That's the privilege of old age: You don't have to remember. Alan Arkin More Quotes by Alan Arkin More Quotes From Alan Arkin All I can say is if the part doesn't delight me in some way, or I can't feel any compassion for it, I just can't do it. Alan Arkin delightcompassionway You know what Andy Warhol's sole contribution to this country has been? He made Campbell's Soup a household word. Alan Arkin warholsoupcountry Two-thirds of American movies are extensions of commercials -- they tell you how to feel and they tell you how to think -- rather than letting you figure it out on your own. Alan Arkin figurestwothinking I played guitar. I've always considered myself an actor, but I wasn't making a living as an actor. So I was in a couple of folk groups that managed to keep me in underwear and burritos. Alan Arkin groupsguitarcouple What I've learned about teaching is to refer back to the root of that word, which is educo, which means "to pull from." Education does not mean jamming information into somebody's head. Rather, it's that ancient idea that all knowledge is within us; to teach is to help somebody pull it out of themselves. Alan Arkin teachingmeanideas No matter what you do or where you are, you're going to be missing out on something. Alan Arkin where-you-aremattermissing If I'm doing a fake movie, it's gonna be a fake hit. Alan Arkin fakeifs TV has taken reflection out of the human condition. People didn't use to have a ready answer for everything, whether they knew something about it or not. People think they have to have an answer for everything because the guys on TV have an answer for everything. But it's bullsh**t! Reflection is crucial. Alan Arkin takenreflectionthinking No matter how much time you spend reading books or following your intuition, you're gonna screw it up. Fifty times. You can't do parenting right. Alan Arkin intuitionreadingbook I read somewhere that some people believe that the entire universe is a matrix of living thought. And I said, "Man, if that's not a definition of God, I don't know what is. Alan Arkin menbelievepeople Either you're growing or you're decaying; there's no middle ground. If you're standing still, you're decaying. Alan Arkin standing-stillmiddlegrowing For many years my acting came from a place of surmounting some enormous obstacle, confronting some stern and faceless judge who would condemn me to a pit of hell if I didn't achieve the "zone," if even for a moment. Not a particularly happy place to work from. Alan Arkin actingjudgingyears Creativity means learning where the rules exist, and then breaking them! Saying, "It's better this way." But you have to know the rules in order to break them with any grace. Alan Arkin creativityordermean Hollywood is a strange place. The class structure here is more rigid than almost anyplace I've ever experienced. It's made more difficult by the fact that it's constantly changing. You never know what class you belong to unless you're one of the two or three people that have been in the same echelon for a long, long time. Alan Arkin strange-placesclasstwo I'm an actor. My life as an actor depends on who sends me what. I'm just taking the best stuff that I can find that's sent my way, regardless of how big or little the paycheck is. I don't want to work for scale anymore. I'm at a point now where, no matter how good something is, I'm not going to kill myself and end up in the hole. Alan Arkin actorswantlittles Is it possible to have an endless series of successes without falling on our faces? I suppose it is, but I think it would entail doing the same things over and over again without taking chances, without taking risks or exploring our limits, without finding out what we can and can't do. Alan Arkin riskfallthinking I gotta keep busy. I'm not happy unless I'm working on two, three things. Alan Arkin threebusytwo Improvisation sometimes seemed more like jazz than acting, like verbal jazz, with the actors playing a theme back and forth, and then introducing another theme, incorporating it, somehow trying to work their way all together to a meaning of some kind, or at least a conclusion. Alan Arkin actingtogethertrying I don't think it does the audience any good to know what I do to prepare. It keeps it more of a surprise. I don't feel like it has to be a mystery. Alan Arkin mysterydoethinking A product is most easily sold when it has an identity. So they wrap you all up and put a label on you. And then that's what you have to be. But what I'm looking for is the opportunity to explore what I can do, probing the limits, learning. Alan Arkin labelsidentityopportunity
