black
grey
blue
red
brown
white

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

I would box them into a corner with a badly formed question, and they didn’t know how to get out of it. Now, I let them take me through it step by step, and I listen.
ALAN ALDA

Badly Box Corner Form Get Listen Out Question Step
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
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
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
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
The one hour live debate in the West Wing that we did was one of the most exciting times for me on stage or on camera, because anything could go wrong.
ALAN ALDA

Anything Camera Debate Hour Love Most Excite One Stage Time Wrong
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
I’m an angry person, angrier than most people would imagine, I get flashes of anger.
ALAN ALDA

Anger Angry Flash Image People Person
Selling out was frowned on, whereas now you can major in it at business school.
ALAN ALDA

Business Frown Major Out School Sell
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
We’re highly social animals – I’m told by scientists that what makes us different from other animals is an acute social awareness, which is what has made us so successful.
ALAN ALDA

Acute Animal Awareness Different Highly Other Scientist Social Successful
You’ll be a lot less likely to be caught up in bias or prejudice or be influenced by people who ask you to hand over your brains, your soul or your money because they have everything all figured out for you.
ALAN ALDA

Brain Everything Figure Hand Influence Less Money Out Over Prejudice Soul
When your kids turn 13, an alien being invades their bodies and doesn’t leave until they’re 20.
ALAN ALDA

Alien Body Kid Leave Thirteen Turn Until Twenty
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
I don’t talk about my beliefs too much in public probably because I feel very strongly that it’s something personal – more than personal, it’s private.
ALAN ALDA

Belief More Much Personal Private Probably Public Something Strong
The good thing about being a hypocrite is that you get to keep your values.
ALAN ALDA

Being Good Hypocrite Keep Thing Value
My mother didn’t try to stab my father until I was six, but she must have shown signs of oddness before that.
ALAN ALDA

Before Father Mother Oddness Shown Sign Six Stab Until
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
Everyone opens up to one another right away. That’s a terrific thing. I love that about actors. They know how personal this job is.
ALAN ALDA

Actor Another Everyone Job Open Personal Right Think Way
They wont all lie to you but a lot of them will. And itll be the easiest lie they ever had to tell to get your votes.
ALAN ALDA

Easy Ever Had Lie Lot Tell Them Till Vote
War is war and Hell is hell, and if you ask me, War is a lot worse.
ALAN ALDA

Ask Hell Lot Me War Worse
Real listening is a willingness to let the other person change you.
ALAN ALDA

Change Listen Other Person Real Willingness
[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

Actual Effect Let Listen Pause Person Wait Will Change
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
I can sing in tune now, but I have to work really hard on it to make sure that I don’t exercise one of my great talents, which is the ability to sing in three keys at the same time.
ALAN ALDA

Ability Exercise Hard Key Now Same Talent Time Tune
If I don’t win, I’ll just wait until I’m nominated for being in the theater during the show. Do they have one like that?
ALAN ALDA

Being During Like Nominate Show Theatre Until Win

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.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

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.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

More Alan Alda Quotes