Anna Deavere Smith
Anna Deavere Smith
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionActress
Date of Birth18 September 1950
CountryUnited States of America
war stress thinking
People realize that we're very good at sending people to war, but we're not good at taking care of them. And people are coming back from war now; years ago, they would have been killed, now they're wounded; and they're coming back alive and with post-traumatic stress. So, I think Americans are sensible enough to know we've got to figure out a way to take care of them.
kids thinking people
I think as a kid I always liked to listen to people. I loved hearing stories.
thinking order creative
I think we can learn a lot about a person in the very moment that language fails them. In the very moment they they have to be more creative than they would have imagined in order to communicate. It's the very moment that they have to dig deeper than the surface to find words, and at the same time, it's a moment when they want to communicate very badly. They're digging deep and projecting out at the same time.
hard-work thinking doctors
I have a lot of optimism about new doctors because I think it's really clear that it's a lot of hard work and no guarantee of a lot of money.
confidence hopeful mark
Confidence is the mark of a hopeful disposition.
curiosity
I am not myself; I am the potential of myself.
jobs interviews way
I don't talk a lot when I interview. My job is to get out of the way.
discipline crucial
Discipline — both mental and physical — is crucial.
ideas people firsts
For me, first of all, I love people, I love ideas.
art
Art simply can’t be stopped.
reality artist people
Artists are the people that no matter what, pick up the pen, pick up a paintbrush. They take the time to translate what is happening to create something that resonates deeply with the rest of the people that are caught in the middle of their own reality.
race disrespect taught
Somehow we can't live outside the politics of race. There's something very deep in all of us, that is taught to us when we are very, very little. Which is the disrespect and fear of the other.
sick people want
People who are sick, or who have been sick, or have come close to death have a lot to say - and they want you to hear it.
thinking tunnels
Learning is a tunnel experience that makes us think more broadly.