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Very often I find that inspirational quotes can have a lasting, profound affect on how I look at life and also shape the way I approach my work. I wanted to share some of them here and hope you enjoy them as much as I do.
"We must overcome the notion that we must be regular...it robs you of the chance to be extraordinary and leads you to the mediocre." - Uta Hagen - Broadway legend, Master Teacher, Author
“Be regular and orderly in your life, so that you may be violent and original in your work.” - Gustave Flaubert - 19th century French novelist and playwright
"Theatre is my church. That's where I worship, and what I want to happen there is the truth."
- Robert J. Lowery
"In the infinity of life where I am, all is perfect, whole and complete. My unique creative talents and abilities flow through me and are expressed in deeply satisfying ways. There are people out there who are always looking for my services. I am always in demand and can pick and choose what I want to do. I earn good money doing what satisfies me. My work is a joy and a pleasure. All is well in my world." - Shel Fuller
"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light not our darkness that most frighten us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear: our presence automatically lifts others." - Nelson Mandela
"If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours." - Thoreau
"One must be something in order to do something. Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness, concerning all acts of initiative and creation. There is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do or dream you can begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now."
- Goethe
"Who is more brave than the person who walks out on stage, giving his all in the hope of pleasing the audience, but knowing full well that he is in truth at the mercy of a group of people, namely, the crtitics, who, if they dislike his performance, make this fact known, often in quite soul-destroting terms...Actors are often thought of as people who lead fairytale lives or are no'er-do-wells. In point of fact, neither is the truth. They are artists whose minds and bodies take on the aspects of the most ingeniously programmed computer. Yes, the actor manages to carry on with his job in spite of colds, broken bones and personal tragedy, because he has an unassailable dedication to this profession seldom found outside it." - Equity News (February 1983)
"We may affirm absolutely that nothing great in the world has been accomplished without passion. " - Hegel
"Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop." - Lewis Carroll
"If you judge people, you have no time to love them." - Mother Theresa
"I never got a job I didn't create for myself" - Ruth Gordon
"Eighty percent of success is showing up." - Woody Allen
"Be bold and mighty forces will come to your aid." - Anthony Hopkins
"Accept no one's definition of your life, but define yourself." -Harvey Fierstien
"You ain't heard nothin' yet, folks." - Al Jolson (ad lib from The Jazz Singer, July 1927)
Everybody's Free (to wear sunscreen)
Mary Schmich
Chicago Tribune
"Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of '97... wear sunscreen. If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be IT. The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.
Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded. But trust me, in 20 years you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are NOT as fat as you imagine.
Don't worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.
Do one thing every day that scares you.
SING.
Don't be reckless with other people's hearts, don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.
FLOSS.
Don't waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long, and in the end, it's only with yourself.
Remember compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you succeed in doing this, tell me how.
Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements.
STRETCH. Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don't.
Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees, you'll miss them when they're gone.
Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't, maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't, maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself, either. Your choices are half chance, so are everybody else's.
Enjoy your body, use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it, or what other people think of it, it's the greatest instrument you'll ever own.
DANCE. Even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room.
Read the directions, even if you don't follow them. Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly.
Get to know your parents, you never know when they'll be gone for good.
Be nice to your siblings; they are your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.
Understand that friends come and go, but for the precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography in lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young.
Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard; live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.
TRAVEL.
Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will philander, you too will get old, and when you do you'll fantasize that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders. Respect your elders.
Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one might run out.
Don't mess too much with your hair, or by the time you're 40, it will look 85.
Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.
But trust me on the sunscreen.
