Quotes from F. Murray Abraham

I cannot imagine not working. I don't understand the word 'retirement.'

I'm first-generation American - my people came over on boats - and I think it's a shame to close the door on people who really need freedom.

After I finished school, I headed for Los Angeles, thinking, 'Movies. Beaches.' But I wanted to do serious stage work, so I upped sticks and moved to New York to study. I did the usual day jobs to support myself - waiting on tables, washing dishes, parking cars, anything to pay the rent. I was a terrible waiter, by the way.

The difficulty is capturing surprise on film.

I don't want to talk in terms of miracles. I think this is a very serious situation. But I do want to talk in terms of Bush becoming a man of the hour, and I think this is way to do it.

I'm the spokesperson for the Multifaith Alliance for Syrian Refugees. My father was from Syria. It's an American initiative, and it's multi-faith. So, it's maybe 60-65 different organisations, Jews, Christians, Hindus... Anyway, it's very important and serious.

I'm passionate about politics, but when it comes to political parties, I'm despondent. I'm disappointed at the absence of a sense of humanity and struggle to not become a cynic.

Suddenly I was the man who got the part that every actor in the English language was trying to get. I was really scared. I had talked the talk, and now I had to walk the walk. For three days, I couldn't answer the phone.

I'd like President Bush to get a gun in his hands. I'll go with him. I can't think of anything better than to die in place 's just beginning their lives.

Whenever there were parties, I wasn't invited because I began to be like that character. In a way, that contributed to the success of the performance.

My family is blue-collar - coal miners and steelworkers. My father was an automobile mechanic, and us boys were brought up to work. I used to pump gasoline at 11 cents a gallon. I thought I would like to be a first-rate mechanic; a respected, hard-working man.

No matter all of your credits and accomplishments - you can be forgotten in a trice. The idea that you have to go back and start again after considerable success can destroy you if you're not strong. I never lost track of who I am and what I can do, because I continually find things to do, but not everyone has that resource.

I was a hoodlum. I was a gang member, and art saved my life.

Marlon Brando was the major influence in my life, though I never met him. And my father - we didn't get along, but he was an influence in terms of honesty and work ethic. That's the greatest compliment I could pay him.

I just throw it out and see what happens. If it sounds and feels right, then I continue.

I'm just having a wonderful time. It's an interesting thing that I'm very comfortable with this material and I don't know why. Maybe it's because I did MacBeth.

I love parties. I love a good time.

There is one confrontation scene toward the end of the picture. In the middle of the scene, I thought, That's Sean Connery! I don't know how else to describe Sean Connery. I still feel that way.

I trust that the president will try, just give it one more shot, some revolutionary way of not doing this, of bringing all those kids back home safely.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, I don't know if you'd call him a great actor, but he's amazing in terms of his presence, and he is interesting enough that you want to watch him.

One of the great values of the theater is a communal search for truth; I believe that sincerely.

I'm not afraid to go anywhere, to the smallest theatre or the least amount of money.

With Dick Smith there, and the words of Peter Shaffer... they've got to be the most beautiful descriptions in music ever written on film or in literature. And we could hear the music accompanying the words... What more can you ask for?

I can't pretend at how much I object to all of the plays that keep being brought back over and over again, the so-called classic plays. I mean how many times can we see 'The Glass Menagerie?'