James Mcbride Quotes

People call him a terrorist, but you can use language to do many things and say many things about people, but John Brown was a hero.

- James McBride

Language, Use, About, Brown

Every time I see something about the Wild West, I'm reminded that our version of history may not be what really happened.

- James McBride

I See, May, About, Wild West

When you tell them you're a writer, they say, 'What have you written?' And then you've got to tell them what you've done. I don't ask a plumber what he does. Then I have to explain what I've done, and I haven't really, you know. I've just told some stories.

- James McBride

Tell, Some, Explain, Plumber

We would not have been a successful family without my father and stepfather, who were working-class men with better dreams for their children. We just wore them out.

- James McBride

Father, Working-Class, Been, Stepfather

I put headlights in Ford vans. I still drive a Ford.

- James McBride

Drive, Still, Ford, Headlights

Newt Gingrich wrote a novel, and he's a short story. Bill Clinton wrote a biography, and he's a novel.

- James McBride

Bill Clinton, Wrote, Bill, Newt

My father died in 1957, just before I was born. My mother went to her Jewish aunt, who slammed the door in her face.

- James McBride

Door, Before, Slammed, Aunt

Spike Lee listens a lot. He's one of the quietest creative people I've ever met.

- James McBride

People, Creative People, Lee, None

When you glorify violence, then it comes back to bite you.

- James McBride

Back, Bite, Then, Glorify

It would be nice if we redefined what we meant by 'war story.' If you're making $15,000 a year living in a certain area of Portland, trying to make it with three kids and no husband, that's a kind of war.

- James McBride

Making, Meant, Area, Portland

John Brown was clearly flawed in real life. He did some terrible things, but he did some things none of us would have had the heart to do. His moral leanings were unquestionably admirable.

- James McBride

Some, Had, Unquestionably, Admirable

Don't get me started on Americans and war. One of the things I learnt over in Italy is how they mythologised the war so that it's all good old gung-ho guys from Omaha and ignored everyone else's role.

- James McBride

How, Role, One Of The Things, Omaha

A daily dose of Nietzsche goes a long way.

- James McBride

Daily, Goes, Nietzsche, Dose

When you study history in American schools, very rarely is the name John Brown mentioned. We know who Kanye West is or Twyla Tharp or Shania Twain.

- James McBride

Study, Very, Study History, Twain

You can play Mozart all you want and pretend that it gives you class, but what is class, you know? Class is a bus driver on the M103 who gets off the bus to help somebody on board even though he's tired, he's exhausted, and he's two months behind on his mortgage. That's real class.

- James McBride

Play, Bus, Behind, Mozart

The hard part about writing about a guy like John Brown is that he was so serious, and his cause was so serious, that most of what's been written about him is really serious and, in my opinion, a little bit boring.

- James McBride

Been, Part, In My Opinion, John Brown

The abolitionists were not like the rugged people out West, and they were not like John Brown, either. They were people who made speeches and did politics.

- James McBride

Politics, Like, Made, John Brown

John Brown was the abolitionist to end all abolitionists. People thought he was crazy. He was like John Coltrane playing free jazz, exhausting all possibilities in his approach to harmony and improvisation.

- James McBride

Harmony, Possibilities, John Brown

We don't know who John Brown was, and in many ways, his work shaped where we are today. He was a Pennsylvanian. He was the prototypical Yankee who fought back and suffered in doing so.

- James McBride

Work, Doing, Yankee, John Brown

People don't realize you're blowing over changes, time changes, harmony, different keys. I mark a point in my solo where it's got to peak at point D I go to A, B, C D then I'm home.

- James McBride

Changes, Harmony, Keys, Blowing

People process pain differently. My family, we were pretty humorous about things that went on.

- James McBride

Pain, Process, Pretty, Humorous

You have to be able to toss the thing out. You can't fall in love with your characters, and you have to know when to fight - and when to quit.

- James McBride

Love, Out, Your, Toss

A lot of mixed-race stories are these navel-gazing, horrible accounts of mulatto tragedy.

- James McBride

Tragedy, Stories, Lot, Accounts

Historical novels are hard to do for the general public for commercial writers like myself.

