I think some of our most talented people are not going to pick the arts as a way that they're going to… — Anna Deavere Smith Copy Share Image
Commit to finding the true nature of art. Go for that thing no one can teach you. — Anna Deavere Smith Copy Share Image
I made a real specific decision when I came out of school and most artists were writing about home - if you… — Anna Deavere Smith Copy Share Image
Perhaps art is a quest for the perfect, or even the imperfect. Reality always falls short on both sides. — Anna Deavere Smith Copy Share Image
Artists are the people that no matter what, pick up the pen, pick up a paintbrush. They take the time to translate… — Anna Deavere Smith Copy Share Image
You know, real artists, we expose our flaws. We long for intimacy. — Anna Deavere Smith Copy Share Image
Do you want to be an artist so that the whole world will look at you, or do you want to be… — Anna Deavere Smith Copy Share Image
That artists are called to be more responsible and 'true' is a tip of hat to their power. — Anna Deavere Smith Copy Share Image
We who are in the arts are at the risk of being in a popularity contest rather than a profession. If that… — Anna Deavere Smith Copy Share Image
“Commit to finding the true nature of art. Go for that thing no one can teach you. Go for that communion, that… — Anna Deavere Smith Copy Share Image
President Obama called for a 'we' nation in his Inauguration Address. Art convenes. It is not just inspirational. It is aspirational. It… — Anna Deavere Smith Copy Share Image
Art should take what is complex and render it simply. It takes a lot of skill, human understanding, stamina, courage, energy, and… — Anna Deavere Smith Copy Share Image
What my work is, is my approach to it. It's the practice. And my work is about the effort that I make… — Anna Deavere Smith Copy Share Image
They say that art should stand the test of time. Life lasts a limited amount of time. Mountains and trees and earth… — Anna Deavere Smith Copy Share Image
I feel like my work has been my path to freedom from having grown up in a segregated environment. — Anna Deavere Smith Copy Share Image
I think some of our most talented people are not going to pick the arts as a way that they're going to spend their… — Anna Deavere Smith Copy Share Image
I mean, I think that - as an actress, in particular, I'm basically a fool, and I see the world upside down. — Anna Deavere Smith Copy Share Image
The American idea is as promising, imaginative, and full of the unexpected as the land itself. The land represents freedom - the frontier, the… — Anna Deavere Smith Copy Share Image
Poverty makes it very difficult in an already competitive world for kids to get on a straight track where they can actually love learning. — Anna Deavere Smith Copy Share Image
Your desire to communicate must be bigger than your relationship with the chaotic and unfair realities. — Anna Deavere Smith Copy Share Image
Self-esteem does not come from surrounding yourself with people and things that seem to increase your value. Real self-esteem is an integration of an… — Anna Deavere Smith Copy Share Image
People realize that we're very good at sending people to war, but we're not good at taking care of them. And people are coming… — Anna Deavere Smith Copy Share Image
I love studying how people are. Not just what they're saying, but how they are, what they're doing. — Anna Deavere Smith Copy Share Image
Many people are afraid to talk about race because it's so emotionally loaded. We don't have the vocabulary to talk about it. Every day,… — Anna Deavere Smith Copy Share Image
