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William Hurt Quotes

Powerful William Hurt for Daily Growth

It's been a long comeback. Things were pretty dark for me. But I have a faith now, and it saves my day. I was angry with God for a long time because I was unhappy with me. I hadn't learned to make the distinction between God and my parents. But there's a peace now. In the end, I got sick and tired of being sick and tired.

- William Hurt

Sick, Been, Distinction, Faith

I was held hostage and almost executed by a man who was robbing us in the middle of the night.

- William Hurt

Middle, Held, Almost, Executed

Every single second of extra time to work with other actors has definitely always, for me, paid off for the film. For the project. Every single extra heartbeat you could get, mutually considering the scene, was of benefit.

- William Hurt

Always, Other, Heartbeat, Considering

For as privileged an actor as I have been, TV as a standard is short shrift. They have to do it so quickly that they don't stop and take a look. They just shoot. So that's one of the reasons I typically stay away from it. I think art is an act of consideration, and if you're not considering, I don't think you're really doing mankind a favor.

- William Hurt

Been, Standard, TV, Considering

The irony is that the more specific you are in the portrayal of character, the more like other people you are. In the same way, the more you think about how alone you are in this life, you realise how much a brother and sister everyone else is.

- William Hurt

Irony, Other, About, Portrayal

Not to be offensive, not to be capricious, not to be arbitrary, not to be neurotic, not to be an actor outer, you're just trying to get in and you're given so little time to get in gently, but it's always hard.

- William Hurt

Always, Offensive, Given, Little Time

Celebrity is a pathological sickness of the culture. Narcissists on screen being consumed by narcissists off-screen.

- William Hurt

Culture, Celebrity, Consumed, Pathological

I had great qualms about playing a man who was living. I've never met Walt McCandless, and I never will.

- William Hurt

Living, Will, Walt, Qualms

I grew up in the South Pacific. Basically, my brothers were Guamanian. I spoke words of Guamanian long before I spoke words of English, and so I've seen a lot. You know, I've traveled in places where people don't have the benefits of American life. And so I've seen a lot of stuff.

- William Hurt

Benefits, Brothers, South, Traveled

I'm an actor. I play roles in films and theaters. I don't act out, and I don't play people.

- William Hurt

Play, Actor, Films, Theaters

The thrill of acting is the discovery part, so it all changes, but it has to change in a way that fits what is written. You can't just wander off and get interested in your own tangent.

- William Hurt

Change, Own, Part, Wander

The perfection in theater is that it's over the second it's done.

- William Hurt

Done, Over, Theater, Perfection

I'm not there to tailor the role to me: I'm there to tailor me to the role. That guarantees me something, a precious thing, which is creativity. I'm guaranteed that I will have a creative experience, because I will go to it, not demand that it comes to me.

- William Hurt

Precious, Role, Which, Precious Thing

I was very lucky when I was a kid - I travelled a lot and spent a lot of time in Africa, Asia and Europe. I also chant in Sanskrit.

- William Hurt

Lucky, Very, Chant, Travelled

I was a science fiction junkie for a long time.

- William Hurt

Science, Long Time, Fiction, Science Fiction

The enemies of acting are mood and attitude and other general homogenized disruptive entities. Whereas acting is about action - doing - and unless you can figure out a way to craft in an imaginative reality to which you don't submit, you're going to be out of control. You'll flip out. The job is to be surprised.

- William Hurt

Doing, Mood, Other, Whereas

I know what I love about acting - and it's the creative process.

- William Hurt

Love, Process, I Love, Creative Process

Defeating fear is not a light switch. For most of us, it's daily work.

- William Hurt

Work, Light, Most, Daily Work

My first cousin, by the way, on my father's mother side was John Marshall Harlan, who was a Supreme Court justice, as was his grandson. And I think a lot of my fight and my work to struggle for fairness and the techniques of theater and in subject matter probably stems in some way from some sense I have of his issues in life.

- William Hurt

Some, I Think, Stems, Struggle

You get older, and people start passing away. And so if you're lucky - my mom died very young, for instance, and I have friends who died very young - but the point being that, I think if you're awake, you know you're going to pass on. And that the real treasure in life is the long term - relationships that you really value.

- William Hurt

Lucky, I Think, Very, Passing

David Cronenberg knows what we actors do as artists.

- William Hurt

Artists, Knows, David, Cronenberg

The point is that there are challenges within techniques. When you differentiate in technique, you challenge yourself; you ask yourself the same question in a new way.

- William Hurt

Challenges, Question, New, Differentiate

Woody Allen asked me to improv once. I said no.

- William Hurt

Once, Asked, Allen, Woody

I'm coming from the notion that acting is an art. It is not a business. It is about building characters, not about selling personalities.

- William Hurt

Art, Notion, Characters, Personalities

You can only sit on the frustration of wanting to express something for so long.

- William Hurt

Frustration, Only, Wanting, Sit

I am so thrilled by the privilege of life, and yet at the same time I know that I have to let it go.

- William Hurt

Privilege, Go, Same Time, Thrilled

We'd like to prearrange our life on all levels. We'd prefer it to be scripted. But it's not.

- William Hurt

Like, Prefer, Our, Levels

Fame... it's been a challenge, let's put it that way. It's a privilege and a responsibility, and I'm not sure I carried the responsibility well at times, which is embarrassing. And I've had to look and be disappointed in myself occasionally for how I behaved in some circumstances.

- William Hurt

Some, Been, Had, Embarrassing

I have a way of synthesizing. That's what I would encourage any young person to do: take in the ideas, the conflicts, and the world. Watch and listen and live before you go public.

- William Hurt

Young, Go, Before, Conflicts

You have to create a track record of breaking your own mold, or at least other people's idea of that mold.

- William Hurt

Own, Other, Idea, Track Record

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