"The old-fashioned idea that the simple piling up of experiences, one on top of another, can make you an artist, is, of course, so much rubbish. If acting were just a matter of experience, then any busy harlot could make Garbo’s Camille pale."

Helen Hayes Politics See all quotes by Helen Hayes →

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More by Helen Hayes

“Stardom can be a gilded slavery.”

“An actress always knows when she’s hit it and mostly you haven’t; but once or twice I think I hit it right, so maybe that’s good enough for one life.”

“Actors work and slave — and it is the color of your hair that can determine your fate in the end.”

“The worst constructed play is a Bach fugue when compared to life.”

“The truth that there is only one terminal dignity — love. And the story of love is not important — what is important is that one is capable of love. It is perhaps the only glimpse we are permitted of eternity.”

“One has to grow up with good talk in order to form the habit of it.”

Resonant Thoughts

"It is the asymmetry of the bonus system that got us here. No incentives without disincentives: capitalism is about rewards and punishments, not just rewards."

— Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Mathematics1960

#justice

"Von Hayek was wrong. In strong and vibrant democracies, a generous social-welfare state is not a road to serfdom but rather to fairness, economic equality and international competitiveness."

— Jeffrey David Sachs

Economics1954

#justice

"But she just stood there, scared that I might snapI looked in her eyes and there were years of disappointment starin' right backAnd I was scared too, scared of what she would sayBut I was embarassed l…"

— Danny!

Music1983

#justice

"Yes, he said. I busted him and he busted me. That's fair, ain't it?The boy was still silent, calmly incredulous.No, Sylder went on, I ain't forgettin about jail. You think because he arrested me that …"

— Cormac McCarthy

Literature1933–2023

#justice