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Charles Durning Quotes

Powerful Charles Durning for Daily Growth

Of course, I'm not often the top dog, but sometimes it's better not to be top dog, because you last longer. If a movie or play flops, you always blame the lead. They say, 'He couldn't carry it.' They always blame him. But they rarely blame the second or third banana.

- Charles Durning

Play, Sometimes, Movie, Flops

I would rather do a play because it's instantaneous. You go on the stage, and you know whether it's happening or not. Somebody asked me 'What is acting?' And I said, 'Acting is listening.' And if you ain't listening, nobody's listening.

- Charles Durning

Listening, Play, Rather, Instantaneous

There are many secrets in us, in the depths of our souls, that we don't want anyone to know about.

- Charles Durning

Want, Souls, Anyone, Depths

I was born looking older - and I've been aging since I was a teenager.

- Charles Durning

Born, I Was Born, Been, Teenager

I can't count how many of my friends are in the cemetery at Normandy, the heroes are still there, the real heroes.

- Charles Durning

Real, Count, Still, Cemetery

Acting is ephemeral. You can't hang it on a wall. You can't throw it off. And you can't bring it out of a closet. It's there one night and it's gone the next, at least with stage acting anyhow.

- Charles Durning

Next, Hang, One Night, Stage Acting

You're out there on a high wire without a net, and that's the way actors operate. They have to be fearless about how they work and they have to create a life for the audience in 90 minutes and make them believe.

- Charles Durning

Work, Audience, 90 Minutes, High Wire

I never turned down anything and never argued with any producer or director.

- Charles Durning

Never, Argued, Turned, Producer

That place that no one knows about - horrifying things we keep secret. A lot of that is released through acting.

- Charles Durning

Through, Keep, Lot, Released

I'd like to have a decade of my life back. I dropped into a void for almost a decade.

- Charles Durning

My Life, Decade, Like, Void

There's no nobility with war. It's tear-'em-up destruction that leaves you frustrated, bitter and angry... If you really knew what it was like for an hour, you wouldn't want anyone to go through it.

- Charles Durning

Through, Like, Nobility, Destruction

I was doing judo before anybody knew it existed in this country.

- Charles Durning

Doing, Country, Before, Existed

Dancing came easy for me. Acting came hard.

- Charles Durning

Me, Hard, Came, Dancing

Sometimes you succeed and sometimes you don't.

- Charles Durning

Sometimes, You, Succeed

I was born a character actor.

- Charles Durning

Character, Actor, I Was Born, Character Actor

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