Alan Alda Quotes

Alan Alda is an American actor, director, and writer. He is best known for his role as Hawkeye Pierce in the television series "MAS*H," for which he earned numerous awards and critical acclaim. Alda's career spans over several decades, and he has made significant contributions to the entertainment industry through his versatile performances.

Marie Curie is my hero. Few people have accomplished something so rare - changing science. And as hard as that is, she had to do it against the tide of the culture at the time - the prejudice against her as a foreigner, because she was born in Poland and worked in France. And the prejudice against her as a woman.

Any play is hard to write, and plays are getting h... -Alan Alda

Any play is hard to write, and plays are getting harder and harder to get on the stage.

Backstage life is terrific training for an actor, ... -Alan Alda

Backstage life is terrific training for an actor, seeing shows from the wings.

The President never intends to get into any kind o... -Alan Alda

The President never intends to get into any kind of war situation. He gets carried away by events.

It's not an epitaph. I felt I could look back at my life and get a good story out of it. It's a picture of somebody trying to figure things out. I'm not trying to create some impression about myself. That doesn't interest me.

If I can't get the girl, at least give me more mon... -Alan Alda

If I can't get the girl, at least give me more money.

Discovering the context

This quote humorously reflects the speaker's perspective on their priorities and desires, suggesting that if they cannot attain romantic success in movies, they would settle for financial compensation.

Laugh at yourself, but don't ever aim your doubt at yourself. Be bold. When you embark for strange places, don't leave any of yourself safely on shore. Have the nerve to go into unexplored territory.

I always loved Sid Caesar and all the people on hi... -Alan Alda

I always loved Sid Caesar and all the people on his program.

Awards can give you a tremendous amount of encouragement to keep getting better, no matter how young or old you are.

I must have interviewed 600 or 700 scientists all ... -Alan Alda

I must have interviewed 600 or 700 scientists all around the world.

I was a child, and my mother was psychotic. She loved me, but I didn't really feel I had a mother. And when you live with somebody who is paranoid and thinks you're trying to kill them all the time, you tend to feel a little betrayed.

I've been lucky enough to live through all the things that are supposed to give meaning to our lives, like parenting, grandparenting, art, celebrity. All these things you expect meaning to come from, and sometimes it comes when you're not expecting it.

When does she do all this thinking? We're together all the time but she thinks deeply about things and with feeling and she can remember the facts. We've been married 48 years.

All I've ever tried to do is play real people.... -Alan Alda

All I've ever tried to do is play real people.

You can't get there by bus, only by hard work and risk and by not quite knowing what you're doing. What you'll discover will be wonderful. What you'll discover will be yourself.

Be brave enough to live life creatively. The creat... -Alan Alda

Be brave enough to live life creatively. The creative place where no one else has ever been.

It's too bad I'm not as wonderful a person as people say I am, because the world could use a few people like that.

I'm condemned by some inner compulsion to think about the daily rituals of my life. I have a low grade fever for improving myself in many ways, including everyday tasks.

Be as smart as you can, but remember that it is al... -Alan Alda

Be as smart as you can, but remember that it is always better to be wise than to be smart.

The thing is when you're... well-enough known, you get asked to speak places, and they don't really think about whether or not you're qualified. They just want somebody that will be a drawing card for the audience. So it's up to you to decide whether or not it's foolish to get up and speak to these people.

I don't really worry about the size of the part much any more. It's nice to have more time to work on the character, and to have big scenes to play. But if there's something playable there, and if it's interesting to do, then that's nice.

Begin challenging your assumptions. Your assumptions are the windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in awhile or the light won't come in.

I've been nominated twice before as actor in a leading part. Now I'm nominated as actor in a supporting part. If I don't win, I'll just wait until I'm nominated for being in the theater during the show. Do they have one like that?

I come armed with a really good ignorance. I don't... -Alan Alda

I come armed with a really good ignorance. I don't strive toward ignorance. I come by it naturally.

I hated high school. It was a prison.... -Alan Alda

I hated high school. It was a prison.

I'm most at home on the stage. I was carried onsta... -Alan Alda

I'm most at home on the stage. I was carried onstage for the first time when I was six months old.

Achingly funny as it was, Larry Gelbart's writing gave off sparks that turned a hard light on the way we are.

I find myself going to places where I really have no business, speaking to these people in a whole other field that I have no extensive knowledge of. But I do it very often because it scares me.

I'm most at home on the stage.... -Alan Alda

I'm most at home on the stage.

What I can't completely understand is most other people's fascination with what the famous among us do with their lips and the rest of their bodies. Why do ordinary people become the target of this curiosity simply by virtue of the fact that other people recognise their names and faces but know almost nothing else about them?

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