Anna Deavere Smith

If I do three interviews in a day, I can be exhausted, because the process of hearing everyone requires that I empty out myself. While I'm listening, my own judgments and prejudices certainly come up. But I know I won't get anything unless I get those things out of the way. ”

I see myself first and foremost as a student of expression. ”

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. ”

I feel like my work has been my path to freedom from having grown up in a segregated environment. ”

What my work is, is my approach to it. It's the practice. And my work is about the effort that I make to get there. And I think if there's anything artistic, it's in that middle space. ”

Listening is not just hearing what someone tells you word for word. You have to listen with a heart. I don't want that to sound touchy-feely; it is not. It is very hard work. ”

My work is about giving voice to the unheard, and reiterating the voice of the heard in such a way that you question, or re-examine, what is the truth. ”

The American idea is as promising, imaginative, and full of the unexpected as the land itself. The land represents freedom - the frontier, the ability to make a new future with your own bare hands. ”

Suddenly in high school, I'm in a predominantly Jewish atmosphere. Jewish people were my gate to white America. ”

I am interested in personal stories because that's when people become expressive, spontaneous and heartfelt. ”