Young man, the secret of my success is that at early age I discovered that I was not God.
Age
When I was a critic, I reviewed Public Enemy's 'Muse Sick-n-Hour Mess Age' – this is back in '94 – and I called it a 'Dante-esque spiral of the hip-hop hell.' I idolized Chuck D, but I just hated that record, and I did not hold back. Chuck didn't freeze me out. Every time I met Chuck, he always treated me with the utmost respect.
When I was a critic, I reviewed Public Enemy’s ‘Muse Sick-n-Hour Mess Age’ – this is back in ’94 – and I called it a ‘Dante-esque spiral of the hip-hop hell.’ I idolized Chuck D, but I just hated that record, and I did not hold back. Chuck didn’t freeze me out. Every time I met Chuck, he always treated me with the utmost respect.
At this point in my life – age 24 – I have chosen a fairly strange path that not many are walking. I am a professional spoken word poet who tours the world performing and teaching. I run an organization called Project VOICE dedicated to using this art form as an education and empowerment tool in schools and communities of all kinds.
At this point in my life – age 24 – I have chosen a fairly strange path that not many are walking. I am a professional spoken word poet who tours the world performing and teaching. I run an organization called Project VOICE dedicated to using this art form as an education and empowerment tool in schools and communities of all kinds.
I learned from a very young age that if I pursued the things that truly excited me, that they would reward in more important ways, like happiness.
I learned from a very young age that if I pursued the things that truly excited me, that they would reward in more important ways, like happiness.
I think you can't really escape any kind of spiritual education as a child, whether it's New Age or Judaism or Buddhism or whatever it is. You can't escape it, even if you completely disagree with it, you still have it as a foundation that you base things off of.
I think you can’t really escape any kind of spiritual education as a child, whether it’s New Age or Judaism or Buddhism or whatever it is. You can’t escape it, even if you completely disagree with it, you still have it as a foundation that you base things off of.
I've always believed that government tends to screw up whatever it touches, but Obama in particular seemed different. He understood tech issues that left the other candidates bewildered. Part of it may be his age. But whatever the reason, I had real hope that he could help lead us into a new century of technology leadership and growth.
I’ve always believed that government tends to screw up whatever it touches, but Obama in particular seemed different. He understood tech issues that left the other candidates bewildered. Part of it may be his age. But whatever the reason, I had real hope that he could help lead us into a new century of technology leadership and growth.
We live in an age when the traditional great subjects – the human form, the landscape, even newer traditions such as abstract expressionism – are daily devalued by commercial art.
We live in an age when the traditional great subjects – the human form, the landscape, even newer traditions such as abstract expressionism – are daily devalued by commercial art.
I think true love – love, wine and beauty, they better with age.
I think true love – love, wine and beauty, they better with age.
I'm very accepting with my age. It's like notches on your belt: experience, wisdom, and a different kind of beauty. There comes a day when you've become comfortable in your skin.
I’m very accepting with my age. It’s like notches on your belt: experience, wisdom, and a different kind of beauty. There comes a day when you’ve become comfortable in your skin.
My parents were educated in the Turkish system and went straight from high school to medical school; my mom, who had skipped a grade, was dissecting corpses at age seventeen. Growing up in America, I think I envied my parents' education. By comparison, everything I did in school seemed so sort of low-stakes and infantilizing.
My parents were educated in the Turkish system and went straight from high school to medical school; my mom, who had skipped a grade, was dissecting corpses at age seventeen. Growing up in America, I think I envied my parents’ education. By comparison, everything I did in school seemed so sort of low-stakes and infantilizing.
When I was a trainee at Kannur Sports School at the age of 13, my coach Nambiar sir used to tell us a lot of things about Milkha Singh – his achievements, lack of nervousness on the track, and a lot of fun stories about him.
When I was a trainee at Kannur Sports School at the age of 13, my coach Nambiar sir used to tell us a lot of things about Milkha Singh – his achievements, lack of nervousness on the track, and a lot of fun stories about him.
My attitude is that if anybody of any age wants to read a book, let them, but I do think that no child would want to read 'Boneland.'
My attitude is that if anybody of any age wants to read a book, let them, but I do think that no child would want to read ‘Boneland.’
I am in control of how I age, and I am in control of my health.
I am in control of how I age, and I am in control of my health.
Oh, if I had been loved at the age of seventeen, what an idiot I would be today. Happiness is like smallpox: if you catch it too soon, it can completely ruin your constitution.
Oh, if I had been loved at the age of seventeen, what an idiot I would be today. Happiness is like smallpox: if you catch it too soon, it can completely ruin your constitution.
I feel somewhere there is a fault in this whole mindset of not accepting the natural process. To age gracefully, to accept life with grace has more beauty and charm. But you have to be fit and healthy. And that is something we should strive for.
I feel somewhere there is a fault in this whole mindset of not accepting the natural process. To age gracefully, to accept life with grace has more beauty and charm. But you have to be fit and healthy. And that is something we should strive for.