Grace Paley Quotes

Let us agree here today to adopt among ourselves a simple and unwritten rule. We will not rise to criticize someone else's idea unless we are prepared to offer an alternative idea of our own.

I'm a collaborator. I know I don't know everything. I don't want to know everything.

I've learned how to trust someone else's ideas with mine.

I think that just because you've been through an experience doesn't make you the ultimate arbiter of what it means. We figure things out; we work things out through the help of other people who can engage with us but also be intelligently critical.

Through improvisation, jazz teaches you about yourself. And through swing, it teaches you that other people are individuals too. It teaches you how to coordinate with them.

He who closes his ears to the views of others shows little confidence in the integrity of his own views.

A good leader can engage in a debate frankly and thoroughly, knowing that at the end he and the other side must be closer, and thus emerge stronger. You don't have that idea when you are arrogant, superficial, and uninformed.

I usually tell people upfront what to expect, and that I really want their feedback and their ideas, and if they think I've got a hair out of place or food stuck in my teeth, gosh, I want to know that.

People who work with me say I have a four-step response to new ideas: rejection, reconsideration, acceptance, ownership. I need to listen more patiently.

No director wants to be directed, but no good director... would shy away from the good ideas of others.

On a film crew, you can see very quickly that some people who are working with you are stronger than you. Then you have to have the humility to listen to them. And because very often they have better ideas than yours, it can be tough on the evil ego. But it makes a better film.

I love argument, I love debate. I don't expect anyone just to sit there and agree with me, that's not their job.

I am not so enamored of my own opinions that I disregard what others may think of them

The way I was brought up in improv was that any idea you have is not as good as your partner's idea, so if I see someone else initiating at the same time I am, I just defer to them because I assume their idea is going be better. And hopefully, they're doing the same with me.

You have to have doubts. I have collaborators I work with. I listen, and then I decide. That's how it works.

I like hearing from everybody and not just my co-screenwriters or producers. For example, while on set, I find it valuable to turn to my PA and ask, 'What do you think? Is this scene working? Do you like what you see? You got any ideas for that line there because that idea isn't working for me.'

A leader who listens is one who is malleable and willing to refine her views and actions as she learns new information or hears a better idea.

It's important to contribute to group discussions, but if all you're thinking about is when you'll get the opportunity to speak - and stressing about whether you'll sound smart - you won't be fully engaged in the conversation.

The arts are the most uniquely suited to provide young people with critical-thinking skills, problem-solving, teamwork and collaboration, empathy and tolerance and compassion, looking at the other point of views.

I spend a lot of time bathing in a glow of consensus, but you have to be willing to say something to people who might not agree with you and take the consequences of what follows.

A good teammate is someone willing to get outside of personal thoughts and emotions, a friend who tries to understand, appreciate, and encourage other members of the team.

You have to do a lot of listening, you don't just learn out of yourself.

I enjoy being around people who disagree with me; and I enjoy being in non-political contexts and activities.

You can tell if someone is about social intercourse or just about browbeating somebody with their opinion. It's no fun arguing with a closed-minded person.

I am totally down with disagreement. I don't like Haterade, but disagreement is wonderful. When someone disagrees, we try to reach common ground. That's good.