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The difference between listening and pretending to listen, I discovered, is enormous. One is fluid, the other is rigid. One is alive, the other is stuffed.

Alan Alda

I have a final word of advice to our students. If you work very, very hard, this is the kind of actor, writer and director you may turn out to be, and if you work extra hard, this is the kind of person you may turn out to be.
ALAN ALDA

Advice Director Extra Final Kind Person Student Word Writer
Life is great-I wouldn’t know what I’d do without it.
ALAN ALDA

Great Know Life Without
I found I wasn’t asking good enough questions because I assumed I knew something.
ALAN ALDA

Ask Assume Enough Found Good Knew Question Something
Someone wrote a Wikipedia entry about me, identifying me as an atheist because I’d said in a book I wrote that I wasn’t a believer.
ALAN ALDA

Atheistic Believer Book Identify Someone Wikipedia Wrote
For a while in my teens, I was sure I had it. It was about getting to heaven. If heaven existed and lasted forever, then a mere lifetime spent scrupulously following orders was a small investment for an infinite payoff.
ALAN ALDA

Get Investment Live Mean Scrupulously Small Spent Sure Teen
What I can’t completely understand is most other people’s fascination with what the famous among us do with their lips and the rest of their bodies.
ALAN ALDA

Body Complete Famous Fascinate Lip People Rest Understand
Laugh at yourself, but don’t ever aim your doubt at yourself.
ALAN ALDA

Aim Doubt Laugh Yourself
You can’t get there by bus, only by hard work and risk and by not quite knowing what you’re doing. What you’ll discover will be wonderful. What you’ll discover will be yourself.
ALAN ALDA

Bus Do Get Hard Know Quite Risk Work
I have thought about punching people out. Sometimes, I’ve thought, ‘Why don’t I just act on that impulse?’ But then, I’ve never hit anybody in anger. Hey! I’ve never hit anybody for fun.
ALAN ALDA

Act Impulse Nobody People Punch Something
The other one, and probably an equal pleasure, is finding out how I can be helpful and then really being helpful.
ALAN ALDA

Equal Helpful One Other Pleasure Probably
As an artist, as an actor, as a writer, you have to use what’s personal to you. You have to be personal about your work; otherwise, it doesn’t ring true.
ALAN ALDA

Actor Artist Personal Use Writer
I’m in this wonderful position where I can do what interests me. And whatever comes along that interests me, I do. The rest of the time I bother scientists about communicating.
ALAN ALDA

Along Come Communication Interest Position Scientific Whatever Wonderful
In the midst of the sense of tragedy or loss, sometimes laughter is not only healing, it’s a way of experiencing the person that you’ve lost again.
ALAN ALDA

Again Experience Heal Laugher Loss Lost Midst Person Something Tragedy
When I’m writing, I want to try to be seen as a good writer.
ALAN ALDA

Good Seen Try Want Write Writer
I’m an angry person, angrier than most people would imagine, I get flashes of anger.
ALAN ALDA

Anger Angry Flash Image People Person
A really great actor, in a lucky performance, can transform himself or herself. I’ve seen actors do that.
ALAN ALDA

Actor Great Herself Itself Lucky Performance Really Transform

The difference between listening and pretending to listen, I discovered, is enormous. One is fluid, the other is rigid. One is alive, the other is stuffed.

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The difference between listening and pretending to listen, I discovered, is enormous. One is fluid, the other is rigid. One is alive, the other is stuffed.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

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