Sam Waterston Quotes

I enjoy listening to opera at home, occasionally, but I would much rather see it than just listen to it.

I literally was saved by a role, from becoming a cab driver. I never did have to wait tables, though, so looking back I guess I had it pretty soft.

There is no problem that is not improved by effort, and no effort that is too paltry to be worth undertaking.

I`ve been able to do things that allow me to hold my head up and still be popular.

As for lawyers, it`s more fun to play one than to be one.

I`m sort of obsessed with the news. That is a syndrome. But I don`t watch a whole lot of TV.

If there`s any business that instructs you in the strong hand of fate, it`s show business. You can plan and plan, but it`s what happens to you that really determines what your career will be like.

I came to New York in 1962 and it began to look like I might he able to make a living in 1972.

I don`t think playing a villain is my greatest talent.

Obviously the first roles that you`re proud of are the ones that everybody else liked too.

I`ve always done what I thought was good if I could live on what they were offering-and sometimes if I couldn`t. So even when I was broke, my career didn`t lack for interest.

I think the bait for doing something really is always the part.

The bad guys don`t always get punished and the good guys are not necessarily pure.

I got a note from my father, who said that Success is wonderful, if you don`t inhale. That was his own aphorism, and I think it`s the very best thing he could have said to me or anyone else on the subject.

Good directors say, Here`s where the play is. They stand by the heart of the matter. Some of them stand beside it.

Shakespeare is the one who gets re-interpreted most frequently.

If you`re going to be born ugly and be an actor - the least they can do is let you play Lincoln.

If I have to be typecast, I`d like it to be as Abraham Lincoln.