Patrick Stewart Biography & Quotes

“It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not weakness, that is life.”

Philosophy Star Trek Captain Jean Luc Picard

“It's not just an exclamation, but it's a rejection of everything to do with Christmas, with the spirit of Christmas, with gift-giving, with generosity.”

Giving Spirit Christmas Generosity Rejection Christmas Spirit Exclamation Gift Giving

Author:Patrick Stewart

“I don't do impersonations. I can do a wounded elephant! I can do a really good cow! And because of the amount of time I spent in North Yorkshire, I do a variety of sheep. All of which I will be happy to roll out for you!”

I Can Can Do Amount Variety Cows Sheep Wounded Elephants Yorkshire

Author:Patrick Stewart

“I saw Waiting for Godot when I was 17 in rep with a then unknown actor called Peter O'Toole playing Vladimir. I remember leaving the theatre promising myself that one day I would have a go at this play and then pretty much forgot it for 50 years.”

Years Play Remember Actors Waiting Saws One Day Leaving Theatre Peter Godot Waiting For Godot

Author:Patrick Stewart

“All I ever wanted to do was be on stage, if possible acting in Shakespeare. And to be as good as I could be.”

Ifs World Wanted Film Found Interest Acting Fantasy Stage Tvs Training Convinced Backgrounds Sci Fi Larger Than Life

Author:Patrick Stewart

“At 12 years old in the dangerous world that I was in, with a very difficult home life, I found the stage was the safest place to be. It was predetermined and predictable - and furthermore you got to be someone else. All the problems only began when you left the building.”

World Years Problem Home Found Left Difficult Stage Dangerous Building Predictable Predetermined Home Life Dangerous World

Author:Patrick Stewart

“Laurence Olivier said if you have ambition to be a serious classical actor, you must be as fit as an athlete. For me, the breakthrough was going to live in California. I exercised. I drank less. It was one of the things about California that had a positive impact on me.”

Ifs Said Actors Serious Fit Ambition Impact Athlete California Breakthrough Drank Positive Impact

Author:Patrick Stewart

“Comedy today is not what it was years ago. It's always changing, in particular to female comics. No longer are certain subjects considered to be a male preserve. Women can talk about sexuality and their bodily functions and it can be very, very entertaining. It's changed the impact of comedy acting.”

Years Today Certain Acting Comedy Subjects Changed Particular Female Years Ago Function Impact Males Sexuality Preserves Entertaining Bodily Functions

Author:Patrick Stewart

“I like things that are funny - in everyday conversation, in incidents that you see, in watching TV or watching film. Comedy has always had an impact on my life.”

Film Comedy Tvs Conversation Impact Everyday Incidents Watching Tv

Author:Patrick Stewart

“And from the first moment that I ever walked on stage in front of a darkened auditorium with a couple of hundred people sitting there, I was never afraid, I was never fearful, I didn't suffer from stage fright, because I felt so safe on that stage. I wasn't Patrick Stewart, I wasn't in the environment that frightened me, I was pretending to be someone else, and I liked the other people I pretended to be. So I felt nothing but security for being on stage. And I think that's what drew me to this strange job of playing make-believe.”

“So far as education is concerned, it has had a significant impact on a lot of young people who turn to science as a much more exciting and interesting study than they otherwise might have found, entirely as a result of becoming involved with Star Trek.”

People Might Young Turns Found Stars Interesting Results Study Becoming Involved Concerned Exciting Impact Significant Becoming Involved

Author:Patrick Stewart

“When I'm meant to be standing in the wings, the only way to go is the ladies' toilets. It's the only time I've ever acted in the toilets.”

Way Standing Wings Meant To Be Only Time Toilets

Author:Patrick Stewart

“It still frightens me a little bit to think that so much of my life was totally devoted to Star Trek and almost nothing else.”

Thinking Littles Stills Stars Bits Little Bit Devoted

Author:Patrick Stewart

“I was just excited by the whole prospect of working in a television series in Hollywood. I had never anticipated that as an actor I would ever end up here. It may be some sort of fantasy I'd thought about from time to time, but it was completely unrealistic.”

May Ends Whole Actors Fantasy Television Hollywood Series Excited

Author:Patrick Stewart

“I made a promise to myself that I would try to introduce something unexpected in every single episode of the series. It was largely to amuse myself as much as anything. I didn't ever want the audience to feel that they knew everything.”

Want Feels Trying Made Audience Promise Series Unexpected Introducing Episodes Something Unexpected

Author:Patrick Stewart

“Where can I go that would give me the same level of satisfaction as an actor?”

