Quotes from Kenneth Branagh

I choose to be inspired by things that have been done well in the past. So, I don't worry about being compared, because I think that does paralyze you.

For a nanosecond in the pre-Internet pre-digital age, I was a hot young actor, in the sense of popular, and then it passed.

My dad, for the first 15 years of my career, on every visit he made to a play or a film set, would find the oldest person on set and say, 'Do you think my son has a future?'

Sometimes I used to think to myself, 'Have I lost a sense of humor?' but I don't think that I have. I think one can be as snarky and sarcastic as lots of people, but I have never found that it makes me particularly happy.

One of the problems with Shakespeare is that you can never give him a ring.

I've always loved the Bond films.

I remember the first book I bought, when I was about 11... Dad said, 'What have you got that for? What are libraries for?'

I think television goes through phases, like other creative arts, where suddenly a group of people are producing exciting work all at once.

I have a pathetic urge at some stage in my life to be able to pull out my wallet and pull out a little card on which it would say, 'Kenneth Branagh, artistic director.'

The idea of accumulating ambitions or achievements didn't get much further than wanting to do the next exciting thing. I really haven't set out with any list of achievements.

Shakespeare's always on my dance card if it can be.

I'm basically quite a cheerful person.

The Chinese say, 'It's good to live in interesting times.'

I think we love the escapism of something like 'Cinderella,' and I think we do with 'Thor.'

I suppose, at 50, you value things in a different way. So you value connections, you value your friendships, you value your health, and you are much more aware of time passing.

There is some mysterious thing that goes on whereby, in the process of playing Shakespeare continuously, actors are surprised by the way the language actually acts on them.

Life is surreal and beautiful.

Actors are the best and the worst of people. They're like kids. When they're good, they're very very good. When they're bad they're very very naughty.

Variety is very, very good. Going from medium to medium, if you get the chance to do it, from theater to television to film, which are all distinctly different, keeps me sharp.

If it's good art, it's good.

In the hands of a great poet, words have ways of affecting us in ways we don't understand.

It doesn't mean old or younger. I've learned a lot from people much younger than me as well as people much older than me. So I think it's about honesty and generosity.

Life is about making plans from which you deviate, almost always. If you are lucky, you do come up with a plan.

I went to a comprehensive school and didn't go to university.