86 Feedback Quotes

When you're dealing with someone who only has a pair of underpants on, if you take his underpants off, he has nothing left - he's naked. You're better off trying to find him a pair of trousers to complement him rather than change him.

Feedback is a pleasant thing. I get a lot of letters from unexpected people in unexpected places.

It's hard for me to show work while I'm writing, because other people's comments will influence what happens.

Whatever I do is done out of sheer joy; I drop my fruits like a ripe tree. What the general reader or the critic makes of them is not my concern.

The writing of a poem is like a child throwing stones into a mineshaft. You compose first, then you listen for the reverberation.

You may tell a man thou art a fiend, but not your nose wants blowing; to him alone who can bear a thing of that kind, you may tell all.

If you mean to know yourself, interline such of these aphorisms as affect you agreeably in reading, and set a mark to such as left a sense of uneasiness with you; and then show your copy to whom you please.

A new idea is delicate. It can be killed by a sneer or a yawn; it can be stabbed to death by a quip and worried to death by a frown on the right man's brow.

I handed in a script last year and the studio didn't change one word. The word they didn't change was on page 87.

Either criticism is no good at all (a very defensible position) or else criticism means saying about an author the very things that would have made him jump out of his boots.

Think not those faithful who praise all thy words and actions; but those who kindly reprove thy faults.

If enough people sitting around you telling you you're wonderful, then you start believing you're fabulous, then someone tells you you stink and you believe that too.

I have never yet seen any plan which has not been mended by the observation of those who were much inferior in understanding to the person who took the lead in the business.

Long ago, I made up my mind that when things were said involving only me, I would pay no attention to them, except when valid criticism was carried by which I could profit. (14 January 1942)

Arrogance is a killer, and wearing ambition on one's sleeve can have the same effect. There is a fine line between arrogance and self-confidence. Legitimate self-confidence is a winner. The true test of self-confidence is the courage to be open-to welcome change and new ideas regardless of their source. Self-confident people aren't afraid to have their views challenged. They relish the intellectual combat that enriches ideas.

In order that all men may be taught to speak truth, it is necessary that all likewise should learn to hear it.

'Recently an actor asked me to teach him how to speak fast. Wasn't I once criticised for speaking too fast? Now they're doing it my way. Recently an actor asked me to teach him how to speak fast. Wasn't I once criticised for speaking too fast? Now they're doing it my way.'

When working on my choreography I am not always receptive to outside suggestions or opinions. I believe that if you have something in mind in the way of a creation, such as a new dance, a sequence, or an effect, you are certain to come up with inaccurate criticism and damaging results if you go around asking for opinions

Our critics are our friends, they show us our faults.

I wrote a script and gave it to a guy that reads scripts. And he read it and said he really likes it, but he thinks I need to rewrite it. I said, 'Fuck that, I'll just make a copy.'

I don't want any yes-men around me. I want everyone to tell the truth - even though it costs him his job.

It is said that in one rehearsal he was unsatisfied with the performance of a female cello soloist, and so said to her 'Madam, you have between your legs an instrument capable of giving pleasure to thousands, and all you can do is scratch it!'.

You don't look so hot yourself.

There's no question that His Holiness is my root guru, and he's been quite tough with me at times. I've had to explain to people who sometimes have quite a romantic vision of His Holiness that at times he's been cross with me, but it was very skillful. At the moment he did it, I'm not saying it was pleasant for me, but there was no ego attachment from his side. I'm very thankful that he trusts me enough to be the mirror for me and not pull any punches. Mind you, the first meetings were not that way; I think he was aware how fragile I was and was being very careful. Now I think he senses that my seriousness about the teachings has increased and my own strength within the teachings has increased. He can be much tougher on me.

If you are The Game, then quite frankly, you need to go back to the drawing board because your game absolutely sucks!

Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job.

If you are The Game, then quite frankly, you need to go back to the drawing board because your game absolutely sucks!

A man must serve his time to every trade Save censure-critics are ready-made.

'Hey boss, do you think I look like a caveman?' - 'I don't know about that, but you bloody play like one.'

As an instructor, you must be able to distinguish between poor performance caused by lack of ability or aptitude on the part of the student and poor performance caused by lack of effort. You should treat the first with patience and the latter with firmness. You must never apply sarcasm and ridicule.

Prince : (Every shoot he takes) Good..

Madonna: 'You're not funny anymore, you're just a suck-up to all the guests.' Letterman: 'I can suspend that behavior tonight, if you like.'

The simplest comment on my book came from my ballet teacher. She said, 'I wish you hadn't made every line funny. It's so depressing.'

Two Thumbs Up!