who want more followers, and liars.

I try and stay away from my comment section on Twitter. But for the most part, the response that I get usually is very positive - and so it's nice.

I'm a friend of the CEO of Twitter and he showed me how to be on it, but it causes such an uproar if what you post is perceived in a negative light.

What happened in the 80's was that all the men died of AIDS. That was a particularly depressing time because so many people passed away and it was a very desperate and lonely time, so I think a lot of people felt that we were somehow, unreceived. Not only by the disease but also by the public image of the disease. It really gave homophobia a real shot in the arm and changed the way people viewed gays, queers. It became an entirely different atmosphere.

People have presences, both online and in real life. You can choose to show everything, meaning all sides of you, or you can choose to be selective.

I never thought to look at the New York Times one, even though I knew people were pissed off. I've seen YouTube videos from people who are pissed off at me about that and that takes a lot of effort to go find.

The people who came to hear me perform or to buy my records were not the type who would be offended [by the song 'The Vatican Rag']. But I gather that there were other people who were offended.

I think social media can be harmful and helpful at the same time. I started in 2003 ... back then, we didn't have the connection to the rest of the world that we have now. The fact that we can make bad behavior more public, it makes us more aware.

It stirs up envy, fame does. People feel fame gives them some kind of privilege to walk up to you and say anything to you - and it won't hurt your feelings - like it's happening to your clothing.

You're happy that people are seeing your work. As for the critics, it really hurts when they knock you.

I heard somebody open and shut the gate to the barn lot, but I didn't look around. If I didn't look around it would not be true that somebody had opened the gate with the creaky hinges, and that is a wonderful principle for a man to get hold of... What you don't know know don't hurt you, for it ain't real. They called that Idealism in my book I had when I was in college, and after I got hold of that principle I became an Idealist... If you are an Idealist it does not matter what you do or what goes on around you because it isn't real anyway.

I came from a real tough neighborhood. Why, every time I shut the window I hurt somebody's fingers.

I would argue [princess] Margaret is the tragic figure of the century.

I think there's a curiosity that can make you feel anxious as to what the world's going to make of what you're doing. It's not necessarily what you're going to get back in terms of record reviews or how people talk about your record, it's getting on the road and playing the new songs live.