I am not a black artist, I am an artist.
Jean-Michel BasquiatRead
I thought I was going to be a bum the rest of my life.
Interpretation
This quote reflects a moment of self-doubt and the struggle against preconceived notions of failure.
Jean-Michel Basquiat's quote highlights a personal battle with self-perception and societal expectations. It conveys a feeling of hopelessness where he believed he would not achieve anything meaningful in life, yet ultimately, he transcended this belief to gain remarkable success as an influential artist. This encapsulates the struggle many face in overcoming their limitations and doubts.
In practice
In a motivational speech about overcoming challenges, one could introduce this quote to highlight resilience.
I am not a black artist, I am an artist.
I cross out words so you will see them more; the fact that they are obscured makes you want to read them.
I was a really lousy artist as a kid. Too abstract expressionist; or I'd draw a big ram's head, really messy. I'd never win painting contests. I remember losing to a guy who did a perfect Spiderman.
Anybody, and any company, can have a big run of success once, but if you're going to repeat that over time, you need to be aware that you need to keep learning.
You know my dad pushed me to believe that I was going to be the best. I just never thought of life without tennis, even looking forward.
In order to excel, you must be completely dedicated.
Ability is important in our quest for success, but dependability is critical.
The secret of the truly successful, I believe, is that they learned very early in life how not to be busy. They saw through that adage, repeated to me so often in childhood, that anything worth doing is worth doing well. The truth is, many things are worth doing only in the most slovenly, halfhearted fashion possible, and many other things are not worth doing at all.
One of the reasons I became a writer is that, unlike starting a band, directing movies, or acting in a theatrical production, you can do it alone. Your success and failure depend entirely on yourself.
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