Giving Actors Levels Give Me Satisfaction

Author:Patrick Stewart

“If someone says 'Give me one word of advice,' I say 'be fearless.' And knowing without any shadow of a doubt that what they have to give - who they are - is totally unique and not shared by anybody else. And to believe in that uniqueness. It took me decades before I developed courage as an actor.”

Ifs Giving Believe Actors Knowing Doubt Advice Unique Shadow Give Me Decades Fearless Uniqueness One Word Words Of Advice

Author:Patrick Stewart

“I've been an activist all my life. And always a liberal activist, for the simple reason that it is on the liberal left that you find the true recognition for the need for fairness in society. I'm not saying equality, because that you can never achieve, because equality is based on such complex criteria. But fairness is another issue.”

Needs Reason Left Simple Issues Achieve Complexes Recognition Activist Fairness Criteria

Author:Patrick Stewart

“I've been in politics all my life. In 1945, I committed my first act of civil disobedience during the election campaign for the first post-World War II general election, when the Labour Party, to everyone's amazement, ousted the Conservatives. I refused to obey the instructions of a policeman, and as a result, almost got a belt around the ear, because those were the days when policemen could hit children and nobody cared, they thought it was probably good for them.”

“I always have been optimistic about humanity's future. Always. Even at the most dismaying of times.”

Has Beens Humanity Optimistic

Author:Patrick Stewart

“I've been a witness to unfairness in society all my life. To the conditions under which my mother worked all her life, working in an industrial weaving shed in the north of England. And it has been this feature of unfairness that has motivated me in all of my political thinking.”

Thinking Has Beens Political Mother Conditions England Witness Features Motivated Shed Weaving Unfairness Political Thinking

Author:Patrick Stewart

“I know it feels like two steps forward and one step back, but we are making progress. In my lifetime, I have lived through one World War, I have lived through the end of Apartheid in South Africa, the pulling down of the Berlin Wall. I have experienced what I never thought I would have experienced, which is a pretty workable peace in Northern Ireland, and I experienced a unified Europe - until the Conservative government got its hands on the idea that in order to appease a few back-benchers they would hold a referendum, what a disastrous idea.”

“It is what you do from now on that will either move our civilization forward a few tiny steps, or else... begin to march us steadily backward.”

Moving Steps Civilization Tiny March Backwards Keep Moving Forward

Author:Patrick Stewart

“I came to feel very, very sentimental about those sets, which is ludicrous, because they represent everything which is transitory and insubstantial. It's absurd that one should feel sentimental about timber and canvas.”

Feels Should Absurd Canvas Sentimental Transitory Timber

Author:Patrick Stewart

“Having played many roles of scientific intellect I do have an empathy for that world. It's been hard on me because flying the Enterprise for seven years in Star Trek and sitting in Cerebro in X-men has led people to believe that I know what I'm talking about. But I'm still trying to work out how to operate the air conditioning unit on my car.”

“The only still center of my life is Macbeth. To go back to doing this bloody, crazed, insane mass-murderer is a huge relief after trying to get my cell phone replaced.”

Trying Stills Life Is Huge Mass Phones Insane Cells Relief Bloody Replaced Murderer Cell Phone

Author:Patrick Stewart

“I am not the archetypal leading man. This is mainly for one reason: as you may have noticed, I have no hair.”

Men May Reason Hair

Author:Patrick Stewart

“Whenever the lion fish in the fish tank in the captain's ready room died it was always a sad moment.”

Moments Rooms Ready Died Fishes Lions Captains Tanks Fish Tanks Sad Moments

Author:Patrick Stewart

“I've often reflected on this in the past weeks as I've been following the presidential campaign: Very often, I thought it would have been great for both of these guys to sit down and be force-fed a couple of dozen episodes of Star Trek.”

Has Beens Past Guy Force Stars Week Couple Down And Following Campaigns Presidential Feds Dozen Episodes Presidential Campaign

Author:Patrick Stewart

“During my time we had two chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, at different times of course, on the bridge, both of whom asked my permission to sit on the captain's chair.”

Two Different Courses Chiefs Bridges My Time Chairs Permission Staff Captains Joints Chairman Different Times Chief Of Staff

Author:Patrick Stewart

“The studio have always claimed that the ship is the star of the show, especially when they're renegotiating contracts.”

Shows Stars Studios Ships Contracts

Author:Patrick Stewart

“Tom Hanks knows the name of all the episodes.”

Knows Names Toms Episodes

Author:Patrick Stewart

“As the captain, I was going to be having the dominant role in most of the episodes, and that was appealing. I wasn't interested in coming to Hollywood to sit around.”

Roles Hollywood Episodes Captains Dominant

Author:Patrick Stewart

“As time went on, I did campaign to lighten the character a little bit, to introduce some romance into the episodes, outside activities, horse riding and fencing and mountaineering.”

