We have all, at one time or another, been performers, and many of us still are-politicians, playboys, cardinals and kings.
Quotes by Laurence Olivier
I don't know what is better than the work that is given to the actor - to teach the human heart the knowledge of itself.
Living is strife and torment, disappointment and love and sacrifice, golden sunsets and black storms. I said that some time ago, and today I do not think I would add one word.
I take a simple view of life: keep your eyes open and get on with it.
Lead the audience by the nose to the thought.
On belief that John Gielgud was infatuated with his own voice: If he was lost for a moment, he would dive straight back into its honey.
Robert Brustein on Laurence Olivier as Hamlet in a 1948 film: Olivier's idea of introspection was to hood his eyes, dentalize his consonants and let the camera circle his blondined head like a sparrow looking for a place to deposit its droppings.
Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.
I often think that could we creep behind the actor's eyes, we would find an attic of forgotten toys and a copy of the Domesday Book.
On resentment at his forced retirement from the stage after he was fired by Britain's National Theater, My stage successes have provided me with the greatest moments outside myself, my film successes the best moments, professionally, within myself.









