David Byrne Quotes

“The more you know, the more you know you don't know and the more you know that you don't know.”

“I don't care how impossible it seems.”

“Things fall apart, it's scientific.”

“I'm just an advertisement for a version of myself.”

“Creative work is more accurately a machine that digs down and finds stuff, emotional stuff that will someday be raw material that can be used to produce more stuff, stuff like itself - clay to be available for future use.”

“I like a good story and I also like staring at the sea-- do I have to choose between the two?”

“The two biggest self-deceptions of all are that life has a 'meaning'and each of us is unique.”

“Facts are simple and facts are straight.
Facts are lazy and facts are late.
Facts all come with points of view.
Facts don't do what I want them to.
Facts just twist the truth around.
Facts are living turned inside out.”

“I really enjoy forgetting. When I first come to a place, I notice all the little details. I notice the way the sky looks. The color of white paper. The way people walk. Doorknobs. Everything. Then I get used to the place and I don't notice those things anymore. So only by forgetting can I see the place again as it really is.”

“Interviewer: If I gave you fifty dollars, right now, what would you do with it?
David Byrne: I would get something to eat.”

“I have something to say about the difference between American and European cities, but I forgot what it was. I have it written down at home somewhere.”

“I try to write about small things. Paper, animals, a house…love is kind of big. I have written a love song, though. In this film, I sing it to a lamp.”

“It's like 60 Minutes on acid.”

“The better the singer's voice is, the harder it is to believe what they're saying. So I turn my weaknesses into an advantage.”

“It's not music you would use to get a girl into bed. If anything, you're going to frighten her off.”