John Lithgow Quotes

I'd sleep under a Vermeer.

I'm a con artist in that I'm an actor. I make people believe something is real when they know perfectly well it isn't.

Look at the darkest hit musicals - Cabaret, West Side Story, Carousel - they are exuberant experiences. They send you out of the theater filled with music

Take care, be kind, be considerate of other people and other species, and be loving.

Time sneaks up on you like a windshield on a bug.

It's a very tough time for the playwright. Broadway has become almost a musical comedy theme park with all these long-running shows.

I learned the most about myself, and you ask what I learned? Well, I learned my strengths and my weaknesses, and it's far more important to learn about your weaknesses than your strengths.

The most exciting acting tends to happen in roles you never thought you could play.

In animation, there's this exhilarating moment of discovery when you see the film and you say, Oh THAT'S what I was doing.

I went to Princeton High School, when I was very serious about being an artist. I was in a theatre family but I didn't want to become an actor.

You kill three people, they call you a murderer. You kill a million people, they call you a conqueror. Go figure.

I never get tired of hearing compliments.

Everybody's a dreamer.

We should have charity for what the dead say. We may disapprove of what they say, but we should not insult them and revile them knowing they cannot not defend themselves.

There's nothing like spending an evening with an audience every night.

I'm very concerned for the future of the earth and its amazing creatures. We've got to be careful and make sure we don't foul our own nest

Books make great gifts because they're something you love that you can share.

If it's well written and well directed and you've got good actors to work with, acting is easy. But making sure all the ducks are in a row is the hard part. It's very rare

I was very interested in being a painter. I had facility, I had talent, and I loved painting and printmaking, and I was quite serious about it.

I find I have to walk a little faster in public these days, but it's very easy to remember when nobody had any idea who I was.

Up there with my awards, I have a great big statue of Groucho Marx, just to put everything in perspective.

Academics tend to have wonderfully infantile senses of humor.

I got a wonderful college education. I went to Harvard. In those four years I accumulated a lot of knowledge but I also created a kind of habit of learning that has stayed with me my whole life.

The Broadway audience is made up of a greater percentage of tourists now. There's not nearly as much variety and danger and challenge in what's being offered.

I gave up shame a long time ago.

For me, working on stage is much more exhausting than all the other mediums, but it's also much more thrilling.

I keep looking for things I haven't done yet.

I can't imagine doing an hour-long dramatic series because it's so much work. A sitcom is a wonderful gig. You work from 10 to 4 every day, it's fun, and you get to live at home.

That's how you deal with stardom; you make it the least important part of your life.

Shakespeare is like mother's milk to me.

I consider myself a very lucky actor that, approaching 60, I'm still employed and employable.

I'm a fun father, but not a good father. The hard decisions always went to my wife

Anyone who hears enough laughter and applause at a young age will become an actor, whether they intend to or not.

I'm always being asked to play roles or characters that I don't really resemble.

It's my theory that if you hear enough applause and laughter at a young enough age, you're doomed

When you end a successful sitcom, the most sensible thing to do is go back to the theater.

If my life was a play, age 35 was my intermission.

I certainly had my years as an out of work actor but I was married with a baby. My wife was supporting us.

If we are ever going to save this society and the world, there has got to be a way for us to work together. That may be more than we can ever hope to achieve, just because of human nature.

I really prize and love great painting. It's so out of date now. It's slightly come back in.

My only regret is that we didn't have more kids. I came from a family of four kids, but my wife and I just started too late.

If you read in front of your kids, it's very likely that they'll become readers, too

I was married very young. I lived a very middle class life. I was married at age 21, divorced at 31. I didn't sleep on people's couches.

It's nice when you've done enough movies that you can do your own anthology.

Any character you play, you're on his side. You do have the third eye that looks at what an appalling creature he is, but you have to look at what's good about him.

I went to Harvard and immediately fell into the theater gang, and I was already an experienced actor, so you go with the flow! I've already used the phrase "campus star."

Instead of being a theater actor who sometimes does movies I became a movie actor who sometimes does theater.

I look for every opportunity to mix comedy and horror and tragedy. I love catching audiences off-guard.

What you aspire to on a sitcom is the feeling of live comedy.

I have a lot of faith in people.