Quotes About Craft

And I'm very surprised that all this stuff actually worked out to where I could have a career in film, gain the benefit of my education, and be thankful that I was able to break into my craft as an actor.

I owe a huge debt to Anaïs Nin, because I fell into her diaries, essays, and collected letters in my Twenties and Thirties like a fish falling into water. She was, in some ways, a deeply flawed human being, and perhaps she makes a strange kind of hero for someone like me, committed to the ethical and spiritual dimensions of my craft as well as to the technical ones, but a hero and strong influence she remains nonetheless. Source: Her blog .

Craft goes only so far in explaining how an artist uses his gift, and the gift itself is often inexplicable. Autobiography provides an alternate route—a seeming detour that may ultimately tell us something about an artist's sensibility and the experiences that shaped it.

History which is not professedly utilitarian, history which is didactic only as great poetry is unconsciously didactic, may yet possess that highest form of usefulness, the power to thrill the souls of men with stories of strength and craft and daring, and to lift them out of their common selves to the heights of high endeavor.

Deep feeling doesn't make for good poetry. A way with language would be a bit of help.

Deep feeling doesn't make for good poetry. A way with language would be a bit of help.

Certainly the Art of Writing is the most miraculous of all things man has devised.

Kunjali Marakkar is one of the first naval commanders of Kerala. He was an expert at his craft.

Acting is like driving; you can never forget it, and it's in my blood.

You never forget a trade.

If you don't see me act, my work is done. The actor must never take the character beyond the scope of the movie.

The most important thing I learned from Dad about show business was never take myself seriously and never stop having fun with my craft.

I don't think I could have learnt as much about my craft working with stars. Just the sheer freedom you get while working with newcomers is exciting.

Usually it takes me about nine to 12 months to write a book.

I'm still learning my craft, and I've been writing since I was nine.

Ninety percent of a good performance of an actor is based on the material. If you've got the material there, you can ride it.

Actually ninety-nine percent of my acting has nothing to do sci-fi or fantasy, I consider it a good part of my acting, and enjoy the roles I play.

I have no idea what 'method actor' means.

I just have no interest in the industry of acting, I don't want anything to do with it. But I respect the craft.

I still say I have no interest in being an actor - I just love acting.

Songwriting is an art distinct from poetry.

No, I don't harbor any mystical ideas about writing, Your Honor, it's work like any other kind of craft; the power of literature, I've always thought, lies in how willful the act of making it is.

The ultimate message of this book, though, is not that should strive for publication, but that you should become devoted to the craft of writing, for its own sake. Ask yourself what you would do if you knew you would never be published. Would you still write? If you are truly writing for the art of it, the answer will be yes. And then, every word is a victory.

I think the hardest thing about writing is writing. [Interview clip in the In Memoriam section of the 85th Academy Awards ceremony, Feb. 24, 2013]