Laurence Olivier Quotes

Acting is a masochistic form of exhibitionism. It is not quite the occupation of an adult.

The humility to prepare and the self-confidence to bring it off.

Don't waste your time striving for perfection; instead, strive for excellence - doing your best.

Have a very good reason for everything you do.

If I wasn't an actor, I think I'd have gone mad. You have to have extra voltage, some extra temperament to reach certain heights.

Surely we have always acted; it is an instinct inherent in all of us. Some of us are better at it than others, but we all do it.

The art of persuasion. The actor persuades himself, first, and through himself, the audience.

Use your weaknesses; aspire to the strength.

Striving for perfection is the greatest stopper there is. You'll be afraid you can't achieve it. It's your excuse to yourself for not doing anything. Instead, strive for excellence, doing your best.

Acting is illusion, as much illusion as magic is - and not so much a matter of being real.

No matter how well you perform, there's always somebody of intelligent opinion who thinks it's lousy.

Shakespeare - The nearest thing in incarnation to the eye of God.

I don't know what is better than the work that is given to the actor-to teach the human heart the knowledge of itself.

I believe that in a great city, or even in a small city or a village, a great theater is the outward and visible sign of an inward and probable culture.

Lead the audience by the nose to the thought.

What is acting but lying and what is good lying but convincing lying?

Don't be afraid to be outrageous; the critics will shoot you down anyway.

I'm rather bored by the subject - meaning me. It's a sort of a yoke, but at times you know, a yoke is a kind of comfort. And it's always there.

Art is a little bit larger than life - it's an exhalation of life and I think you probably need a little touch of madness.

Above all, you must remain open and fresh and alive to any new idea.

Acting is an everlasting search for truth.

What is the main problem of the actor? It is to keep the audience awake, and not let them go to sleep, then wake up and go home feeling they've wasted their money.

Living is strife and torment, disappointment and love and sacrifice, golden sunsets and black storms. I said that some time ago, and today I do not think I would add one word.

We have all, at one time or another, been performers, and many of us still are - politicians, playboys, cardinals and kings.

Life is enthusiasm, zest.

We ape, we mimic, we mock. We act.

Acting, is not a profession for adults.

I often think that could we creep behind the actor's eyes, we would find an attic of forgotten toys and a copy of the Domesday Book.

Without acting, I cannot breathe.

[May 1958, on playing Macbeth at age 30 and age 48] When you're a young man, Macbeth is a character part. When you're older, it's a straight part.

There is a spirit in us that makes our brass to blare and our cymbals crash-all, of course, supported by the practicalities of trained lung power, throat, heart, guts.

We used to have actresses trying to become stars; now we have stars trying to become actresses.

If he was lost for a moment, he would dive straight back into its honey.

If you're an artist, you've got to prove it.

You think you're an artist; prove it

I believe in the theater; I believe in it as the first glamorizer of thought. It restores dramatic dynamics and their relations to life size.

My stage successes have provided me with the greatest moments outside myself, my film successes the best moments, professionally, within myself.

Work is life for me, it is the only point of life - and with it there is almost religious belief that service is everything.

I am far from sure when I am acting and when I am not or, should I more frankly put it, when I am lying and when I am not. For what is acting but lying and what is good acting but convincing lying?

Scratch an actor and you'll find an actor.

I have to act to live.

Nobody is going to pretend that I am younger than I am. Apart from anything else, it is in the papers all the damn time - every time I have a birthday.

I take a simple view of living. It is keep your eyes open and get on with it.

Life is enthusiasm zest.

I know it was wonderful but I don't know how I did it.

Acting is illusion, as much illusion as magic is, and not so much a matter of being real.

[the only acting advice he would give] What is acting but lying and what is good lying but convincing lying?

I don't know what is better than the work that is given to the actor - to teach the human heart the knowledge of itself.