You reach a point when you say to yourself, 'Do I want to keep doing this?' There are other things on my plate I want to do - I've been writing a play; I've been neglecting my standup.
Some people, they feel like they have to change and try to go out and do this or do things for the cameras. I'm myself at all times, whether I'm at a grocery store or I'm speaking to a school. I want to be as levelheaded and down to earth as possible, because that's who I am.
I'm known as a kind of dramatic, serious, almost humorless actor and the fact is, I'm a funny guy, and I spend most of my life trying to find a lighter side of things, and on stage was given plenty of opportunity to do that.
Because you have things like 'American Idol' and you've got radio stations that play music made entirely by computers, it's easy to forget there are bands with actual people playing actual instruments that rock.
I've been fortunate enough to be headstrong, to be full of self-belief, and those things have never wavered for me.
Things are simple, it is us human beings that make it difficult.
One of the things I've really gotten past in the last couple of years is the idea of being made uncomfortable by the way things appear, rather than how things are. Clearly in this business you have to contend with a lot of that.
One of the great things about the 'Arrow' crew is that no one is settling for what they did yesterday. They're always thinking about what they can do tomorrow.
I had an allowance, but I had to do things around the house to earn it. I think I always wanted my own money.
Where I grew up in Dallas, things might be a little more traditional. People have the same things in mind. They're supposed to grow up, go to college, get a job, get married, and have children, grandchildren. That's the world I grew up in.
I paint stupid things; that's what I do. I can't think of anything more boring than a really beautiful thing. You have to mess it up. There has to be something a little kinky to keep their attention.
Would I be happy just practicing law? No. Would I be happy just doing TV and speeches? No. I want to do all of these things and be as active as I can... but my main goal is to have some degree of influence on the public discussion.
I am so focused on the fact that the conversation doesn't address any of the things I think are important. I think our political dialogue in America is distorted and completely off track.
Some of the best things in life cost just $2.
I've really learned to appreciate a moment. I take things in a lot. I'm kind of weird like that.
I have my values. I do things that I think are right. I think it is crucial for mankind to go vegetarian. In fact, I think if the United States and one other major power becomes basically vegetarian, the whole world will become vegetarian, eventually.
I believe that sex is one of the most beautiful, natural, wholesome things that money can buy.
There is a criterion by which you can judge whether the thoughts you are thinking and the things you are doing are right for you. The criterion is: Have they brought you inner peace?
Worry is a useless mulling over of things we cannot change.
You know, one of the things I think you understand as president is you're held responsible for everything, but you don't always have control of everything, right?
When I sang that song, I felt it was almost as if some force had moved into my body. Things like that have only happened to me singing jazz. It doesn't happen when singing pop. I get so deeply into the music, it feels like I've become someone else.
When I made my way across childhood to the tinny AM radio, it was dark. Lights out. I listened intently. More intently than I ever had before. Something was speaking to my unformed-ness like a long lost friend. Something that I had never met but forgotten nonetheless. I was 'realizing' that music was 'different' from other things in life.
Little things in my past that I really thought were over and done with were still elements of the puzzle that weren't pieced together, and so she helped me do that.
The advice would be the same for any kind of fiction. Keep writing, and keep sending things out, not to friends and relatives, but to people who have the power to buy. A lot of additional, useful tips could be added, but this is fundamental.
I have things in my head that are not like what anyone has taught me - shapes and ideas so near to me - so natural to my way of being and thinking that it hasn't occurred to me to put them down.
You know, I think a lot of times what happens when we as actors know we're playing a bad guy is we get into bad guy mode. You know what, man? In real life, bad people do good things too and good people do bad things. So you don't necessarily have to be the stereotypical bad guy to still do bad things.
I suppose, at 50, you value things in a different way. So you value connections, you value your friendships, you value your health, and you are much more aware of time passing.
There are few things that you can't do as long as you are willing to apply yourself.
I'm trying to make order out of chaos, trying to find some way of rationalising the horrific things that people do or the way the world is.
At that time, the people that were in the animated film business were mostly guys who were unsuccessful newspaper cartoonists. In other words, their ability to draw living things was practically nil.
Even as a kid, I would always imagine horrible circumstances in which I would find myself in my head, and imagine how I would feel, and act it out a bit for myself, because I was a bit of a freak like that. I love doing things like that, and I get a real buzz from it afterwards.
It is extraordinary to have time to again study Le nozze di Figaro and discover new things.
One of the most extraordinary things about being a spiritual teacher is the rare privilege of being able to look deeply into the very souls of many human beings at the same time.
Perfection is immutable. But for things imperfect, change is the way to perfect them.
Awe and respect are two different things.
When you have a background in combat sports, people think you're this martial arts expert, but really I'm just a guy who is able to do certain things without making a mess of himself.
