Paul Merton Quotes

The thing about improvisation is that it's not about what you say. It's listening to what other people say. It's about what you hear.

Paul Merton

• Listening
• Improvisation

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Quotes to Explore

• I don't have a phone, but I do have an iPad.

  

  Malala Yousafzai
  • Phone
  • iPad

• Working with special needs children is hard.

  

  Laura Linney
  • Children
  • Working
  • Special

• I wouldn't just have other people write songs and me go out and sing it. I would sit down with a guitar and write 11 or 12 good songs for an album and that is gonna take a long time.

  

  Zac Efron
  • People
  • Time
  • Good

• Cartooning was a good fit for me. And yet now, years later, I almost never think about it.

  

  Gary Larson
  • Good
  • Think
  • Me

• I love the way soft white cheese such as ricotta or the creamier mascarpone reflect the milieu in which an animal has been raised.

  

  Yotam Ottolenghi
  • Way
  • Animal
  • Reflect

• I was very fortunate in my gene mix. The gambling instincts I inherited from my father were matched by my mother's gift for analysis.

  

  T. Boone Pickens
  • Mother
  • Father
  • Gift

• You don't want people thinking you're a cheat just because you're really fast and have broken the world record by a second.

  

  Adam Peaty
  • People
  • World
  • Thinking

• People seldom refuse help, if one offers it in the right way.

  

  A. C. Benson
  • People
  • Help
  • Wisdom

• Two cheers for Democracy; one because it admits variety, and two because it permits criticism.

  

  E. M. Forster
  • Democracy
  • Criticism
  • Cheers

• Most of those coming from the mainland are very destitute, almost naked. I am trying to find places for those able to work, and provide for them as best I can, so as to lighten the burden on the Government as much as possible, while at the same time they learn to respect themselves by earning their own living.

  

  Harriet Tubman
  • Time
  • Work
  • Trying

• Not the fruit of experience, but experience itself, is the end.

  

  Walter Pater
  • Experience
  • End
  • Fruit

• I did not come to NASA to make history.

  

  Sally Ride
  • History
  • Did
  • NASA

• The other day, someone called me this generation's Bruce Dern - I'd never thought of that, and frankly, I don't know enough of Bruce Dern's work to comment on it, though he is an incredible actor.

  

  Garret Dillahunt
  • Work
  • Day
  • Thought

• I think when I first started out making music here in Los Angeles, a lot of people were really curious about my ethnicity, and you know, whatever questions they had, I'd be more than happy to answer them.

  

  Yuna
  • People
  • Music
  • Happy

• I don't get easily bored. I'm not that kind of person.

  

  Sade Adu
  • Kind
  • Person
  • Bored

• In some extremely important ways, people are what you expect them to be, or at least they behave as you expect them to behave.

  

  Naomi Weisstein
  • People
  • Important
  • You

• Too many of Disney animators, and a lot try to emulate Disney, are trying to hit what they call quality levels. They're boring mannerisms.

  

  Ralph Bakshi
  • Trying
  • Quality
  • Try

• 'Lord of the Rings' was a childhood favorite, though the adult Rae wishes the women in those books had more significance and agency.

  

  Rae Carson
  • Women
  • Childhood
  • Wishes

• Accept who you are and try and make the best of that.

  

  Randy Jackson Breakfast Club
  • You
  • Best
  • Try

• Each drawing that I've done, I have found. Meaning, I see a plant I want to draw.

  

  Ellsworth Kelly
  • Done
  • Drawing
  • Plant

• They’re not even lovers,’ said Dolby. ‘They told the news. They’re just very best friends who have found that the person they each want to be is a combination of the two of them.’ I was lagging several beats behind them. ‘“Compatible.” Why do you think they’re compatible?’ ‘Are you kidding? Aren’t you compatible with yourself?’ I gave a short laugh. ‘Depends on who you ask.’ ‘Well, you can’t imagine. The Joy of Congruence is completely beyond you.’ ‘I hope you won’t be offended if I take that as a compliment.’ As soon as I said it, the word lit up in my head. Except it was spelled complement.

  

  Pat Cadigan
  • Up
  • Why
  • Friends

• Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.

  

  Leo Buscaglia
  • Life
  • Power
  • Listening

• Never stop listening to your audience.

  

  David Copperfield
  • Stop
  • Listening

• The thing about improvisation is that it's not about what you say. It's listening to what other people say. It's about what you hear.

  

  Paul Merton
  • Listening
  • Improvisation