Colin Hay Quotes

It's very difficult to change the perception people have of you.

Be careful with how you make the world perceive you, because they'll perceive you like that for the rest of your life.

There are times when I don't take roles because I don't want to be perceived a certain way.

So I think it's - what was important to me is that I found that I can't change the fact that people already have made an opinion about me. But I don't think that should stop me from trying to correct some of the misperceptions that are out there.

You can't expect a man to change in one day by watching a film, right?

We have nothing less to do than to get inside of whole peoples and change their motives and dispositions.

I've been around for so long, people have their perceptions of me: good, bad or indifferent.

The image that the public gets is whatever they perceive it to be. Everybody has an opinion, everybody has their own vision, so I don't know what my public image is. I have no idea.

I'm not sure I'm comfortable with a reputation of being an action guy. That's something I probably try to avoid, but I seem to keep making action movies.

If you want to change attitudes, start with a change in behavior.

I think with most all of us, we want control of our image - it's part of the work that we do.

I definitely don't look my age. So I actively look for roles that will help people change their perception of me.

Changing people’s expectation is the hardest thing to do.

People's minds can change very quickly.

You have to have an overall vision of how you want people to see you.

Your goal as a candidate - define others before they can define you.

I don't want people to think I'm a wrestler.

There was a perception that reality-show people are just mere personalities, that they don't have real talent, and I worked real hard to change peoples' minds, one show at a time, and proved a lot of people wrong. I'm proud I was the first to do that for 'Idol' on Broadway!

People have a good image of me. It's not these tramps who are going to tarnish my image. They should stop lying to the French people. It annoys me that people talk about 'your image'. My image is great in France. When I'm abroad, I don't even talk about it. But in France it's just these people, these parasites.

For better or worse, a lot of people's images are based on the first things that are written about them. You can't control what people write about you, so - good or bad - I have never lost sleep about it.

We are more solicitous that men speak of us, than how they speak.

If opinion hath lighted the lamp of thy name, endeavor to encourage it with thy own oil, lest it go out and stink; the chronical disease of Popularity is shame; if thou be once up, beware; from fame to infamy is a beaten road.

Somebody I love and have a huge amount of respect for once told me something that, to this day, I don't really think I understand. It was probably toward the end of Harry Potter, and they were talking to me about afterwards and that kind of stuff. And they were saying, "You need to think of yourself as a brand and you need to protect that brand." I just don't understand what that really means in terms of being an actor, and I also think I would find that a slightly soul-destroying way to look at myself.

Do not leave your reputation to chance or gossip; it is your life's artwork, and you must craft it, hone it, and display it with the care of an artist.

The only way you can truly control how you are seen is by being honest all the time.