Littles Character Romance Bits Activity Little Bit Horse Campaigns Riding Introducing Episodes Mountaineering Fencing Horse Riding

Author:Patrick Stewart

“I am told that there have been over the years a number of experiments taking place in places like Massachusetts Institute of Technology that have been entirely based on concepts raised by Star Trek.”

Years Has Beens Stars Numbers Technology Concepts Raised Experiments Institute Massachusetts

Author:Patrick Stewart

“I began directing episodes, which was a great light every couple of months. We never short-changed our audience, but it became something that you had to work at rather than something that was a pleasure.”

Light Pleasure Audience Changed Months Couple Episodes

Author:Patrick Stewart

“We've heard from many teachers that they used episodes of Star Trek and concepts of Star Trek in their science classrooms in order to engage the students.”

Science Used Order Stars Teacher Heard Students Concepts Classroom Episodes

Author:Patrick Stewart

“Violence against women is learned. Each of us must examine - and change - the way in which our own behavior might contribute to, enable, ignore or excuse all such forms of violence. I promise to do so, and to invite other me and allies to do the same.”

Way Might Form Violence Promise Behavior Profound Excuse Allies Invites I Promise Violence Against Women Stood Up

Author:Patrick Stewart

“As a child, I heard in my home doctors and ambulance men say, 'Mrs. Stewart, you must've done something to provoke him.' 'Mrs. Stewart, it takes two to make an argument.' Wrong. Wrong! My mother did nothing to provoke that - and even if she had, violence is never ever a choice that a man should make. Ever.”

Ifs Men Should Children Two Done Home Mother Choices Powerful Violence Heard Argument Doctors Provoking Violence Against Women Ambulance Stop Violence Against Women

Author:Patrick Stewart

“Having spent so much of my life with Shakespeare’s world, passions and ideas in my head and in my mouth, he feels like a friend—someone who just went out of the room to get another bottle of wine.”

World Feels Ideas Passion Rooms Mouths Wine Bottles Bottles Of Wine

Author:Patrick Stewart

“What identifies an individual as a king is how other people behave towards him. All authority is assumed, and if other people don't accept your authority then you don't have it. Perhaps the critical thing to being a convincing figure of authority is actually not to try too hard.”

People Ifs Trying Hard Individual Accepting Figures Kings Authority Critical Behave Convincing

Author:Patrick Stewart

“I've met actors where you think, if only you could just clean up your act and get it together, people would want to work with you. Some people are so difficult, it's just not worth working with them.”

People Ifs Thinking Want Together Actors Difficult Mets Clean Theatre Get It Together

Author:Patrick Stewart

“Creating a believable world on the ship was very important, and technically they got better and better and better at showing the ship too.”

World Important Creating Ships Believable

Author:Patrick Stewart

“But as I grew up as a child, falling in love with the theater and Shakespeare, my heroes were Sir Laurence Olivier and Sir John Gielgud.”

Children Fall Grew Hero Grew Up Theater Falling In Love My Hero

Author:Patrick Stewart

“During the course of the seven years I played scenes with an oil slick, I played a scene with a grain of rice. Sometimes with indescribable creatures. I remember having a conversation with something which was simply a smell, that's all. It was part of our job.”

Years Sometimes Jobs Remember Courses Scene Conversation Creatures Seven Smell Oil Grain Seven Years Rice Indescribable Slick

Author:Patrick Stewart

“Encouraging people to believe in it was the most important thing of all. It's one of the reasons I was always uncomfortable whenever film crews came on the set to shoot things. I didn't want our make-believe to be exposed.”

People Want Believe Important Reason Film Important Things Uncomfortable Exposed Crew Make Believe Film Crew

Author:Patrick Stewart

“For seven years I did very little theatre, and I have to make up some time.”

Years Littles Seven Theatre Seven Years

Author:Patrick Stewart

“Violence against women is the single greatest human rights violation of our generation.”

Humans Rights Violence Generations Human Rights Violation Violence Against Women Our Generation

Author:Patrick Stewart

“This is a call to action—not an action that will make things better in six months’ time or a year’s time, but action that might save someone’s life and someone’s future this afternoon, tonight, tomorrow morning.”

Years Might Action Morning Months Tomorrow Six Tonight Afternoon Six Months Tomorrow Morning Call To Action

Author:Patrick Stewart

“An obsession might be a little strong a term, but it has now become one of the most significant aspects of my life, but most importantly of my career, because it has changed the public's perception of who Patrick Stewart is.”

Littles Might Strong Term Careers Changed Perception Aspect Significant Obsession

Author:Patrick Stewart

Patrick Stewart Biography

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