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Portrait of Viv Albertine

Viv Albertine

(1955) Guitarist

103 quotes in 399 categories

Viv Albertine shares that empathy is the foundation of caring for others, and she does not believe in an afterlife, saying influence lives on through the people we touch. She also says honest art, even when rough, can connect with others' experiences.

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Viv Albertine is a guitarist.

Quick Facts About Viv Albertine

Born: December 1, 1955
Profession: Guitarist

About Viv Albertine

She is best known as the guitarist for the punk band the Slits, playing with them from 1977 until 1982 and recording two studio albums.

Quotes by Viv Albertine

Punk inspired me.

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I adore quotes.

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I like to rattle cages.

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Truth is splintered.

Splintered

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You've got one life: find your voice within it.

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We're all products of our own environment.

Environment

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I've had to fight for everything.

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I've had two great loves: my mother and my daughter.

Children

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Girls were nothing in the '70s.

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It is soul-destroying to have your work and physical appearance picked to pieces.

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I didn't have many role models or interesting women to get stirred up by until Yoko Ono came along.

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People think you're vulnerable when you tell the truth, but it's never hurt me.

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I think I am the Elizabeth Barrett of 2015. Not in terms of genius but in bed a lot.

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I absolutely wasn't going to write a book if it was just going to be about punk.

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I have a lot of empathy, and I think that's where mothering starts. You are there to empathise and facilitate.

Empathy

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I still live very much by punk ethics, but in a more grown up way.

Ethics

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It's amazing what your brain can do when all your senses are heightened.

Amazing

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Both my parents lived through a world war. My grandparents lived through two world wars. And they didn't go around saying, 'Look…

Army

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Doctors didn't know if I would survive. The cancer was too big to operate on, so they blitzed it with chemotherapy and…

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Punk was such an exciting time because there were no rules. You could go and knock on Sun Ra's door - and…

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I want to say to younger women especially that it's OK to be an outsider. It's OK to admit to your rage.…

Anger

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I copied John Lennon; I copied a bit of David Bowie. It's such a shame, and I'm so glad that now young…

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I never thought of myself as a strong person until I wrote my first book, and people started to say, 'You're a…

Books

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“I can't imagine what a happy home is like: parents cuddling and laughing, music playing, books on the shelves, discussions round the…

Happiness

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I have a daughter. I have my imagination. I have friends. I, in no way, am going to louse that up with…

Children

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Female rage is not often acknowledged - never mind written about - so one of the questions I'm asking is, 'Are you…

Anger

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I usually write at my kitchen table, nothing exotic. I don't need any equipment. I don't have to organise anyone else to…

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In the 1970s, girls didn't do anything. It wasn't their fault. For me and the other working-class girls I hung around with,…

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I think young men and boys are taught to fail. It's nothing to them; they do sport, they fall over, they shout,…

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“I think there’s something very healthy about keeping your own cave clean. It is a good barometer of how your life is…

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I think sometimes men find it easier to be a carer than an accessory. I mean, most women I know in bands…

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I read a lot when I was young. All the obvious, all the greats, from 'Le Grand Meaulnes,' 'To Kill a Mockingbird,'…

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My mother was so ignorant of what could have befallen me and was probably so exhausted - she was one of the…

Freedom

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Fashion wasn't a label back in the '70s. We made our own clothes because we had no money.

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One of my faults is a big mouth. I tend to say the wrong thing without meaning to.

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Finding another person to love is finding another person to lose.

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The truth is the only thing that will move society forwards.

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I've never had any interest in reading the real-life stories of criminals. I don't want to get inside their heads.

Criminals

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The more blows you have in life, the better, because it means you're challenging yourself.

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I don't think it's healthy to have secrets; they hang over a family for generations.

Family

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Viv Albertine by topic