Were Quotes

Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn't really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That's because they were able to connect experiences they've had and synthesize new things.

The comedians I liked were Bill Cosby and Steven Wright, like just always as a comedic actor. I always liked Gary Larson, who's really funny for a cartoonist, obviously.

Were it not for imagination a man would be as happy in arms of a chambermaid as of a duchess.

I have to tell you I never in my life anticipated getting this old, this fast. It seems as if I were 25 just a few days ago.

My father was an army champion boxer... in the British army. And so he loved boxing and talked it up as a sport. But then when my brother and I were beating the crap out of each other, he was always trying to tone it down. But I am a fan of boxing.

I didn't plan to be a politician. The founder of our country, David Ben-Gurion, called me from the kibbutz to serve in the underground. We were short of manpower, short of arms. I was 24 years old. I was supposed to serve my country for one or two years. I am 89 years old this year, and I keep going.

No true believer could be intolerant or a persecutor. If I were a magistrate and the law carried the death penalty against atheists, I would begin by sending to the stake whoever denounced another.

I am the astronaut of boxing. Joe Louis and Dempsey were just jet pilots. I'm in a world of my own.

When I was in nursery school, the teachers asked me, y'know, 'What does your dad do for a living?' So I said 'He helps women get pregnant!' They called my mom and they were like, 'What exactly does your husband do?'

I was elated, ecstatic and extremely surprised that we were successful.

Patients reported that their psychedelic sessions were an invaluable experiential training for dying.

My parents are artists; in their world, in the world of modern artists, you are supposed to just go into your studio and tune everything out, and your entire relationship with your work is supposed to be a super private one. That was the way to do it and you weren't deeply truly artistic if that wasn't the way you were engaging the press.

If I were two-faced, would I be wearing this one?

Hollywood has definitely grown, in embracing the inclusion of Latinos in the world, because, for some time, we didn't exist. We were not part of any stories.

To die for an idea; it is unquestionably noble. But how much nobler it would be if men died for ideas that were true!

My family and I would never receive royalties on the revenue that my materials brought into the church; materials that were created on our own personal time.

Africa is a continent in flames. And deep down, if we really accepted that Africans were equal to us, we would all do more to put the fire out. We're standing around with watering cans, when what we really need is the fire brigade.

No matter how happily a woman may be married, it always pleases her to discover that there is a nice man who wishes that she were not.

Almost every college playwright or sketch or improv comedian was sort of aware of Christopher Durang - even kids in high school. His short plays were so accessible to younger people and I think that was inspirational to me.

For the first half of geological time our ancestors were bacteria. Most creatures still are bacteria, and each one of our trillions of cells is a colony of bacteria.

If I were running the world I would have it rain only between 2 and 5 a.m. Anyone who was out then ought to get wet.

I knew that there were black people in Africa, of course, unfortunately because of movies such as 'Tarzan.'

Mississippi Mermaid was a very special experience because we only had the dialogues for the scenes we were shooting the night before.

I have often thought that if a rational Fascist dictatorship were to exist, then it would choose the American system.

The artist likes to seem totally responsible for his work. Often he begins to explain it, to make it appear as if it were a reasonable process.

There's a sense of spontaneity, and no emphasis on jokes in this show. People generally talk the way they talk in life if you were in this particular situation.

When I first filmed things, they were always slightly awkward.

We have long passed the Victorian Era when asterisks were followed after a certain interval by a baby.

Jesus was all right, but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It's them twisting it that ruins it for me.

Certainly my parents were a huge influence. They always expected the most out of all of us. And expected us to do our very best. I'm thankful to them for allowing me to do what I wanted to do.