John Lithgow's Quotes

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.

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.

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.

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

Everybody's a dreamer.

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.

Academics tend to have wonderfully infantile senses of humor.

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

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

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.

I gave up shame a long time ago.

I have a lot of faith in people.

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

I never get tired of hearing compliments.

I was in 20 Shakespearean plays by the time I was 20.

I'd sleep under a Vermeer.

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

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.

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

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

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

Shakespeare is like mother's milk to me.

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