I hadn't had a perfect moment yet. And it's very important for me to have perfect moments in exotic countries like that... it kind of lets you know when it's time to go home. Spalding Gray More Quotes by Spalding Gray More Quotes From Spalding Gray I refer to jet lag as 'jet-psychosis - there's an old saying that the spirit cannot move faster than a camel. Spalding Gray psychosiscamelsmoving I think of New York as a puree and the rest of the United States as vegetable soup. Spalding Gray vegetablesnew-yorkthinking All the beautiful waitresses existed like eternal responsibilities. Spalding Gray waitressresponsibilitybeautiful I was raised as an upper-class WASP in New England, and there was this old tradition there that everyone would simply be guided into the right way after Ivy League college and onward and upward. And it rejected me, I rejected it, and I ended up as a kind of refugee, really. Spalding Gray newmetraditionway I knew I couldn't live in America, and I wasn't ready to move to Europe, so I moved to an island off the coast of America - New York City... It was tolerant. It was a place that tolerated differences and could incorporate them and embrace them, which was what America was supposed to be about and wasn't. Spalding Gray livecitynewplace What's so fascinating about New Yorkers is that each person has a whole lexicon of personal logic in the way that they decipher and do what has to be done to enjoy, stay alive, take pleasure in this place. Spalding Gray newplaceenjoyway I think of my father and how confused he was by me. He understood my love for theater, and he understood that New York City was the only place that it was happening in America, really, in any live way. Spalding Gray citymelovefather I'm basically a fearful person. I'm a phobic person. Spalding Gray basicallypersonfearful I may look like an American WASPy doctor or lawyer, but I feel just like Woody Allen. Don't cast me for my looks - I have a very ironic, existential, crazy Jew in me. Spalding Gray doctormelawyercrazy When Mom had her first nervous breakdown, she said she had a vision of Christ coming to her in the living room. Spalding Gray shevisionmomsaid I'm the man who sits behind a table and tells true stories from his life. I'm also an actor. I was trained as an actor at Emerson College, and I use that training to play myself. Spalding Gray myselfmantraininglife When I first came to New York City in 1967, I joined up with Richard Schechner's Performance Group - where we worked in the Performing Garage in SoHo. Spalding Gray cityperformancenewgroup Radio allowed me to be a creator, and TV stole that creation from me by literalizing - and to some extent limiting - my vision. Spalding Gray mecreationvisionradio When people used to ask me why I got involved with Hollywood films, I would say jokingly that it was for the health insurance. Spalding Gray insurancemehealthpeople
