Creative Pressure Quotes

Poetry, I feel, is a tyrannical discipline. You've got to go so far so fast in such a small space; you've got to burn away all the peripherals.

It's intimidating any time to have a piece of art that someone else created, and that person says, 'Let's see what you created based on what I created.'

It got to the point where I couldn't afford to borrow any more money to lose. Know what I mean? That was just before 'Frampton,' my fourth album. As we were recording it, I was very down and depressed.

If someone said, 'Sit down and write a 'Community' episode,' I would be panicked.

I'm always trying. Between every book, I think, 'Well now, it's time to get down to the serious stuff.'

If you worry too much about anything, you end up making bad movies.

Rebel Heart changed everything. First of all, it drove me insane - and made me feel an overwhelming sense of anxiety. It made me second guess everything, because suddenly I thought, 'Oh god, everyone's heard all these demos.'

Directors don't always create, they can also destroy with too many demands.

I don't know if I've got the capacity for all of the creativity that I want to put out there, which is annoying and frustrating - it's kinda like torture.

I could bear being in the charts and being on everyone's car radio 10 times a day. I'm just terrified of... a lot of people I respect have done it with a real little 'ditty' and that was the end of it - that was all they were ever known for.

The only way you survive on all these services is if you're groundbreaking. There's pressure to be groundbreaking, which is the greatest thing that's ever happened. It's a bizarre aspect of what's happened with all of these subscription services is everyone is trying to outdo each other by doing great things.

Starting a band is the easy part. Once you've formed the band, you have to tell a story, and that story requires songs. And not just good songs, but great songs. After a while, great songs won't do - they have to be the best. Success doesn't make it any easier. Each time I start a new record, it's a brand-new search.

When you record an album in six days, you don't have time to work out a lot of stuff.

When an executive walked on our floor, it was at their own risk. As far as what others thought of working for me, I know I was very tough at times, and would storm down the hall after watching some bad animation from Korea. But overall, I feel we had a good time.

When you're writing is when the "god should I just drop this" feeling can hit. When you're editing is when the "god this is awful and I've wasted everyone's time and money and will be revealed as a fraud" feeling can hit.

Usually, I work every day, seven days a week. When I go three days without writing, my body aches with anxiety; my mood is irritable. My night dreams grow wild with unconscious invention.

My ego is one thing. Of course I want people to like what I do. Of course. There's no doubt. You wouldn't do it. But I think what people don't fully know is how responsible you feel for so many entities. So many hardworking people who've collaborated.

I love how restaurants work. The energy, the pace, and the idea of working under budgetary restraints reminds me a lot of sets.

I certainly don't want to be an angry old artist.

Nothing I do will ever compare with 'Breaking Bad.'

I do better on the first three takes; I won't be better at 20 takes.

Pressure is there with any release of mine. It's more my own, as I need to surpass my own expectations.

The life of an actor is never one to get comfortable.

Probably more than any other movie we've made here at Pixar, 'Up' was the one we were the most nervous about.

So there was a way for you to get promoted and survive as an artist without worrying about AM radio hits.