Paul Beatty Quotes

To what extent do we self-construct, do we self-invent? How do we self-identify, and how mutable is that identity? Like, what if one could be anyone at any time? Well, my characters, like the ones in my shows, allow me to play with the spaces between those questions.

To sit for one's portrait is like being present at one's own creation.

I think my being such a nomad let me into acting. I was always having to create a new image whenever we moved.

I try not to define myself. Other people are going to do that for you anyway.

It's one of the hardest things in life - choosing your own name.

I express myself through clothes, but clothes don't define me.

I suppose it's fair to say that I am interested in the invention of self or selves. We're all born into certain circumstances with particular physical traits, unique developmental experiences, geographical and historical contexts.

Names aren't just coathooks, they're coats. They're the first thing anyone knows about you.

I don't think a name defines the core of who you are.

Glam really did plant seeds for a new identity. I think a lot of kids needed that - that sense of reinvention. Kids learned that however crazy you may think it is, there is a place for what you want to do and who you want to be.

I was trying to establish an identity in music, and black and white had nothing to do with it.

I have a lot of different traits to my personality, depending on who I'm around, and what the dynamic in the situation is.

Everyone experiences different parts of themselves at different times, these different parts of themselves that come out in different settings.

Funny how defined we are by how we present ourselves to the world.

Every human being has an assortment of diverse identities, and it greatly matters which one is triggered by social situations, which hold up different kinds of mirrors. The same is true for nations.

I know for myself, and maybe I'm weird or whatever, but the whole thing is about constantly redefining identity.

Some people want to define themselves, and they should, as it's part of their identity. For me personally, I've never really had a label for myself.

People often ask me when I realised that I was different. Some people seem surprised that it's a question that I cannot answer. I was never told that I was different. I was always just Sinead; I was just like my dad.

I think songwriting was the biggest way that I found my identity.

I think, in a lot of ways, we underestimate how much clothing plays a part in achieving our identities and in how we want the world to deal with us.

Clothes are not a frivolous subject, and the conversation around them should not be belittled. How we dress affects what we feel, what we do, and who we are.

I know what my identity is.

I think so many women allow themselves to be defined by somebody else's narrative.

As we grow up, we're constantly defining ourselves. In my case: Caucasian, male, born in Iowa, live in Boston, Zen Buddhist, good at learning languages. With countless labels, I build up this creation I call my self.

I truly believe that getting dressed in the morning is about deciding who you want to be, what you're saying in the world, and how you want people to see you. It's so much more than superficial.