Edmund Clerihew Bentley (1875–1956) British writer
3. "The Clever Cockatoo"
Trent Intervenes (1938)
Rolling Stone (1976)
1970s
Context: I have never felt comfortable around people who talk about their feelings for Jesus, or any other deity for that matter, because they are usually none too bright... Or maybe "stupid" is a better way of saying it; but I have never seen much point in getting heavy with either stupid people or Jesus freaks, just as long as they don't bother me. In a world as weird and cruel as this one we have made for ourselves, I figure anybody who can find peace and personal happiness without ripping off somebody else deserves to be left alone. They will not inherit the earth, but then neither will I... And I have learned to live, as it were, with the idea that I will never find peace and happiness, either. But as long as I know there's a pretty good chance I can get my hands on either one of them every once in a while, I do the best I can between high spots.
Edmund Clerihew Bentley (1875–1956) British writer
3. "The Clever Cockatoo"
Trent Intervenes (1938)
Maya Angelou (1928–2014) American author and poet
Paris Review Interview (1990)
Context: I know when it’s the best I can do. It may not be the best there is. Another writer may do it much better. But I know when it’s the best I can do. I know that one of the great arts that the writer develops is the art of saying, No. No, I’m finished. Bye. And leaving it alone. I will not write it into the ground. I will not write the life out of it. I won’t do that.
Jill Bolte Taylor (1959) American neuroscientist
Source: My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey
“The best spot painting you can have by me is one painted by Rachel.”
Damien Hirst (1965) artist
On the Way to Work, p. 82, Faber and Faber, 2001.
Most of Hirst's "spot paintings" are executed by assistants.
“I mean, I'll do the best I can.”
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex (1984) a member of the British royal family
Speaking about his view of his royal role, in the near future from September 2005
Source: [BBC NEWS UK 'I am who I am', http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4248234.stm, 2013-07-06, http://archive.today/DUpMy, 2013-07-06]
“I do the very best I know how, the very best I can, and I mean to keep on doing so until the end.”
Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865) 16th President of the United States
Todd Snider (1966) American singer
Money, Compliments, Publicity (Song Number 10).
The Excitement Plan (2009)
“What I do with my life is of my own doing. I live it the best way I can.”
Frank Sinatra (1915–1998) American singer and film actor
In a 1965 interview with Walter Cronkite, as quoted in "Just A Couple Of Legends" CBS News.com (20 May 1998) http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/1998/05/20/entertainment/main9899.shtml