Ester Dean Quotes

Stars can't shine without darkness.

I see what other people do and what songwriters don't. They don't get out and take care of themselves. Producers turn themselves into a massive brand. Songwriters tend to be under someone else's umbrella. If you're building your own legacy, it can't be under an umbrella.

I'm young. You can't just sit there and be satisfied.

I had so many beliefs against being a singer or what it takes. There was a lot of pain associated with that. The rejection of it all. I lived in a rejection state of mind. Not because of my voice; the mike never rejected me. It was harboring all those bad memories of being broke. It teaches you your worth. Nothing good comes from that.

I don't really start writing until later in the night. I'm a night owl.

Acting becomes my real job, writing becomes my second job, and then when I turn 50, I think I'm going to open up an interior decorating company.

I have a thing - I call it magic - but I feel like I can write stuff down in the middle of the night and wake up and it happens. I write what I want in my journal.

I'm going to become a real professional actress.

I'm a very emotional writer. I always need to have a boyfriend. I always need to have some food. I always need to have a heater at my feet, and I drink this thing called Cool Brew, which I found in Louisiana. It's like condensed coffee.

I got really excited about Beyoncé, but it was Beyoncé. I think I was more in awe of how pleasant she is.

I did a lot of songs that I sold, but then they never came out and I never got paid for it. You learn real fast that the music industry, in the beginning, you're not going to get paid for a while, and then you start getting the accolades.

I like interior decorating. I really like to build houses. And landscaping, I like that.

I want to create a management company for people like me so that they don't have to give up the way they present [themselves], they just have someone to help them keep their business afloat.

Artists aren't looking for you to write them something; they're looking for you to give them something new.

Everyone in my family can sing - my momma can sing, my cousins. I was in the third grade and I was that kid who was so bad in school because I could sing.

You have to break your fingers to learn how to play guitar.

I feel guilty because I want to act more than I want to write songs. I'm a person who likes to transition; I like to grow.

I've done so much songwriting and I know how to do it.

Acting makes me feel broke again, it makes me feel unaccomplished.

I feel like writing songs is cheating on acting. It's weird.

My success, I feel like, is credit - credit for a good job. I haven't even gotten a Grammy, yet I've already decided I want an Emmy.

I'm young. You can't just sit there and be satisfied. People are like, "You've got all these number ones!" "Yeah...what else?" It all translates into money, and that's how people think of being successful, but my success, I feel like, is credit - credit for a good job. I haven't even gotten a Grammy, yet I've already decided I want an Emmy.

As long as I can stay creative and used my mind, it can be 20 hours a day. I sleep four hours, so I've got 20 hours.

I'm not looking to be an artist to make money. I'm looking to be an artist.

I'm more than a songwriter. I'm a creative person. Some people you just always see. I won't allow you to see me unless it makes sense. There's a reason to see me.

I try to reach for the stars because if you say you want something small and it happens, you don't believe it. So I try to say something wild and crazy.

I just like to stay creative. Anything that can keep my mind going.

I'm a songwriter who just wants to bring people great songs.

I always tell people I write songs, but I'm a writer. It's a difference. I can write songs to music, but I can write a story. I can see ideas spark in me.

My dream is to star in an animated movie and to have a toy made after me.

I always wanted to be a psychiatrist.

I'm the only girl songwriter that fights for a lot of things. I fight for songwriting fees, which record labels want you to shut up about.

Rhianna don't want you to give her what you think that she wants. She needs you to give her something that's fresh. So you have to bend your voice and bend your personality and bend the music to make sure it sounds like it's new to everybody.

I wasn't comfortable on stage for years. It was good - 18 shows. I want to do it again.

My music teacher was like, "Ester, you need to pay attention in class." I'm like, "No miss lady, 'cause I can sing." I didn't want anybody to change the way I sung. I learned by gospel CDs and by watching my momma sing; I didn't need this teacher to tell me. I wish I had, because then I would have learned how to play the damn piano or something. I would have a couple of more things under my belt if I wasn't so hard-headed.

I have vision boards, and people think that I put the vision board up and I look at it all the time, but what I do is, when I'm having an emotional time and I'm stressed out or feeling bad, I go to the store and get all the stuff for a vision board. Instead of channeling the negative thoughts or being depressed, I change it around and I start making boards.

My songs are my hookers. I can't worry about how they are going to be treated; they just need to bring home the bacon.

The mall is good for hearing new music because you hear music everywhere. I like to walk around the mall and hear what the kids are listening to, or what's the feel of Middle America, cause that's what the mall is.

I tend to sing opera and showtunes in the shower. I don't know why, but when I get in the shower I turn into this big fat opera lady.