If no one ever took risks, Michaelangelo would have painted the Sistine floor. Neil Simon More Quotes by Neil Simon More Quotes From Neil Simon I firmly believe that if you follow a path that interests you, not to the exclusion of love, sensitivity, and cooperation with others, but with the strength of conviction that you can move others by your own efforts, and do not make success or failure the criteria by which you live, the chances are you'll be a person worthy of your own respects. Neil Simon effortbelievemoving If you can go through life without experiencing pain you probably haven't been born yet. Neil Simon positivitybornpain When its 100 degrees in New York, it's 72 in Los Angeles. When its 30 degrees in New York, in Los Angeles it's still 72. However, there are 6 million interesting people in New York, and only 72 in Los Angeles. Neil Simon new-yorkpeopleinteresting Once you start compromising your thoughts, you're a candidate for mediocrity. Neil Simon candidatesmediocritycompromise Talent is the gift plus the passion - a desire to succeed so intense that no force on earth can stop it. Neil Simon passionsuccesssports Never underestimate the stimulation of eccentricity. Neil Simon stimulationeccentricityunderestimate I love living. I have some problems with my life, but living is the best thing they've come up with so far. Neil Simon problemattitudeinspirational Rewriting is when writing really gets to be fun. . . . In baseball you only get three swings and you're out. In rewriting, you get almost as many swings as you want and you know, sooner or later, you'll hit the ball. Neil Simon baseballwritingfun Writing is an escape from a world that crowds me. I like being alone in a room. It's almost a form of meditation- an investigation of my own life. Neil Simon like-being-alonemeditationwriting Once you've opened yourself up, it's best to go all the way. Neil Simon way It's always painful when you're writing memoirs because you've got to go through the dark places, but it gives you a chance to find out the person you really are, not the person you thought you were. Neil Simon darkwritinggiving I was constantly being dragged out of movies for laughing too loud. Neil Simon loudlaughing Take care of him. And make him feel important. And if you can do that, you'll have a happy and wonderful marriage. Like two out of every ten couples. Neil Simon weddingmarriageinspirational Everyone thinks they can write a play; you just write down what happened to you. But the art of it is drawing from all the moments of your life. Neil Simon writingartthinking All humor is based on hostility - that's why World War Two was funny. Neil Simon humorwarfunny How long do you want to wait until you start enjoying life? When you're sixty-five you get social security. Neil Simon enjoy-lifewaitinglong Give your mind a chance to travel through foreign languages. Neil Simon chancemindgiving The body of a young woman is God's greatest achievement...Of course, He could have built it to last longer but you can't have everything. Neil Simon womenachievementbody Writers feel like a middleman, standing with pen in hand over the page. A force greater than me stands above telling me what to write. That may sound romantic, but that's how it feels. Neil Simon writingmayhands I don't want to restrict the life of a play to a particular production. The original actors might leave after the first six months, and I want the play to last 30 or 40 years. You write for the character, not the actor on the stage. Neil Simon writingcharacteryears
