--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There’s nothing more embarrassing than a…" description: "\"There’s nothing more embarrassing than a person who tries to guess what the great American public would like, makes a compromise for the first time, an..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c6/tom-waits-916_audience_there-s-nothing-more-embarrassing-than-a_287670.jpg" --- # There’s nothing more embarrassing than a person who tries… ![“There’s nothing more embarrassing than a person who tries to guess what the great American public would like, makes a compromise for the first time, and falls flat on his face… I would rather be a failure on my own terms than a success on someone else’s. That’s a difficult statement to live up to…” quote by Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c6/tom-waits-916_audience_there-s-nothing-more-embarrassing-than-a_287670.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c6/tom-waits-916_audience_there-s-nothing-more-embarrassing-than-a_287670.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c6/tom-waits-916_audience_there-s-nothing-more-embarrassing-than-a_287670.jpg) > “There’s nothing more embarrassing than a person who tries to guess what the great American public would like, makes a compromise for the first time, and falls flat on his face… I would rather be a failure on my own terms than a success on someone else’s. That’s a difficult statement to live up to, but then I’ve always believed that the way you affect your audience is more important than how many of them are there.” [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Personal integrity outweighs external approval; better to fail on your own terms than succeed for others. **In simple terms:** Own your failures. Key Takeaway Choose authentic paths. Themes integrity authenticity failure success audience impact Mood defiant thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - entrepreneurship - artistic careers - public speaking Key Concepts personal values public perception creative risk Questions to Reflect On - What does success mean to you? - How do you protect your vision? A Different Perspective Success can be hollow if not self‑defined. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [American public](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/american-public/) [Audience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/audience/) [Compromise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/compromise/) [Faces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faces/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [I’ve always believed that the way you affect your audience is more important than how many of them are there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/i-ve-always-believed-that-the-way-you-affect-your-audience-is-more/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) > [I'm an embarrassing person who's done some very embarrassing things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cmat/i-m-an-embarrassing-person-who-s-done-some-very-embarrassing-things/) [CMAT](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cmat/) > [My mum at my competitions is the most embarrassing person in the world. She just screams so loud.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kadeena-cox/my-mum-at-my-competitions-is-the-most-embarrassing-person-in-the/) [Kadeena Cox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kadeena-cox/) > [It's stupid and embarrassing that you can describe something to one person and not to another. Until I've solved that problem I'm not going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oneohtrix-point-never/it-s-stupid-and-embarrassing-that-you-can-describe-something-to-one/) [Oneohtrix Point Never](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oneohtrix-point-never/) > [She was in a difficult position being the widow of a great American hero, a role that carried high expectations but she did a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/morris-dees/she-was-in-a-difficult-position-being-the-widow-of-a-great-american/) [Morris Dees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/morris-dees/) > [The worst thing you can do to a filmmaker is to walk out of his film and go, 'That was a nice movie.' But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-haggis/the-worst-thing-you-can-do-to-a-filmmaker-is-to-walk-out-of-his-film/) [Paul Haggis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-haggis/) > [In this type of cinema, whether working with actors or non-actors, as much as you do direct them, if you allow yourself to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abbas-kiarostami/in-this-type-of-cinema-whether-working-with-actors-or-non-actors-as/) [Abbas Kiarostami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abbas-kiarostami/) > [When it's a moral grey zone, the audience has to think about what they feel and what they think is right or wrong. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-kinnaman/when-it-s-a-moral-grey-zone-the-audience-has-to-think-about-what-they/) [Joel Kinnaman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-kinnaman/) > [Even if an episode is self-contained, the preceding episodes always affect how the audience takes it in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hiro-murai/even-if-an-episode-is-self-contained-the-preceding-episodes-always/) [Hiro Murai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hiro-murai/) > [Comedy and horror are cousins; they're related. They both come from storytellers who want to specifically affect the audience and elicit specific reactions during…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-reitman/comedy-and-horror-are-cousins-they-re-related-they-both-come-from/) [Jason Reitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-reitman/) > [The concept of who your audience is becomes more important than your site. Sometimes you can be commissioned to do a piece in Strasburg,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-weiner/the-concept-of-who-your-audience-is-becomes-more-important-than-your/) [Lawrence Weiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-weiner/) > [I do believe in that thing about the reading audience being very important to the formation of the novel at its birth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lanchester/i-do-believe-in-that-thing-about-the-reading-audience-being-very/) [John Lanchester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lanchester/) > [The magic in performing as an entertaining ventriloquist happens when the characters come to life and the interaction between the separate personalities on stage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-dunham/the-magic-in-performing-as-an-entertaining-ventriloquist-happens-when/) [Jeff Dunham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-dunham/) > [An audience is so important. I would never have had the guts to dub in that big a laugh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desi-arnaz/an-audience-is-so-important-i-would-never-have-had-the-guts-to-dub-in/) [Desi Arnaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desi-arnaz/) > [The experience you're going to take the audience on is as important as the story you're trying to tell. And that experience needs to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-esmail/the-experience-you-re-going-to-take-the-audience-on-is-as-important/) [Sam Esmail](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-esmail/) ## More by Tom Waits > [Most of us have the residue of thousands of songs in our ears, that if you end up songwriting, I think you're mostly smoking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/most-of-us-have-the-residue-of-thousands-of-songs-in-our-ears-that-if/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) > [Bill Hicks - blowtorch, excavator, truthsayer, and brain specialist. He will correct your vision. Others will drive on the road he built.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/bill-hicks-blowtorch-excavator-truthsayer-and-brain-specialist-he/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) > [Don't plant your days they turn into weeds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/don-t-plant-your-days-they-turn-into-weeds/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) > [“T’ain’t no sin to take off your skin, and dance around in your bones.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/t-ain-t-no-sin-to-take-off-your-skin-and-dance-around-in-your-bones/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) > [“an all time favorite: "The large print giveth, the small print taketh away.