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[You have to be] willing to be changed by the person you’re listening to, where you’re not just waiting for a pause so you can say your thing, but you’re actually letting them have an effect on you if they can.

Alan Alda

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
What then are doing if not creating a better place together? I think, for me the key has to be, what do I want to create? What is it I want to leave behind?
ALAN ALDA

Behind Better Create Do Leave Place Think Want
Several thousand people had been locked up unjustly and, by an incredible coincidence, all in the same prison. On the other hand, they knew an awful lot about how to knife somebody.
ALAN ALDA

Awful Coincidence Hand Incredible Knife Lock Other People Several Somebody Thousand Unjustify
I had never really wanted to be famous. Everyone is supposed to want to be rich and famous, but as a boy I never knew what rich was, and the first view I had of famous made me leery.
ALAN ALDA

Everyone Famous First Leery Really Suppose View Want
And I want to warn everyone in the press and all the voters out there: if you demand expressions of religious faith from politicians, you are just begging to be lied to.
ALAN ALDA

Beg Demand Everyone Expression Politician Press Religious
They’re supposed to be gigantic explosions and they’re just these insignificant little dots. If you step back from things far enough you realize how important and powerful you are.
ALAN ALDA

Back Dot Explosion Gigantic Important Insignificant Little Powerful Step Suppose Thing
You wouldn’t want to be called a sell-out by selling a product.
ALAN ALDA

Business Call Out Product School Self
When I’m writing, I want to try to be seen as a good writer.
ALAN ALDA

Good Seen Try Want Write Writer
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
Be brave enough to live creatively . . . what you’ll discover will be wonderful: yourself.
ALAN ALDA

Brave Creative Discover Enough Wonderful Yourself
Republicans are as capable of coming up with great ideas and moving this country along as anyone – they just don’t do it.
ALAN ALDA

Anymore Capable Come Country Great Idea Republican
I’ve never tried to manipulate my image.
ALAN ALDA

Image Manipulate Try
I’m not trying to create some impression about myself. That doesn’t interest me.
ALAN ALDA

Create Impression Interest Myself Some Try
Working on The West Wing was similar in many ways to my experience on M*A*S*H, because you had people willing to work late at night to get it just right.
ALAN ALDA

Late Many Night People Similar Way West Willing Wing Work
When does she do all this thinking? We’re together all the time but she thinks deeply about things and with feeling and she can remember the facts. We’ve been married 48 years.
ALAN ALDA

All Dep Feel Married Think Time Together
Never Have Your Dog Stuffed is really advice to myself, a reminder to myself not to avoid change or uncertainty, but to go with it, to surf into change.
ALAN ALDA

Advice Avoid Change Dog Remember Stuff Surf
Really top-notch directors, I’ve often worked with them just to see how they work.
ALAN ALDA

Director Notch Often Really Top Work
Everybody’s on their toes and focused on what we’re about to do, and then there’s this moment where you relax because you see that everybody is there to do the best that they can.
ALAN ALDA

Do Docus Everybody Moment Relax Toe
Almost everybody that’s well-known gets tagged with a nickname.
ALAN ALDA

Almost Everybody Get Know Nickname Tag Well
How can I ever hope to communicate something to you unless I get signals back from you that I’m on the right track or that I’ve started at some place that you’re familiar with?
ALAN ALDA

Back Communicate Familiar Home Right Signal Something Start Track
It’s nice to have more time to work on the character, and to have big scenes to play. But if there’s something playable there, and if it’s interesting to do, then that’s nice.
ALAN ALDA

Big Character Interset More Nice Play Playable Scene Time Work
Begin challenging your own assumptions.
ALAN ALDA

Assumption Begin Challenge Own
It makes it fun. When an actor plays a character, you want what that character wants. Otherwise it doesn’t look authentic. So I really want to defeat Jimmy – I mean Jimmy as the character.
ALAN ALDA

Actor Authentic Character Defeat Fun Make Play Want
I was a child, and my mother was psychotic. She loved me, but I didn’t really feel I had a mother. And when you live with somebody who is paranoid and thinks you’re trying to kill them all the time, you tend to feel a little betrayed.
ALAN ALDA

Betray Child Feel Kill Live Love Mother Paranoid Psychotic Something
Eventually, I found a radical way of thinking about listening. Real listening is a willingness to let the other person change you.
ALAN ALDA

Change Eventually Found Listen Radical Think Willingness
Here’s my Golden Rule for a tarnished age: Be fair with others, but keep after them until they’re fair with you.
ALAN ALDA

Age Fair Golden Other Rule Tarnish Until
Awards can give you a tremendous amount of encouragement to keep getting better, no matter how young or old you are.
ALAN ALDA

Amount Award Better Encourage Get Keep Matter Old Tremendous Young

[You have to be] willing to be changed by the person you’re listening to, where you’re not just waiting for a pause so you can say your thing, but you’re actually letting them have an effect on you if they can.

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[You have to be] willing to be changed by the person you’re listening to, where you’re not just waiting for a pause so you can say your thing, but you’re actually letting them have an effect on you if they can.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

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