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Character Quotes

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Character Quotes

“There is something in the character of every man which cannot be broken in--the skeleton of his character; and to try to alter this is like training a sheep for draught purposes.”

Men Trying Character Purpose Broken Training Every Man Sheep Skeletons Draught

Author:Georg C. Lichtenberg

“The first time I remember women reacting to me was when we were filming Hud in Texas. Women were literally trying to climb through the transoms at the motel where I stayed. At first, it's flattering to the ego. At first. Then you realize that they're mixing me up with the roles I play - characters created by writers who have nothing to do with who I am.”

Trying Firsts Play Character Remember Realizing Roles Ego First Time Who I Am Climbs Texas Flattering Mixing Reacting Motels

Author:Paul Newman

“I always begin with a character or characters, and then try to think up as much action for them as possible.”

Thinking Trying Character Action

Author:John Irving

“I don't try and write strong female characters or strong male characters, I just try and write, hopefully, strong characters and sometimes they happen to be female.”

Writing Trying Sometimes Character Happens Strong Female Males Hopefully Female Characters Strong Female Characters Strong Female Strong Character

Author:J. J. Abrams

“I'm trying to figure myself out through my movies. Whether it's big stuff like what we're doing here, or little stuff like why aren't I happier? With every film I feel like I'm apologising for something. I feel I'm most successful when I'm looking for something that embarrasses me about my character that I'd like to expose.”

Feels Trying Littles Character Bigs Film Stuff Successful Figures Big Stuff Apologising

Author:Jason Reitman

“You have to imbue the characters with their own sort of feeling of justification and morality. Everyone has that, whether we see them as evil or not. So I try to bring the characters to life by making them likable or lovable, in the sense that they can be, at least to themselves.”

Trying Character Feelings Evil Morality Justification Lovable

Author:Mark Russell

“My main problem is that over and over again, I try to get all my characters to say stuff that I think is so witty or erudite you know, so that everybody will go.”

Thinking Knows Trying Character Problem Stuff Witty Erudite

Author:Anne Lamott

“I've always been attracted to the characters that I didn't know anything about. If you do anything in life with passion and love, then it's worth trying.”

Ifs Knows Trying Character Passion And Love Anything In Life Love And Passion

Author:Geoff Johns

“I put my heart and soul into my book - great story and awesome characters... yet people are trying to pull me down.”

People Trying Heart Book Soul Character Stories My Heart Heart And Soul

Author:Nick Simmons

“One should try to locate power at the extreme of its exercise, where it is always less legal in character.”

Should Trying Character Power Exercise Extremes

Book:Critique and Power: Recasting the Foucault/Habermas Debate

Source: Critique and Power: Recasting the Foucault/Habermas Debate

“I don't particularly care about having [my characters] talk realistically, that doesn't mean very much to me. Actually, a lot of people speak more articulately than some critics think, but before the 20th century it really didn't occur to many writers that their language had to be the language of everyday speech. When Wordsworth first considered that in poetry, it was considered very much of a shocker. And although I'm delighted to have things in ordinary speech, it's not what I'm trying to perform myself at all: I want my characters to get their ideas across, and I want them to be articulate.”

People Thinking Want Writing Trying Firsts Mean Ideas Character Care Speak Language Century Speech Ordinary Critics Everyday 20th Century Delighted Wordsworth

Author:Louis Auchincloss

“I know that me personally I'm different than anyone else, just like our mothers all tell us we're all very special and unique and we are, and I think if an actor can stick to trying to make the character resemble something from their own spirit it will automatically be unique.”

Ifs Thinking Knows Trying Different Character Spirit Mother Actors Special Unique Sticks

Author:Chris Pratt

“When you're trying to do character work that's different from what people expect from you, you're sort of in territory that is uncharted, and you don't know how it's playing all the time.”

People Knows Trying Different Character Know How Territory Uncharted

Author:Mark Ruffalo

“The story [for the western genre] is everything. Whether it's a book or a screenplay, the story drives everything. And if you just go out and try to make one by putting on boots and jumping on a horse and riding off... If you don't have the material, the characters and the things to overcome and conflicts that give life to drama, you don't have it.”

Ifs Giving Trying Book Character Stories Materials Drama Conflict Overcoming Horse Western Genre Boots Riding Jumping Screenplays Genre Is

Author:Clint Eastwood

“I always try to bring a little bit of my own personality to the character, or some sort of personal connection makes it a little bit more of an organic portrayal and the audience can kind of maybe believe it a little bit more. But I always look for something to kind of connect with and identify with, or bring something of myself to the table.”

Trying Believe Looks Kind Littles Character Bits My Own Audience Personality Little Bit Connections Tables Portrayal Personal Connection My Own Personality

Author:Mark Wahlberg

“We're not trying to prove the character of God through science. That's a bad idea. What I'm trying to do is clear away the misunderstandings, the debris that prevent people from accepting that God who wants to accept them.”

