January 14: Notable Births and Deaths, with Quotes

Today, let’s explore notable birth and death anniversaries for January 14.

Dave Grohl, musician (January 14, 1969–present)

“I don’t think any of us started playing music with a career in mind. You fall in love with the Beatles, and you pick up an old instrument, and it becomes this puzzle or this game. You find like-minded friends who are trapped by the same obsession.” —Dave Grohl
Jenkins, Craig. “In Conversation: Dave Grohl.” Vulture, October 26, 2021, https://www.vulture.com/article/dave-grohl-in-conversation.html.

“Here’s the thing: Nirvana were people. It’s hard to remember when it becomes a logo or a T-shirt. It was just three people who wound up writing songs, touring around in a van.” —Dave Grohl
Jenkins, Craig. “In Conversation: Dave Grohl.” Vulture, October 26, 2021, https://www.vulture.com/article/dave-grohl-in-conversation.html.

“When I joined Nirvana, I don’t think anybody knew what was going to happen next. And that was what I loved about life.” —Dave Grohl
Young, Robin and Hagan, Allison. “Dave Grohl explains how music — and a hitchhiker wearing a Kurt Cobain t-shirt — helped him heal.” Wbur, October 7, 2021, https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2021/10/07/dave-grohl-the-storyteller.

Steven Soderbergh, director and screenwriter (January 14, 1963–present)

“Getting upset about Netflix to me is like getting upset about the weather. It’s just something that’s happening and we have to decide what we feel about it.” —Steven Soderbergh
Kohn, Eric. “Steven Soderbergh Says He’s Done Directing Studio Movies and Wants to Only Shoot on iPhones — Sundance 2018.” IndieWire, January 26, 2018, https://www.indiewire.com/2018/01/steven-soderbergh-interview-sundance-iphone-unsane-1201921769/.

“I think the larger question that everyone has to grapple with, going forward, is that as we come out of COVID and people go back to the theaters, what’s going to work and what’s not going to work? Have their tastes been changed by the last year and a half of being at home?” —Steven Soderbergh
Schager, Nick. “Steven Soderbergh Tells Us Everything He Loves About Crime Movies.” Esquire, June 29, 2021, https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/movies/a36867185/steven-soderbergh-no-sudden-move-the-knick-sex-lies-and-videotape-interview/.

“Trashing the Oscars is kind of like playing basketball with a four-foot rim — it’s really easy.” —Steven Soderbergh
Schager, Nick. “Steven Soderbergh Tells Us Everything He Loves About Crime Movies.” Esquire, June 29, 2021, https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/movies/a36867185/steven-soderbergh-no-sudden-move-the-knick-sex-lies-and-videotape-interview/.

Alan Rickman, actor (February 21, 1946–January 14, 2016)

“I never expected to have any kind of film career, to be honest. It was all a bit of a surprise.” —Alan Rickman
Pierce, Nev. “Alan Rickman: The Empire Interview.” Empire, January 14, 2016, https://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/alan-rickman-interview/.

“Somewhere in there, which always causes my mate Miss Ruby Wax great hilarity, I was offered a biopic of Frank Sinatra. Even I knew that was a bad idea! They’ll throw anything at you at certain times. So, you know, to thine own self be true.” —Alan Rickman
Pierce, Nev. “Alan Rickman: The Empire Interview.” Empire, January 14, 2016, https://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/alan-rickman-interview/.

“I think I gathered courage gradually by working with other directors that I admired and noticing that they didn’t mind being vulnerable. When I or any other actor would ask a question, in many ways the most encouraging answer you would get would be ‘I don’t know.’” —Alan Rickman
Horowitz, Josh. “Alan Rickman Interview: MTV News.” YouTube, January 14, 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrWyoq6EFIo.

Ray Kroc, businessman, McDonald’s CEO (October 5, 1902–January 14, 1984)

“As long as you’re green you’re growing, as soon as you’re ripe you start to rot.” —Ray Kroc
Kroc, Ray. “Grinding It Out: The Making of McDonald’s.” St. Martin’s Paperbacks, April 15, 1992.

“I was an overnight success all right, but thirty years is a long, long night.” —Ray Kroc
Kroc, Ray. “Grinding It Out: The Making of McDonald’s.” St. Martin’s Paperbacks, April 15, 1992.

“I believe that if you think small, you’ll stay small.” —Ray Kroc
Kroc, Ray. “Grinding It Out: The Making of McDonald’s.” St. Martin’s Paperbacks, April 15, 1992.

Lewis Carroll, author (January 27, 1832–January 14, 1898)

“Curiouser and curiouser!” —Lewis Carroll
Carroll, Lewis. “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.” Project Gutenberg, January 1991, https://www.gutenberg.org/files/11/11-h/11-h.htm.

“If you drink much from a bottle marked ‘poison,’ it is almost certain to disagree with you, sooner or later.” —Lewis Carroll
Carroll, Lewis. “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.” Project Gutenberg, January 1991, https://www.gutenberg.org/files/11/11-h/11-h.htm.

“It’s no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then.” —Lewis Carroll
Carroll, Lewis. “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.” Project Gutenberg, January 1991, https://www.gutenberg.org/files/11/11-h/11-h.htm.