Charles Durning Quotes
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There are many secrets in us, in the depths of our souls, that we don't want anyone to know about.
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Of course, I'm not often the top dog, but sometimes it's better not to be top dog, because you last longer. If a movie or play flops, you always blame the lead. They say, 'He couldn't carry it.' They always blame him. But they rarely blame the second or third banana.
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I was doing judo before anybody knew it existed in this country.
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I was born looking older... and I've been aging since I was a teenager.
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I can't count how many of my friends are in the cemetery at Normandy, the heroes are still there, the real heroes.
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I would rather do a play because it's instantaneous. You go on the stage, and you know whether it's happening or not. Somebody asked me 'What is acting?' And I said, 'Acting is listening.' And if you ain't listening, nobody's listening.
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There's no nobility with war. It's tear-'em-up destruction that leaves you frustrated, bitter and angry... If you really knew what it was like for an hour, you wouldn't want anyone to go through it.
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If I had my druthers, I would do only stage work.
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Acting is ephemeral. You can't hang it on a wall. You can't throw it off. And you can't bring it out of a closet. It's there one night and it's gone the next, at least with stage acting anyhow.
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You're out there on a high wire without a net, and that's the way actors operate. They have to be fearless about how they work and they have to create a life for the audience in 90 minutes and make them believe.
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You make the money in movies and TV so you can do theater. I do a play a year... somewhere.
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I was born a character actor.
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That place that no one knows about - horrifying things we keep secret. A lot of that is released through acting.
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I lack confidence as an actor.
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Dancing came easy for me. Acting came hard.
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I'd like to have a decade of my life back. I dropped into a void for almost a decade.
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I think I've done 200 plays and 125 movies, so I've been very lucky to have made a living at acting.
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Sometimes you succeed and sometimes you don't.
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I never turned down anything and never argued with any producer or director.
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In order for your dreams to come true, you've got to stay awake.