- James McBride

Commercial, General, Public, Novels

I love the language of, you know, the old black country man with a blues guitar and... boots and the quick banter.

- James McBride

Love, Country, Quick, Boots

When the great jazz and blues clubs closed - joints where the cash register rang loudly and there wasn't ESPN on TV over the bandstand, and people smoked cigarettes and drank whiskey and hollered 'Play on!' - When those places closed, I was pretty much done.

- James McBride

Play, TV, Loudly, Cigarettes

I write stories that are already in the air, and I think it's important to have the correct listening device to tune in to that frequency.

- James McBride

Listening, Think, I Think, Device

My goal is to be able to fill out one of those forms that asks 'Who are you?' and be able to just put 'Human being,' you know?

- James McBride

Goal, Human Being, Being, Forms

I just don't see the point in sitting around hollering the blues over things you have no control over. It's all in God's hands.

- James McBride

Control, Hands, Over, Sitting

I don't like a bunch of writers sitting around, puffing smoke, they like this book, he wrote this - tell me a dirty joke, you know. It's just not my style, I've never been that kind of person.

- James McBride

Book, Tell, Been, Sitting

I used to walk through the Old Times Square fearing for my life. Now I wouldn't be caught dead there.

- James McBride

My Life, Through, Caught, Fearing

James Brown's music still sounds as fresh and as good and as new as it did when he first created it.

- James McBride

New, Still, Created, Fresh

I'm hot on the Jewish book club circuit. How many black authors do you know who can say that?

- James McBride

Book, Black, Circuit, Authors

Anyone can write your own life story.

- James McBride

Own, Your, Anyone, Life Story

If you can whistle the melody, then the song will stick. But if you need a bunch of machines to make it sound good, you're probably not writing anything that's going to last a long time.

- James McBride

Song, Will, Last, Machines

I don't come from Lake Wobegon, and that world is not mine. It's not that funny to me. It's funny to other people, and I'm not judging it, but the world that I come from is not considered funny by other people as well. There's so much pain in it.

- James McBride

Pain, Other, Mine, Lake

I was in a special class in high school for truants. They made us stay together all day. Once a week, they would send us to a guidance counselor. He would sit me in his office and he would try to talk to me.

- James McBride

Office, Week, High, Send

Be a member of the human race. Love somebody. Change the world.

- James McBride

Love, World, Race, Change The World

You make your own luck by working hard, you know?

- James McBride

Luck, Working, Own, Working Hard

I like stories where normal people are in abnormal situations, and that's what appeals to me about history.

- James McBride

Normal, Like, Stories, Appeals

We're learning a tremendous amount of propaganda from television and the Internet.

- James McBride

Propaganda, Amount, Tremendous Amount

First person narrative is a very effective tool but you have to know as a writer how to make it work.

- James McBride

How, Effective, Very, Tool

Essentially, I'm a storyteller, and I make my living by telling stories, be they music or nonfiction or fiction.

- James McBride

Living, Stories, Telling, Nonfiction

I don't want to read a book that's depressing.

- James McBride

Book, Want, Read, Depressing

When I was coming up, a lot of serious jazz players couldn't stand funk.

- James McBride

Jazz, Players, Lot, Funk

The starting point of all great jazz has got to be format, a language that you can work within that, in some ways, is much tighter than the blues or even gospel. It's all working towards the same destination - the difference being that Miles Davis flew there, and I'm still taking the subway.

- James McBride

Destination, Jazz, Some, Starting

My main problem with fiction is that once my characters get moving, you just have to follow them along and get out of the way of the story, but sometimes they pull me in too many directions, and I need to focus.

- James McBride

Focus, Sometimes, Fiction, Directions

You can't write just anything. Your story needs structure.

- James McBride

Write, Needs, Your, Structure

I'm proud of 'Miracle at St. Anna' and I loved it; there's no question in my mind it's as good as any movie that came out in 2007.

- James McBride

Mind, Proud, No Question, Anna

I wish all critics, no matter their color, were more sophisticated when it comes to the moral questions a film like 'St. Anna' is trying to raise.

- James McBride

Color, I Wish, Sophisticated, Anna

I type most of my books for the first chapter or two - I use a manual typewriter for the first 50 pages or so - and then I move to the computer. It helps me keep the work lean so I don't end up spending 10 pages describing a leaf.