People Want Trying Ideas Character Accepting Clear Prove Misunderstanding Bad Ideas Debris Character Of God

Author:Phillip E. Johnson

“The anger that you see expressed out there in Los Angeles, in my district this evening, is a righteous anger, and it's difficult for me to say to the people, "Don't be angry." When people are angry and enraged, they do do senseless things. They do act even sometimes out of character, and that's why it is the responsibility of America to try and avoid putting people in these kinds of situations.”

People Trying Kind Sometimes Character America Difficult Responsibility Situation Angry Evening Los Angeles Righteous Righteous Anger

Author:Maxine Waters

“Well, one of the things we're supposed to be able to do as playwrights is write from a place of empathy, get into another character's shoes and experience things both mundane and tragic. And people don't - like me right now - people aren't necessarily the most eloquent when trying to express their emotions. I guess I feel as a playwright that those people deserve a voice, too, a voice that isn't so articulate that they themselves can no longer identify with it.”

People Feels Writing Trying Wells Character Able Voice Emotion Right Now Empathy Deserve Shoes Like Me Supposed To Be Tragic Mundane Playwright Eloquent Don't Like Me

Author:Tracy Letts

“Beautiful women seldom want to act. They are afraid of emotion and they do not try to extract anything from a character that they are portraying, because in expressing emotion they may encourage crow's feet and laughing wrinkles. They avoid anything that will disturb their placidity of countenance, for placidity of countenance insures a smooth skin.”

Want Trying May Character Beautiful Emotion Laughing Feet Skins Smooth Beautiful Women Crow Wrinkles Countenance Portraying Expressing Emotions Smooth Skin

Author:Laurette Taylor

“A philosopher may try to prove the truth of something he believed before he was a philosopher, but even if he succeeds, his belief never regain the untroubled character, and the settled place in his mind, which it had at first.”

Ifs Trying Mind Firsts May Character Belief Succeed Prove Philosopher

Author:David Stove

“Games are advancing in terms of storytelling and trying to create a character, and its a brand new audience for me.”

Trying Character Games Term Audience Storytelling Brands Advancing Brand New

Author:Kevin Spacey

“The secret to writing sound effects is having a room you can be alone in, trying to make the sounds yourself, and seeing what comes out. It's similar to if you're writing a character talking with their mouth full: the only way I know to transcribe that is to stuff my fist in my mouth and write down what sounds I make when I try to talk.”

Ifs Knows Way Writing Trying Book Character Stuff Sound Rooms Secret Talking Seeing Effects Mouths Comic Comic Book Fists Sound Effects

Author:Ryan North

“While it is challenging working with a kid, because they're so of the moment all the time. My acting style is to try to take something from my life that the character can relate to and that I can relate the character to.”

Trying I Can Moments Character Kids Challenges Acting Style Relate

Author:Kyra Sedgwick

“A big part of what I wanted to do with this character was go from when I was a boy and try and develop into a man, really try and play him as a man who is on this search, on a journey of personal, spiritual, political, social discovery.”

Men Trying Play Character Bigs Wanted Spiritual Political Social Boys Journey Discovery

Author:Orlando Bloom

“Sometimes I forget what I put in. I want to capture things in that way, where you're looking into your memory, a dream or hallucination. The characters become a mixture of archetypes, [and] that's what I like. You're trying to figure it out and your brain wants to categorize things, but it can't because of this motion. You want to solve the problem, but it never gets solved. It's like when you read a really good book and the story never leaves you.”

Way Want Trying Book Sometimes Character Stories Problem Dream Memories Forget Brain Figures Like You Solve Capture Mixtures Good Book Our Memories Hallucinations Archetype I Like You

Author:Ali Banisadr

“People watch me when I get into these characters that I have in my head, so perhaps I should try acting. So I did.”

People Should Trying Character Acting Watches Watch Me

Author:John Boyega

“There should always be that leeway because if you think of your character as sort of absolutely fixed, then you just try and find actors to come and do exactly that thing, then you're not gonna be working with that actor's own set of internal impulses and who they are, so the best work is always a coming together of the actor and the character.”

Ifs Thinking Should Trying Character Together Actors Impulse Fixed Internals Think Of You Best Work Coming Together

Author:Lenny Abrahamson

“I watch a lot of different films. A lot of different performances and I find a lot of little things from the films or things that actors do or people in real life who have behaviors or idiosyncrasies that I like or find interesting and I try to remember that. And then I'll do a prayer. I'll do a prayer to ask the character or the spirit of the character to come and visit me. And let's work together.”

“For me, it's always more difficult and slightly exposing to play something that's close to yourself. I always like to try to hide, just because I can't stand the way I look. But, I think it's important to change every time and come up with something that's as interesting as it can be, for your characters.”

Thinking Way Trying Looks I Can Important Play Character Difficult Interesting Come Up Because I Can Exposing

Author:Johnny Depp

“The holy trifecta of directing and filmmaking is character emotion, camera movement and music. When you hit those three, that's magical. That's what I'm trying to do.”

Trying Character Three Emotion Movement Holy Cameras Filmmaking Trifecta

Author:David O. Russell

“I love the stories that have come before, that we know of. I think for me it's always more interesting to start from square one and you take the fundamental pillars of the character and, around that, try to create something new and different.”

