When I was in college at UCLA, I took a playwriting course. I was all set to be a writer. But I had to take this acting class as a theater arts major. I had to do this scene in a one-act comedy. I just said this line, and then... this laugh happened. I thought, 'Whoa. This is a really good feeling. What have I been missing?'
Interpretation
Exploring new avenues can lead to unexpected joys and fulfillment.
In this quote, Carol Burnett reflects on her experience of taking an acting class during her college years, which opened her eyes to the joy and thrill of performing. Through a single moment of laughter from the audience, she recognized a fulfillment she had been missing in her initial path as a writer, highlighting the importance of being open to new experiences in life.
In practice
In a speech about embracing new opportunities, one might say, 'As Carol Burnett experienced, sometimes a small change can lead to great joy.'
My grandmother and I followed my mother here, to a house a block north of Hollywood Boulevard but a million miles away from Hollywood, if you know what I mean. We would hang out behind the ropes and look at the movie stars arriving at the premieres.
You have to have faith that there is a reason you go through certain things. I can't say I'm glad to go through pain, but in a way one must, in order to gain courage and really feel joy.
It's also selfish because it makes you feel good when you help others. I've been helped by acts of kindness from strangers. That's why we're here, after all, to help others.
I've always been optimistic. And I have a feeling that it happened because of going to all those movies with my grandmother in the '40s because there was no cynicism.
Edgy is fine - I'm not a prude by any stretch of the imagination - but what's wrong with a good ol' belly laugh? I miss that.
My favourite comedian, of course, is Tim Conway. He has a way about him - being that belly-laugh kind of funny, and he has the improvisational skills, too. I've never seen anybody better.
A caricature is putting the face of a joke on the body of a truth.
Whoever wishes to devote himself to painting should begin by cutting out his own tongue
Whatever colors you have in your mind, I'll show them to you and you'll see them shine.
Watch out for music. It should come with a health warning. It can be dangerous. It can make you feel so alive, so connected to the people around you, and connected to what you really are inside. And it can make you think that the world should, and could, be a much better place. And just occasionally, it can make you very, very happy.
Whereas life separates meaning from emotion, art unites them. Story is an instrument by which you create such epiphanies at will, the phenomenon known as aesthetic emotion...Life on its own, without art to shape it, leaves you in confusion and chaos, but aesthetic emotion harmonizes what you know with what you feel to give you a heightened awareness and a sureness of your place in reality.
Art is a collaboration between God and the artist, and the less the artist does the better.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.