Artists have a tremendous purpose in society, which is to continually expose, to continually challenge and to never stop producing. To never stop creating, no matter what.
I think with Lyndon Johnson, the most important thing I learned was that he never had the sense of security that comes from inside. It always depended on other people making him feel good about himself, which meant that he was always beholden, continually needing to succeed. He could never stop. There was such a restlessness in him.
I never stop working, I never stop creating. And I never sit around and wait for the industry to need me. I force the industry to want me by continuously creating what I do. And in this age of airplanes and Internet, it's not about where you are, it's more about what you do. But I travel every single day.
There are lots of lessons to learn from Amazon. Never stop innovating or questioning the fundamentals of your business. Disrupt yourself before others do. Continually motivate employees so that they never get too complacent - see Yahoo, AOL and many other Internet companies for evidence of what happens when they do.
Commitment to the truth...means a relentless willingness to root out the ways we limit or deceive ourselves from seeing what is, and to continually challenge our theories of why things are the way they are. It means continually broadening our awareness. It also means continually deepening our understanding of the structures underlying current events.
I believe that when you stop renewing and are no longer open to change and the possibilities that continually unfold, you stop being alive and are just getting through the years. Transformation doesn't happen unless you're willing: It's your choice.
During the debates for mayor, I was continually pressed on my position on the policing procedure known as 'stop and frisk' - which is actually in law enforcement known as 'stop, question and frisk' - and why I believed that, if used properly, it could reduce crime without infringing on personal liberties and human rights.
Never stop investing. Never stop improving. Never stop doing something new.
If you want your life to have impact, focus it! Stop dabbling. Stop trying to do it all. Do less. Prune away even good activities and do only that which matters most. Never confuse activity with productivity. You can be busy without a purpose, but what's the point?
I've never thought it was a good idea to act back-to-back. If you are going to have any chance of replicating life, you need to live it. I also never forgot something Johnny Depp said to me, which Marlon Brando said to him, 'You only have so many faces in your pocket.' I really admire artists who take the time to recharge their batteries and not continually call on it. I think you can spot tired and jaded artists quite quickly.
Never stop investing. Never stop improving. Never stop doing something new. Make it your goal to be better each and every day, in some small way. Remember the Japanese concept of Kaizen. Small daily improvements eventually result in huge advantages.
Never stop training, no matter what level you're at. Never, ever stop putting your talent under a microscope and asking, 'Yeah, yeah, yeah - I'm doing all this stuff right, but what's wrong with my acting?'
Scandals never stop an administration unless the media wants them to stop an administration, which means that no scandal is ever gonna stop Obama.
Nothing can stop you from thinking. The human mind is designed to think continually.
Self-creation never ends. You are continually creating yourself from the field of infinite possibilities. You are, in every moment, born again. And so is everyone else.
If we just stop producing stuff, if we stop being so capitalist, we stop taking resources from other third world countries, we'll be happy.
If I have not the power to put myself in the place of other people, but must be continually burrowing inward, I shall never be the magnanimous creative person I wish to be. Yet I am hypnotized by the workings of the individual, alone, and am continually using myself as a specimen.