Thinking Knows Trying Different Character Stories Interesting Fundamentals Something New Squares Pillars

Author:Chris Pine

“The way I see the job, my definition of it, is to create characters to the best of your ability and then fit into what's trying to be accomplished in the general framework of the film. I think that's whether you're doing this- even if you're doing musical theater. That's what I think an actors job is. I don't know. I like to think what an actors job is is to create characters.”

Ifs Thinking Knows Way Trying Character Jobs Film Actors Ability Fit Theater Musical Definitions Accomplished Framework Musical Theater

Author:Anton Yelchin

“All the characters are made out of words. With reading, I understand that the people aren't real but the fact that they are made out of language and are made out of words is extremely powerful to me. It becomes transformative for me. Different people have different ways of trying to make stories using language.”

People Way Trying Made Different Real Character Facts Stories Reading Language Powerful Different Ways Different Peoples

Author:John Green

“I think that always makes it fun, trying to create a heroic character and putting your own twist on it and injecting your own personality into it.”

Thinking Trying Character Fun Personality Heroic Twists

Author:Dwayne Johnson

“It's so much easier to write for an actor than for an imaginary character and then try to fit that character to an actor. It doesn't work very often in my experience.”

Writing Trying Character Actors Fit Easier Imaginary

Author:Michael Schur

“I try to create characters that I am fascinated by on some level or intrigued by or can't stand.”

Trying Character Levels Fascinated Intrigued

Author:Terry McMillan

“I try to play characters who are different from myself, so I feel like this character is someone who is really different. I actually think that if I did what he did in this movie, I would get a restraining order put against me.”

Ifs Thinking Feels Trying Different Play Character Order Actors Movie Restraining Restraining Orders

Author:Ryan Gosling

“As nature made every man with a nose and eyes of his own, she gave him a character of his own, too; and yet we, O foolish race! must try our very best to ape some one or two of our neighbors, whose ideas fit us no more than their breeches!”

Men Trying Made Two Ideas Character Eye Race Fit Neighbor Foolish Every Man Noses Apes

Book:Miscellanies: The Paris sketch book of Mr. M. A. Titmarsh. The memoirs of Mr. Charles J. Yellowplush. The Irish sketch book. Notes of a journey from Cornhill to Grand Cairo

Source: Miscellanies: The Paris sketch book of Mr. M. A. Titmarsh. The memoirs of Mr. Charles J. Yellowplush. The Irish sketch book. Notes of a journey from Cornhill to Grand Cairo

“It is of very little use in trying to be dignified, if dignity is no part of your character.”

Ifs Trying Littles Character Use Dignity

Book:Summaries of Thought

Source: Summaries of Thought

“I learned a long time ago that you don't have to go around using bad language and trying to hurt people to show how macho you are. That stuff won't get you anywhere, it just shows lack of vocabulary and character.”

People Trying Long Character Shows Language Stuff Hurt Long Time Nfl Vocabulary Long Time Ago Macho Bad Language

Book:More than just a game

Source: More than just a game

“The violence for me is never meant to be entertaining. It's meant to hurt the characters and I'm trying to show the impact it is having on the people involved with it. If there is cathartic violence at the end, then it costs the protagonist something. It's not just a blaze-of-glory moment.”

People Ifs Trying Ends Moments Character Shows Hurt Violence Involved Cost Glory Impact Meant To Be Entertaining Protagonists Cathartic

Author:Charlie Huston

“I've tried the female thing. I was in a movie called Dinner for Schmucks a couple of years ago with Steve Carell and I created a female character for that movie. And after a few months of trying her out on the road it just didn't work. I mean, I can think like a terrorist, I can think like a white trash guy, I can even try and think like an African American, but I can't figure out how a woman.”

Thinking Trying Years Mean I Can Character Guy White Figures Months Couple Female Years Ago Dinner Terrorist African American Trash Female Characters White Trash Schmucks

Author:Jeff Dunham

“I always like to try different things, different genres; stories that have a dramatic element and can generate conflict which I find appealing; where the characters have to overcome obstacles. That kind of thing is challenging.”

Trying Kind Different Character Stories Challenges Conflict Elements Overcoming Obstacles Genre Dramatic Different Things Different Genres

Author:Clint Eastwood

“I think everybody should act! I would encourage everybody to do one thing, join a theater class or something. It's so good to take a character that you think is wildly different from who you are, and to try to relate to that person and become that person is very helpful. It's hard to articulate what you learn, but you can feel the effect of these characters that you play and take with you.”

Thinking Feels Should Trying Persons Different Hard Play Character Class One Thing Effects Theater Who You Are Relate Helpful

Author:Ryan Gosling

“There is no better rule to try a doctrine by than the question, Is it merciful, or is it unmerciful? If its character is that of mercy, it has the image of Jesus, who is the way, the truth, and the life.”

Ifs Way Trying Character Jesus Mercy Doctrine Merciful

Author:Hosea Ballou