- James McBride

Chapter, Use, Type, Helps

I don't live for my work. My life is my life. That's more important, and I think that helps my work.

- James McBride

My Life, Think, I Think, Helps

I understand it's great to read a great book, but it's better to live your life. It just helps me. It's uncomfortable at times, but you have to live outside the circle.

- James McBride

Book, Understand, Read, Helps

It's the same old story. Nothing in this world happens unless white folks says it happens. And therein lies the problem of being a professional black storyteller - writer, musician, filmmaker.

- James McBride

Nothing, Old, Therein, Filmmaker

As far as making a living, if plumbing earned more, I'd probably do it. At least you can leave the job at home once the tools are put away. A writer works in his mind 24/7.

- James McBride

Away, Works, Making A Living, As Far As

I think what makes his story unique from others is there is not really one piece of American pop music you hear today that does not have some James Brown in it.

- James McBride

Think, Some, I Think, Pop Music

The James Brown story is not about James Brown. It's about who's getting paid, whose interest is involved, who can squeeze the estate and black history for more.

- James McBride

More, Squeeze, James, Black History

I hate to sound blase about it, but literary status is not important to me. Being happy is important to me.

- James McBride

Important, Sound, Literary, Status

I think heroes who are not flawed are not believable.

- James McBride

Think, Heroes, I Think, Believable

I can't be a creative person if I'm a celebrity.

- James McBride

Creative, Celebrity, Person, Creative Person

If you don't have humor, you're not going to make it. You're going to be one of those people who walks around with your head about to explode.

- James McBride

Going, About, Your, Explode

I'm not interested in food. It's just fuel.

- James McBride

Fuel, Just, Interested, Not Interested

A lot of people are not interested in stories in which they don't see themselves.

- James McBride

See, Lot, Which, Not Interested

As a writer, you have to be near people and hear stuff. I'm a hamburger and cheese kind of fellow; I'm not Henry David Thoreau.

- James McBride

People, Kind, Hamburger, Near

When we're talking about slavery... we're really talking about the web of relationships that exists between whites and blacks from 1619 to 1865 to now.

- James McBride

Talking, About, Really, Blacks

I'm not one of those who can listen to music and write. I need the door closed. Windows shut. Facing the wall. No birds tweeting, views of nature, and so forth.

- James McBride

Door, Need, Shut, Views

I split my time between a small town in New Jersey and New York City.

- James McBride

Small, New, Town, Jersey

My wife and kids like the quiet and the countryside - I still find that kind of quiet hard to listen to.

- James McBride

Wife, Like, Still, Countryside

All of us want to be Superman when we grow up, fighting for truth and justice. That's part of what drives me as a writer.

- James McBride

Grow, Want, Part, Superman

If you meet your heroes, you're always going to be disappointed. Frederick Douglass was a great man, but would I want my daughter to marry him? Probably not. That doesn't mean that I don't think he's a great man.

- James McBride

Him, Marry, Your, Disappointed

The question of religion in black America is something filmmakers don't want to touch.

- James McBride

Black, Question, Want, Filmmakers

If you have the material it will form itself as a kind of connective tissue.

- James McBride

Itself, Material, Form, Tissue

I don't like living around too many fancy-pantsy folks. That ain't my thing. I'm not into phony people.

- James McBride

Living, Like, Many, Folks

The media's image of us is as animals, and we were never that to me. I knew love from black folks.

- James McBride

Love, Image, Knew, Folks

When you're interviewing someone, even your mother - you have to sort of deal with you have to get some objective space from yourself and the person but you also have to find what's the best way to get the information from that person.

- James McBride

Some, Interviewing, Best Way, Objective

I'm not one of those deeper, ethereal writers. I'm just trying to get it done.

- James McBride

Trying, Get, Writers, Deeper

A typewriter forces you to keep going, to march forward.

- James McBride

Forward, Going, Keep, Forces

Fiction makes your dreams come true, and, as a writer, fiction allows you to delve into the area of miracles.

