Successful Quotes - Page 165

I made so many mistakes in my first successful business I'm almost embarrassed to recount them.

Every successful business, even Google, Facebook, Twitter, started with a combination of manual improvements and friends of the founders using the site.

The rules seem to be these: If you have written a successful novel, everyone invites you to write short stories. If you have written some good short stories, everyone wants you to write a novel. But nobody wants anything until you have already proved yourself by being published somewhere else.

I used to believe that you could change the culture or behavior of a company. I still believe it's possible, but it is at least a five to ten year process, if you are successful at all. More recently, I have been attracted to the ideas of the behavioralist, Edgar Schein. Schein has argued that you cannot change the culture of a company, but you can use the culture of a company to create change. It's an interesting approach to overcoming resistance. And if you can change how a company does its work, you might eventually be able to change how its people think.

I didn't know it was possible to be successful as a writer, so I wasn't afraid to fail.

The thing about writing in America is that writers in America have an arc. You enter writing as a career, you expect to be successful, and really it's the wrong thing. It's not a profession.

We tried to do a show once every three weeks to a month. We'd always do a new show. It was not successful. It did not become the Matt & Ben show, but it taught me what I like to do as an actor and what I like to do comedically.

It's very difficult to have a successful series that can continue to capture and captivate an audience and keep people interested. Because the story, you've got to be able to continue to tell this story.

The commitment. I think that's the key quality of all successful people. You just have to keep at it. People who enjoy sustained success understand the fact that you have to remain very committed to whatever it is you're doing, especially in this instant-gratification culture.

Success as a woman has changed me. That's what I feel is the first thing. When I feel like a successful woman as a rounded human being, then it feeds my work in a broader way so it becomes more interesting.

It's funny because when you do become successful, you're forced to look backwards and try to crawl back into the womb where you first started to create.

The wonderful news is that when a person with my lack of art background can be successful, then anyone can. I'm not super talented and had no art training. Nothing, nada, zip. No workshops or classes.

Give me a highly successful unionized industry.

My parents weren't extremely successful financially, but they were happy people. They gave me confidence.

I never thought in terms of typing myself, because I wasn't that successful. After an actor has done a few pieces of work, his naïveté is the part of the craft he has to nurture most.

If you want creative and successful children, resign yourself to jousting with rebels.

The secret to a successful career in virtually any field is good public relations. Forget results. Forget the facts. Perception is all that matters.

If you are going to be successful, you have to start hanging out with the successful people.

But I wouldn't recommend writing. You can be a successful writer and never meet another soul. I'm not sure that's a good thing.

As far as standup, everybody has a vehicle they are driving. If what you do works, it's like playing golf. If you can master that one swing over and over again, you will be successful. That's what standup is. You have to have a central move and it has to be yours. You have to own your comedy, own what you do.

I admire Russell Simmons. He is a successful dude that has done a little bit of everything. He keeps it moving, and he's still doing things. Larry David is also amazing. He is honest and blunt. A creative genius.

My idea of that[idea of career] is constantly changing. I mostly just throw it out to the universe and I can't really do much after that. I've never taken the steps to be "successful": I've never had a manager or signed to a publishing house. I've talked to people about it but I've never followed through because it gives me the creeps.

When you're working with movie stars, part of the deal is that, if they have something to say, you'd better listen. You don't have to absolutely listen and not talk, but there is another creative force at work, and to be successful working with movie stars, you have to bring that force to work for you. You have to find something that's comfortable for them, and at the same time, that's in the parameters of what you're trying to do yourself.

People really love 'Madea' movies and get a kick out of them. They're phenomenally successful. People get excited when a new one's coming out.

I think an education is beneficial, but whether it takes an education to be successful in the arts is a whole other question.