Quotes About Work

I love my stuff - you're not supposed to say that. But because I'm performer as well as a writer, I'm constantly interacting with my own work. I always get to find these little secrets that I left for myself, little notes - I find them all over the scores.

Not working is bad for you. It is my drug, it gives me a high; most performers will tell you that. And there is nothing like the high that an audience gives you.

The only thing that I can contribute as director is to work with the performers in a way that brings out the drama.

I'm just grateful to have a job. There are an awful lot of talented performers out there who are out of work.

When you are working on a script, the story itself is not difficult. You say this would happen and then this, resulting perhaps in this. And the dialogue you make as true as you can.

You can't do a machine without knowing something about how it's going to work. As for the romantics, the costumes bored me and I don't enjoy doing period clothes.

I like to work for a while, and then do nothing for some period.

I do think that despite my best efforts to resist it, I am now a grown-up. It's due to lots of very difficult decisions that you make over a long period of time - about motherhood, wifehood, and work, and all the things that one has to make decisions about.

I had children very young. You go through a period of immense guilt about being a working mother.

Incredibly lucky to be an actor at this period in history. I'm able to work in this business and look put-together - sexy, even - with natural hair.

To be truly engaged at work, your brain needs periodic breaks to gain fresh perspective and energy.

I work a lot, so I don't really live anywhere for very long periods of time.

I used to write exclusively with one particular Montblanc fountain pen, although lately I have had to use a roller-tip fountain pen, because I find it harder and harder to control the fine muscles of my right hand during prolonged periods of work. I buy boxes of Deluxe Uni-ball pens, use them until they start to drag, and then change.

It's funny - when I first started as an actor, obviously there were long periods of being idle and all you want to do is work. So if I ever get the compulsion to feel like I should complain or feel like I want to take a break, I just remember how I was before and be very grateful for it.

I find I often just fall into a stone-like sleep, right in the middle of the day, just sort of clonk. I can't work for extended periods when I'm beginning something. But if I'm at the end of something, I can work on for hours and hours and hours.

You don't get to see your family much. In the movie business, directors often go out of town for long periods of time, and even if you're in town, you're working 14-15 hour days. People tend to not balance out the important things in their lives with their career.

As an actor, you're not working every day and sometimes not for long periods of time.

My father calls acting 'a state of permanent retirement with short spurts of work.'

I do a lot of work that's permanent. The drawings, the sculptures, they're permanent.

My dad was a roofer when I was young. I believe he owned his own roofing company in Florida. And then he fell through a roof, broke his back. Permanently. I mean, he's not paralyzed or anything, but he's had to deal with pain for all of his life since then.

For me, the key is years of the blessed filmmakers I've worked with giving me permission to be bold and jump off cliffs and to be boundaryless. I would put David Lynch at the top of that list.

Many inherited disorders can perpetuate poverty by leading to disabilities that disrupt people's ability to work. In turn, someone's capacity to secure an effective new cure for these diseases can mean the difference between a life led productively, or one plagued by infirmity.

To really be conscious of how long the journey is, be patient, push yourself, persevere, and always be working on your craft while waiting for your break. That's what I'm still working on, having done this for 20 years now.

I grew up watching my father work, and learning from him what good quality is. I took from him the passion to create beautiful and exclusive products. He also taught me to persevere if I want to reach my goals.