black
grey
blue
red
brown
white

Hollywood is a strange place. The class structure here is more rigid than almost anyplace I’ve ever experienced. It’s made more difficult by the fact that it’s constantly changing.

Alan Arkin

I played guitar. I’ve always considered myself an actor, but I wasn’t making a living as an actor. So I was in a couple of folk groups that managed to keep me in underwear and burritos.
ALAN ARKIN

Actor Burritos Consider Folk Group Guitar Manage Myself Play Underwear
But one of the things I learned from improvising is that all of life is an improvisation, whether you like it or not.
ALAN ARKIN

All Improve Improvisation Learn Life One Thing
For many years my acting came from a place of surmounting some enormous obstacle.
ALAN ARKIN

Acting Came Enormous Many Obstacle Place Some Surround Year
You know what Andy Warhol’s sole contribution to this country has been? He made Campbell’s Soup a household word.
ALAN ARKIN

Contribute Country Household Made Sole Soup Word
You never know what class you belong to unless you’re one of the two or three people that have been in the same echelon for a long, long time.
ALAN ARKIN

Been Belong Clas Know Long People Same Three Time Two Unless
Two-thirds of American movies are extensions of commercials — they tell you how to feel and they tell you how to think — rather than letting you figure it out on your own.
ALAN ARKIN

Commercial Country Extension Feel Figure Now Out Rather Tell
That’s what we’re all doing, all the time, whether we know it or not. Whether we like it or not. Creating something on the spur of the moment with the materials at hand.
ALAN ARKIN

All Create Do Hand Like Material Movement Something Time
No matter how much time you spend reading books or following your intuition, you’re gonna screw it up. Fifty times. You can’t do parenting right.
ALAN ARKIN

Fifth Follow How Initiation Matter Paren Read Right Spend Time
TV has taken reflection out of the human condition. People didn’t use to have a ready answer for everything, whether they knew something about it or not.
ALAN ARKIN

Answer Condition Everything Human Read Reflection Television
IN order to inform what I’m doing; otherwise, it just becomes the snake eating its own tail. Vampirism.
ALAN ARKIN

Become Done Eat Inform Order Otherwise Own Snake Tail Vampirism
I used to watch the world as if it was a performance and I would realize that certain things that people did moved me, and certain things didn’t move me, and I tried to analyze.
ALAN ARKIN

Analyze Certain Move Performance Thing Try Watch World
I suppose it is, but I think it would entail doing the same things over and over again without taking chances, without taking risks or exploring our limits, without finding out what we can and can’t do.
ALAN ARKIN

Again Chance Entail Explore Find Limit Same Suppose Take Thing
If you want to be an actor and you love acting, you can do it whether you’re doing something else or not.
ALAN ARKIN

Acting Actor Else Love Something Want
I know that if I can’t move people, then I have no business being an actor.
ALAN ARKIN

Actor Business Know People
Even at that age, six and seven and eight, why I was moved by certain things they did
ALAN ARKIN

Age Certain Eight Even Move Seven Six Thing
Most of the time, I’ve been really fortunate to work with people who are really fun to work with.
ALAN ARKIN

Been Fortunate Most Place Really Time Work
The ancient Vedas – the oldest Hindu philosophy – and modern science agree that time is an illusion. If that’s true, there’s no such thing as a past or a future – it’s all one huge now. So what you fix now affects the past and the future.
ALAN ARKIN

Ancient Future Hindu Huge Illusion Modern Now Oldest Past Philosophy Science Time Vedas
No matter what you do or where you are, you’re going to be missing out on something.
ALAN ARKIN

Go Matter Miss Missing Something
Ten years ago, it would have been impossible to imagine a Cockney singing group with a Southern Negro style and Indian and electronic music.
ALAN ARKIN

Cockney Electronic Imagine Impossible Indian Negro Sing Southern Ten Year
I don’t believe in competitions between artists. This is insane. Who has the authority to say someone is better?
ALAN ARKIN

Artist Believe Between Competition Insane Someone
It keeps it more of a surprise. I don’t feel like it has to be a mystery.
ALAN ARKIN

Feel Keep Like More Mystery Surprise
Is it possible to have an endless series of successes without falling on our faces?
ALAN ARKIN

Fall Risk Thinking
Either you’re growing or you’re decaying; there’s no middle ground. If you’re standing still, you’re decaying.
ALAN ARKIN

Decay Ground Grow Middle Still
I read somewhere that some people believe that the entire universe is a matrix of living thought. And I said, “Man, if that’s not a definition of God, I don’t know what is.
ALAN ARKIN

Believe Definition Entire God Man People Through Universe
You can begin to see an amalgamation of cultures, the real beginning of one world.
ALAN ARKIN

Amalgamation Beginning Being Culture One Real See World
Confronting some stern and faceless judge who would condemn me to a pit of hell if I didn’t achieve the “zone,” if even for a moment. Not a particularly happy place to work from.
ALAN ARKIN

Achieve Confront Faceless Happy Moment Participatlly Place Work
I had a hard time treating my field as if it’s horse racing, putting actors in competition against each other.
ALAN ARKIN

Actor Against Competition Each Field Hard Horse Other Put Race Time Treat

Hollywood is a strange place. The class structure here is more rigid than almost anyplace I’ve ever experienced. It’s made more difficult by the fact that it’s constantly changing.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

Hollywood is a strange place. The class structure here is more rigid than almost anyplace I’ve ever experienced. It’s made more difficult by the fact that it’s constantly changing.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

More Alan Arkin Quotes