Quotessence
Home / Authors / William Shatner
William Shatner

William Shatner Quotes

Actor

Filter quotes by topic

AllKnowsPeopleThinkingIfsNeedsStarsWantYearsCharacterFilm

Famous William Shatner Quotes

“Given the freedom to create, everybody is creative. All of us have an innate, instinctive desire to change our environment, to put our original stamp on this world, to tell a story never told before. I’m absolutely thrilled at the moment of creativity – when suddenly I’ve synthesized my experiences, reality, and my imagination into something entirely new. But most people are too busy working on survival to find the opportunity to create. Fortunately, I’ve been freed by reputation, by the economics of success, and by emotional contentment to turn my ideas into reality. I’ve discovered that the more freedom I have to be creative, the more creative I become.”

ClassCreativity
Book:Up Till Now
Create image

“I did some professional radio acting as a teenager, and I essentially put myself through college with radio acting in Montreal. When I graduated, I got jobs in professional theatres, repertory, and stock theatres in Canada for a couple of years. And then I went to Stratford, Ontario, where I spent three years with a Shakespeare company. We took a classical play from Stratford to New York City, and I got some good notices there and essentially stayed and did live television. And that brings you to the beginning of filming.”

YearsPlayJobsThreeActingCitiesCompanyNew YorkTelevisionCollegeCoupleRadioTheatreTeenagerCanadaNew York CityThree YearsMontrealOntarioLive Television
Author:William Shatner
Create image

“I proceeded to prove everybody right as to how bad an economics student I was by failing as an assistant manager in every theatre I went to that hired me, both as an assistant manager and as an actor. I lost money and tickets, and I couldn't keep track of anything. So eventually they fired me from assistant-manager jobs, but kept me on as an actor.”

JobsActorsLostFailingStudentsProveEconomicsTrackTheatreManagersTicketsAssistantsLost Money
Author:William Shatner
Create image

“Even one word, or certainly one sentence, should be able to describe the basic characteristic that the scene has, or the character has, or the story has. And then you begin to detail that one spine, and you have offshoots from that spine, and it becomes more and more complex, but all of it stems from that one-word, one-line theme, which can give the character, the scene, or the play its uniqueness.”

GivingShouldPlayCharacterStoriesAbleLinesSceneComplexesDetailsSentencesCharacteristicsThemeUniquenessStemOne WordSpineOne LineOne Sentence
Author:William Shatner
Create image

“My mother was born in the city, my dad was an immigrant. Probably from Germany. Could have been Austria, could have been Poland. The borders were changing. My dad brought over a large family of Shatners when he was very young. Scraped together the money, got 11 brothers and sisters a passage on the boat. There's a lot of Shatners in Montreal.”

Has BeensTogetherYoungMotherBornCitiesBrotherDadMy DadBoatBordersGermanyImmigrantsPassagesBrothers And SistersCould Have BeenPolandMontrealAustriaLarge Family
Author:William Shatner
Create image

“You cannot begin to imagine the shock I had when I came down on the floor for the first time. First of all, there's this whole thing about playing sitcom comedy. I didn't want to do the sitcom thing, but I didn't know what else to do. I went slowly. We went through the week of rehearsal, then we got on the floor with the cameras, which I'm used to because of my experience in the old days. Then came camera day, with an audience, and it was stunning, enthralling, exciting and chaotic. I had never experienced anything like that before, as an actor. I was part minstrel, part actor.”

KnowsWantFirstsWholeUsedActorsAudienceComedyImagineWeekFirst TimeExcitingCamerasShockRehearsalChaoticOld DaysSitcomStunningMinstrels
Author:William Shatner
Create image

“I don't Twitter. I can't even remember my password name. I have problems with electronics, so what I've done is hire a young man out of college, whose very fingers are the extension of computer keys, and he Twitters. He does the mechanics, but I very carefully modulate what is said and have used Twitter to publicize stuff, have conversations and instigate competition.”

MenDoeSaidI CanDoneProblemRememberYoungUsedNamesStuffCollegeKeysConversationComputerCompetitionFingersYoung ManExtensionsMechanicElectronicsPasswords
Author:William Shatner
Create image

“I existed before Star Trek. I started in live television. I was there when the cameras were as big as a table, had internal fans that were whirring and tubes that, because of the heat, had to come right up to our face for a close-up. Now, we are talking about green screen and putting us in locations that we'll never visit. What has happened to us is a miracle, and the miracle is our inventiveness. The tragedy of our lives is also our inventiveness.”

BigsFacesLife IsStarsTalkingOur LivesHappenedFansTelevisionMiracleTragedyCamerasTablesGreenScreensHeatInternalsLocationTubesInventivenessLive Television
Author:William Shatner
Create image

“Divorce is simply modern society's version of medieval torture. Except it lasts longer and leaves deeper scars. A divorce releases the most primitive emotions; the ugliest, raw feelings. Emotionally wounded people do their best to inflict pain upon the other party, but rather than using claws they use divorce lawyers.”

PeopleUseFeelingsPainLastsPartyEmotionModernDeeperDivorceLawyerVersionsReleaseTortureScarPrimitiveWoundedMedievalClawsModern SocietyDivorce Lawyers
Book:Up Till Now
Create image

“I love technology. Matches, to light a fire is really high tech. The wheel is REALLY one of the great inventions of all time. Other than that I am an ignoramus about technology. I once looked for the 'ON' button on the computer and came to find out it was on the back. Then I thought, anyone who would put the 'on' switch on the back, where you can't find it, doesn't do any good for my psyche. The one time I did get the computer on, I couldn't turn the damn thing off!”

LightTurnsTechnologyFireComputerInventionAll TimeDamnWheelsOne TimeButtonsDamn ThingsGreat Inventions
Author:William Shatner
Create image