Quotes from Anna Deavere Smith

My job in my work is not to acquire power; it's to question power.

I have a lot of optimism about new doctors because I think it's really clear that it's a lot of hard work and no guarantee of a lot of money.

I feel like my work has been my path to freedom from having grown up in a segregated environment.

I think that art is supposed to be ahead of the times.

Art simply can't be stopped.

Commit to finding the true nature of art. Go for that thing no one can teach you.

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 lives.

I see myself first and foremost as a student of expression.

Over time, my students have gotten richer and more educated.

I write plays about big, intense subjects.

You can't teach talent. You can't teach inspiration. You can teach people critical facilities. You can give them techniques. You can teach discipline. And you can teach them about the business.

To live your life well, and have respect for what came before or after - there's a strong respect for that in African culture.

Confidence is the mark of a hopeful disposition.

Art should take what is complex and render it simply. It takes a lot of skill, human understanding, stamina, courage, energy, and heart to do that.

I have never been in a violent movie or television show.

Each person has a literature inside them.

Learning is a tunnel experience that makes us think more broadly.