I am a good listener. I think that came from my schooling.
When you are mute, you become a good listener - it's all one-way. You appreciate the written word. You appreciate the sound.
A good listener is not only popular everywhere, but after a while, he knows something.
One quality of a good songwriter is to be vague. A vague notion, a vague image, but enough to give the listener the opportunity to make more out of what's being said than is there. That's the great thing about Bob Dylan's songs: We the listeners have made more out of them than he ever intended.
If no one hears you, and no one listens to you, it doesn't matter how good you are because no one cares about you.
You don't win elections by telling people what you're against. We're very good at listing things we don't much like about what the Tories are doing. But you win elections by telling them what you're for, what you're going to change, what's going to be better.
When you get divorced, you have to go through this awful thing of listing everything you own. When you actually sit down and write the list, you realize that the only good investments are art and property.
Mayors love lists when they say something good about their city and hate them when they don't.
I've seen myself on those lists of the 100 best guitarists, and if they think that I'm that good, thank them. Thank God for them. But I don't think so.
Sometimes, when I'm sitting at my desk for long hours and nothing's coming to me, I remember my fifth-grade teacher, the way her eyes lit up when she said, 'This is really good.'
I always try to tell a good story, one with a compelling plot that will keep the pages turning. That is my first and primary goal. Sometimes I can tackle an issue-homelessness, tobacco litigation, insurance fraud, the death penalty-and wrap a good story around it.
Lots of people can write a good first page but to sustain it, that's my litmus test. If I flip to the middle of the book and there's a piece of dialogue that's just outstanding, or a description, then I'll flip back to the first page and start it.
A good litmus test is that you should be comfortable with your significant other being present when you hang out with your friend.
With my songs, the question is always, 'Can you pull it off live, alone on just an acoustic guitar?' That's the litmus test. If I can, then it's a song I ought to record. If I can't, it's probably not good enough.
Some exfoliates have rocks in them and it makes your skin really smooth, and cat litter is a good substitute. I haven't broke out at all yet!
I mix all different oils - my bathroom at home is littered with oils; I'm really into natural beauty and natural healing. Peppermint is really good if you put it on your stomach for a tummy ache; lavender is kind of all-purpose - I think everyone should carry it.
Promptitude is not only a duty, but is also a part of good manners; it is favorable to fortune, reputation, influence, and usefulness; a little attention and energy will form the habit, so as to make it easy and delightful.
Products are a must - full stop. I'm sorry to say it, but that bob won't look so sleek on its own - you need a little help. It doesn't have to be the high-end stuff that they sell in the salon. Products you find in the supermarket are just as good, and sometimes better.
I certainly didn't think of myself as gifted. The standards for being gifted in my environment were if you were good in Little League or if you were good in football.
We should work for simple, good, undecorated things, but things which are in harmony with the human being and organically suited to the little man in the street.