- James McBride

Fiction, Makes, Area, Miracles

Atticus Finch is, you know, he was just his whole - the business of his modesty and his ability to see tomorrow and to try to buttress his knowledge of what was coming for his kids was something that I'll never - as a father I'm not able to do.

- James McBride

Business, Father, Tomorrow, Modesty

Caring is beyond race. Either people care about you, or they don't.

- James McBride

Caring, Race, Either, Care

Until you expose the cancer, you can't fix it.

- James McBride

Fix, Until, Expose, Cancer

As a journalist, the details always tell the story.

- James McBride

Tell, Always, Journalist, Details

The whole notion of owning a person is so ludicrous, there's plenty of room to make fun.

- James McBride

Person, Notion, Owning, Ludicrous

Everybody knew James Brown. Every musician dreamed of being in his band.

- James McBride

Everybody, Dreamed, His, Band

A band is not a democracy: It's show business.

- James McBride

Business, Show, Band

I thank God I was a reporter before I became a writer.

- James McBride

Before, Became, Thank, Reporter

I think only now am I at the age where I've forgiven the past enough to say, 'You know what? Slavery was there. Let's talk about it in ways that will help us face tomorrow.

- James McBride

I Think, About, Ways, Forgiven

I cannot recall any moment of clarity about becoming a writer. I always liked to read. That's what did it.

- James McBride

Always, Becoming, Read, Clarity

I go through periods listening to specific types of music. Because I'm a musician, listening to music is... it's a bit like work for me. A little bit.

- James McBride

Listening, Through, Types, Musician

Being a best-selling author doesn't make you a millionaire. It's not like Stephen King.

- James McBride

King, Like, Author, Millionaire

I'd like to do something involving jazz. But books are how I earn my living, and I'd like to stay with the horse I rode in on.

- James McBride

Living, Jazz, Like, Rode

I grew up in a house with a lot of kids, brothers and sisters. So I don't mind a lot of talking, yelling, playing. I can tune most of that out.

- James McBride

Mind, Brothers, Yelling, Tune

Historians will tell you that they deal with fact and empirical evidence. But that doesn't really help me understand a person.

- James McBride

Fact, Deal, Historians, Empirical

When I was younger, I was ambitious. Now I'm not ambitious anymore. I just want to be happy. Does that make sense?

- James McBride

Happy, Want, Younger, Anymore

Most of my work is done when everyone else is asleep.

- James McBride

Work, Most, Everyone Else, Asleep

Writing for me is cutting out the fat and getting to the meaning.

- James McBride

Writing, Me, Getting, Meaning

James Brown was the Monday-to-Friday guy. He was the hardest man in show business. He was like your dad and your uncle: He showed up, and he hit hard.

- James McBride

Business, Like, Dad, None

James Brown's life was really a metaphor for our inability to talk about matters like race and class in America.

- James McBride

Race, Like, Inability, Brown

Some writers like to go around talking about what they do all the time. I don't.

- James McBride

Go, Some, Like, Writers

I have cousins in North Carolina who talk in that old Southern style of 'yakking,' if you will. All the black men in my life when I was a boy talked that way, and I love that kind of talk.

- James McBride

Love, My Life, Southern, Talked

When my mother left home, her family sat shivah for her, more because my father was not Jewish than because he was black.

- James McBride

Father, Black, More, Sat

The black church will accept anybody.

- James McBride

Church, Will, Anybody, Accept

I don't do any art to please any people.

- James McBride

Art, People, Any, Please

You can't live for literature. You can't live for the job.

- James McBride

Job, Live, You, Literature

Be kind to the living.

- James McBride

Living, Kind, Be Kind

I wasn't a guy built to write about entertainment.

- James McBride

Guy, About, Built, Entertainment

I read more history books than anything else.

- James McBride

More, Books, Read, Anything Else

I'm trying to get Americans to see that we're all pretty much the same. I believe it; I was taught God doesn't have a color. I want to better the planet a little bit.

- James McBride

Color, Want, Pretty, Planet

My mother tried her best to give us a sense of self-esteem.

- James McBride

Mother, Give, Tried, Self-Esteem

Writing teaches writing.

- James McBride

Writing, Teaches

There is a lot wrong with the church.

- James McBride

Wrong, Lot, Church

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