I'm standing up thinking. Anybody who wants to listen is welcome. If not, I'm happy to see them go. David Antin More Quotes by David Antin More Quotes From David Antin From this entertainment industry, may the gods of language protect us. David Antin entertainmentlanguagemay The self is an oral society in which the present is constantly running a dialogue with the past and the future inside of one skin. David Antin selfrunningpast There are editing procedures for talks just as there are editing procedures in jazz improvisation. David Antin jazz-improvisationproceduresediting I was very committed to the process of composing, working at poems, putting things together and taking them apart like some kind of experimental filmmaker. David Antin kindprocesstogether I've always had a strong feeling for the Statue of Liberty, because it became the statue of my personal liberty. David Antin libertystrongfeelings When you grow up in a family of languages, you develop a kind of casual fluency, so that languages, though differently colored, all seem transparent to experience. David Antin fluencygrowing-uplanguage I reserve the right to tell shaggy dog stories or even common jokes as part of what I'm doing. I don't give a damn if half the audience walks out. David Antin dogstoriesgiving The Sophists' paradoxical talk pieces and their public debates were entertainment in 5th century Greece. And in that world, Socrates was an entertainer. David Antin entertainmentpiecesworld While I don't script and I don't use other performers, I think my taste for underlying precision gives me something in common with Allan and George Brecht. David Antin usegivingthinking I'm aware of my audience in a way, and I do try to engage with them while I'm trying to go about my business of thinking. I believe they help me by providing a focus. David Antin focusbelievethinking I wanted to be an inventor, whatever I thought that meant then. I guess I was thinking of Edison or maybe James Watt. Or maybe even Newton. David Antin james-wattnewtonthinking You pay your money, you take your choice. I get the audience my language attracts and I lose the ones it repels. David Antin languagechoicespay My mother turned into a professional widow. She couldnt understand why I wanted to be an engineer; she thought I should be a chicken farmer. David Antin widowschickensmother My way of thinking is very particular and concrete. It doesn't follow a continuous path. David Antin pathwaythinking Stories are different every time you tell them - they allow so many possible narratives. David Antin narrativedifferentstories A myth is the name of a terrible lie told by a smelly little brown person to a man in a white suit with a pair of binoculars. David Antin whitemenlying Disney made a fortune out of inventing the businessman's idea of the imaginary as the contradictory of the businessman's idea of the real. David Antin realmadeideas Children frequently sing meaningful phrases to themselves over and over again before they learn to make a distinction between singing and saying. David Antin sightmeaningfulchildren I can manage a prose format as long as I keep closer to Laurence Sterne than to Henry James. David Antin formatproselong I had no idea where these kids at a small private college in the San Fernando Valley were coming from, why they were coming to hear me, or what they needed to know. David Antin collegekidsideas