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/an-all-time-favorite-the-large-print-giveth-the-small-print-taketh/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) > [I'll tell you all my secrets but I lie about my past…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/i-ll-tell-you-all-my-secrets-but-i-lie-about-my-past/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) > [For a songwriter, you don't really go to songwriting school; you learn by listening to tunes. And you try to understand them and take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/for-a-songwriter-you-don-t-really-go-to-songwriting-school-you-learn/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) > [I'm trying to learn how to write faster.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/i-m-trying-to-learn-how-to-write-faster/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) > [The world is a hellish place, and bad writing is destroying the quality of our suffering.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/the-world-is-a-hellish-place-and-bad-writing-is-destroying-the/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) > [I'm always looking for sounds that are pleasing at the time. The sound of a helicopter is really annoying until you're drowning, and it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/i-m-always-looking-for-sounds-that-are-pleasing-at-the-time-the-sound/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) > [I was born in the back seat of a Yellow Cab in a hospital loading zone and with the meter still running. I emerged…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/i-was-born-in-the-back-seat-of-a-yellow-cab-in-a-hospital-loading/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) > [There's not much difference between what I appear to be on stage and what I am. I think people like that, that I'm not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/there-s-not-much-difference-between-what-i-appear-to-be-on-stage-and/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) > [Most of the things you absorb you will ultimately secrete.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/most-of-the-things-you-absorb-you-will-ultimately-secrete/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) > [The devil knows the Bible like the back of his hand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/the-devil-knows-the-bible-like-the-back-of-his-hand/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) > [I bark my voice out through a closed throat, pretty much. It's more, perhaps, like a dog in some ways. It does have its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/i-bark-my-voice-out-through-a-closed-throat-pretty-much-it-s-more/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) [Explore all 328 Tom Waits quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) ## More American public quotes > [It used to be that whenever I introduced myself to people and told them I was a psychologist, they would shrink away from me.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-seligman/it-used-to-be-that-whenever-i-introduced-myself-to-people-and-told/) [Martin Seligman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-seligman/) > [Let's focus on how we can take someone who is being poorly educated in an American public school and how they are poorly trained…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-steele/let-s-focus-on-how-we-can-take-someone-who-is-being-poorly-educated/) [Michael Steele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-steele/) > [Americans need to educate themselves, from elementary school onward, about what their country has done abroad. And they need to play a more active…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/americans-need-to-educate-themselves-from-elementary-school-onward/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [Presidents going live from the Oval Office have used that platform to inform the American public, and also to do one of the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-buttigieg/presidents-going-live-from-the-oval-office-have-used-that-platform-to/) [Pete Buttigieg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-buttigieg/) > [Because of a mass media more interested in gossip and sensationalism than real issues, I would say a vast majority of the American public…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-sanders/because-of-a-mass-media-more-interested-in-gossip-and-sensationalism/) [Bernie Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-sanders/) > [You know for many elected officials they all started in the same place. You know marriage is between a man and a woman, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-mcgreevey/you-know-for-many-elected-officials-they-all-started-in-the-same/) [James McGreevey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-mcgreevey/) > [The American Public is who I'm interested in. Ultimately, if they think I'm good and they think I'm entertaining that's all that matters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/criss-angel/the-american-public-is-who-i-m-interested-in-ultimately-if-they-think/) [Criss Angel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/criss-angel/) > [58% of the American public are with us. We're preaching to the choir, but the choir's not singing, if all of the 58% started…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cindy-sheehan/58-of-the-american-public-are-with-us-we-re-preaching-to-the-choir/) [Cindy Sheehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cindy-sheehan/) > [Today enormous effort goes into convincing the American public that we're just consumers of media manipulation and sound-bites and spin doctors. That we care…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernardine-dohrn/today-enormous-effort-goes-into-convincing-the-american-public-that/) [Bernardine Dohrn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernardine-dohrn/) > [We of the soft-crooning radio type of singer are giving the people what they want. The American public as a whole does not care…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudy-vallee/we-of-the-soft-crooning-radio-type-of-singer-are-giving-the-people/) [Rudy Vallee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudy-vallee/) > [I wanted the American public to know that not everyone in Iraq and Afghanistan were targets that needed to be neutralized, but rather people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chelsea-manning/i-wanted-the-american-public-to-know-that-not-everyone-in-iraq-and/) [Chelsea Manning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chelsea-manning/) > [The American public's a lot more sophisticated than we all give them credit for. And on complicated issues, I'm going to give them straight…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-biden/the-american-public-s-a-lot-more-sophisticated-than-we-all-give-them/) [Joe Biden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-biden/) > [The attitude of the American public toward the external projection of American power has been much more ambivalent. The public supported America's engagement in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zbigniew-brzezinski/the-attitude-of-the-american-public-toward-the-external-projection-of/) [Zbigniew Brzezinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zbigniew-brzezinski/) > [I think the American public can accept the fact if you tell them that every time you pick up the phone it's going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-kelly/i-think-the-american-public-can-accept-the-fact-if-you-tell-them-that/) [Raymond Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-kelly/) > [We should offer the American public less expensive insurance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rand-paul/we-should-offer-the-american-public-less-expensive-insurance/) [Rand Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rand-paul/) [Browse all 121 American public quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/american-public/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There’s nothing more embarrassing than a person who tries to guess what the great American public would like, makes a compromise for the first time, and falls flat on his face… I would rather be a failure on my own terms than a success on someone else’s. 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