Quotessence
Home / Authors / Steve Martin
Steve Martin

Steve Martin Quotes

Actor

Filter quotes by topic

AllFunnyPeopleIfsThinkingKnowsComedyHumorWritingFirstsWayMenYearsShowsArtAudienceBelieveBanjosDifferentHardPlay

Famous Steve Martin Quotes

“Be undeniably good. When people ask me how do you make it in show business or whatever, what I always tell them & nobody ever takes note of it 'cause it's not the answer they wanted to hear-what they want to hear is here's how you get an agent, here's how you write a script, here's how you do this-but I always say, “Be so good they can't ignore you.” If somebody's thinking, “How can I be really good?” people are going to come to you. It's much easier doing it that way than going to cocktail parties.”

PeopleIfsThinkingWayWantWritingShowsWantedAsksCausesAnswersPartyEasierNotesScriptsAgentsAsk MeGood PeopleShow BusinessCocktailsCocktail Parties
Author:Steve Martin
Create image

“I like what a third man brings. A kind of oblique vision, seeing something in the material that you didn't know was there. As a comedian, I'm always listening to the audience. And in movies, sometimes the only audience you have is the producer and the director. I like having someone else's opinion, especially if you're on the same wavelength.”

IfsKnowsMenKindSometimesVisionOpinionAudienceSeeingMaterialsListeningDirectorsThirdsProducersComedianWavelength
Author:Steve Martin
Create image

“I knew I wanted to be in comedy but the path of least resistance was doing stand-up in folk music clubs where I could get on stage. I guess you could get up no matter how bad you were and you didn't have to audition. You just got up. Everything else required an audition and if you auditioned for a TV show, you would stand in line with a hundred other people. But at the clubs, it was okay just to get up, so that's why I started in stand-up.”

PeopleIfsMatterShowsWantedLinesPathComedyStageTvsHundredOkayFolksClubsResistanceGet UpTv ShowsAuditionsFolk MusicPath Of Least Resistance
Author:Steve Martin
Create image

“It's so hard to believe in anything anymore, you know what I mean? It's like, religion, you really can't take it seriously, 'cause it seems so mythological, and seems so arbitrary; and then on the other hand, science is just pure empiricism, and by virtue of its method, it excludes metaphysics. I guess I wouldn't believe in anything if it weren't for my lucky astrology mood watch.”

IfsBelieveMeanHardHumorHandsSeemsFunnyScienceWatchesVirtuePureLuckyMethodMoodMetaphysicsArbitraryAstrologyHard To BelieveEmpiricism
Author:Steve Martin
Create image

“If he thinks he would harm Mirabelle, he would back away. But he does not yet understand when and how people are hurt. He doesn't understand the subtleties of slights and pains, that it is not the big events that hurt the most but rather the smallest questionable shift in tone at the end of a spoken word that can plow most deeply into the heart.”

PeopleIfsThinkingHeartDoeEndsBigsPainHurtEventsHarmToneSmallestSubtletySpoken WordQuestionableBig Events
Author:Steve Martin
Create image

“If you saw her in these moments, you might think she was collecting her thoughts in order to go forward. But I see it another way: Her mind is being overwhelmed by two processes that must simultaneously proceed at full steam. One is to deal with and live in the present world. The other is to re-experience and mourn something that happened long ago. It is as though her lightness pulls her toward heaven, but the extra gravity around her keeps her earthbound.”

IfsThinkingWorldWayMindLongTwoMomentsMightOrderHeavenProcessDealsSawsHappenedExtrasGravityLong AgoOverwhelmedAnother WayCollectingMournSteamLive In The PresentLightnessBeing Overwhelmed
Book:The pleasure of my company
Create image