Creativity is not a talent. It is a way of operating. John Cleese More Quotes by John Cleese More Quotes From John Cleese In Britain, girls seem to be either bright or attractive. In America, that's not the case. They're both. John Cleese attractivegirlamerica I wish you wusses would stop whining about your unhappiness. I'm really fed up with it. Pour yourself a scotch and pull yourself together. Go out and shoot something! John Cleese unhappinesswishtogether I have several times made a poor choice by avoiding a necessary confrontation. John Cleese creativitydesignchoices Filming takes a lot out of you. It really does. It's immensely demanding, and you have to put the rest of your life in the icebox until you do your final shot. John Cleese rest-of-your-lifefinalsdoe I think you can write very good comedy without a partner, but what I love about it, working with a partner, is that you get to places you'd never get on your own. It's like when God was designing the world and decided we couldn't have children without a partner; it was a way of mixing up the genes so you'd get a more interesting product. John Cleese writingchildrenthinking I was very sad to hear of the death of Ronnie Barker, who was such a warm, friendly and encouraging presence to have when I started in television. He was also a great comic actor to learn from. John Cleese actorsfriendlytelevision But then acting is all about faking. We're all very good at faking things that we have no competence with. John Cleese very-goodfake-peopleacting My compulsion to always be working has become less strong and my current business is purely down to this enormous alimony. If I wasn't doing this I'd be making documentaries about wildlife and other subjects that interest me. John Cleese documentarieswildlifestrong As Daniel Levitin writes, our brain is a "giant pattern detector." If we read something that coincides with what we already believe we're more likely to give it credence, while the opposite is not true. John Cleese writinggivingbelieve I'm always meeting new people, and my list of friends seems to change quite a bit. John Cleese meetingslistspeople When the target audience is American teenage kids, you can have problems. My generation prized really fine acting and writing. Sometimes you have to go back to the basic principles which underpin great visual comedy. John Cleese teenagewritingkids Most of the bad taste I've been accused of has been generic bad taste; it's been making fun of an idea as opposed to a person. John Cleese tastefunideas Your Mother was A Hamster and you Father Smelled of elder berries. John Cleese berriesmotherfather What have the Romans ever done for us? John Cleese rhetorical-questionholy-graildone It's not the despair, Laura. I can take the despair. It's the hope I can't stand. John Cleese briandespairlaura I started to make harder jokes before anyone else did. And the producers would get anxious. They'd say, 'That's a little bit hard-edged, isn't it?' And I'd say, 'Let's just try it and see how the audience reacts. If they don't like it, let's cut it out.' And the audience roared with laughter, so I learned you could do this harder humor and people loved it. John Cleese laughtercuttingpeople I tend to have an odd split in my mind: I tend to look at it as a writer and when the writing thing is OK and I'm happy with it, then I put on my actor's hat. John Cleese mindwritinglooks I can certainly see that you know your wine. Most of the guests who stay here wouldn't know the difference between Bordeaux and Claret. John Cleese vineyardsdifferenceswine Yes it's her husband. She hasn't got over it. Died thirty years ago. John Cleese husbandfunnyyears If I can get you to laugh with me, you like me better, which makes you open to my ideas John Cleese humourlaughingideas
