Markus Zusak Quotes

Prior to my father's death, I was having a hard time committing to a career as an artist, but that's not because of who he was - it was because of who I am. It's true, though, that I felt I shouldn't compete with him, and that those feelings went away after he died.

My mother wanted me to be a writer. But she was a child of the Depression and never understood that she wasn't poor. So, you know, the idea of not having a job, it would creep through. But she tried very hard to be subtle about it.

And when things are not going well in Toronto, you're going to hear about it. And you're going to say things are not good at all, where it's really not that bad.

I wanted to be a teacher. I love children, so I wanted to deal with children. Then I wanted to be a veterinarian. But by the age of ten or eleven, when I opened my mouth and said, 'Oh, God, what's this?' I kind of knew teaching and being a veterinarian were gonna have to wait.

I was brought up on art. My father thought I had a great hand at art and sent me to art school. But he did not want me to become a photographer.

My parents felt that acting was far too insecure. Don't ask me what made them think that painting would be more secure.

If my results are not good I will lose my job.

I never believed in pushing my kids. My dad was very unhappy I wasn't going to be a doctor, but I couldn't stand to see the sight of blood. And I wanted to be a lawyer since I was in seventh or eighth grade.

For the first couple of years I played really bad tennis. It was so bad that they booed me off the court.

I didn't want to be a writer. First I wanted to act, and then I wanted to be a painter like my big sister.

When I was younger, I used to want to be, like, a back-up dancer, and my mom was like, 'Well, you know, you can do that, but you might want to choose another career.'

The summer before I went to culinary school, my family wanted me to take a job on a movie to make sure that I was making the right decision. I think they hoped I would change my mind about culinary school.

Yes, I did try acting when I was in high school and I was terrible at it. So I definitely have had the experience of being bad at artistic endeavor.

I was not much interested in school, and both at secondary school and at university, I only just scraped through, with as little effort as I judged possible without failing.

My parents were so far from the music world that they couldn't conceive how you could make a living. But for me, it was the only solution for the rest of my life.

I got into psychology simply because that's what my sister did, and I grew up in a family that was very, like, 'Follow your sister's footsteps.' I went to the same school she went to, did the same degree she did... really had no interest in it, to be honest.

I wanted to be a violin-maker like my dad, and then I wanted to be a doorman in my building.

My parents are doctors, both my sisters are doctors, so I figured I'd just be a doctor too. Sometime in my junior year, I had this sudden realization that maybe that wasn't for me. I was sort of lost at sea.

My grandfather was wary of me being a part of the industry for various reasons, ranging from the fact that we didn't know anybody; it was an unconventional career choice, and because he felt that I needed somebody to guide me.

I wasn't a No. 9, as everyone believes today. Every time I played as a No. 9, I failed.

It wouldn't be the worst thing if you don't play that well but take points.

In fact I spent a lot of time in my childhood trying to figure out what other people wanted of me. That made me study other people very much. Then I actually started university and I got quite bored. This is when I found out I wanted to be an actor.

If you play a bad game, you can't say it was because you were injured.

My mom is very practical, and she originally wanted me to have something to fall back on. She was a little fearful of my becoming an actor because she didn't see it as a way to make a living. My dad, who was born and raised in Cuba, was really cool with it.

I probably made a mistake at Florida trying to change schematically from what they had done before. As a result, we ended up not being very good at anything.