Half the people in Hollywood are dying to be discovered and the other half are afraid they will be.
Interpretation
This quote captures the duality of the desire for recognition and the fear of exposure in the entertainment industry.
Lionel Barrymore's quote reflects a fundamental truth about the human experience, particularly in the context of Hollywood, where many individuals yearn for fame and recognition while simultaneously fearing the potential consequences of being in the spotlight. This paradox illustrates the complexities of ambition and the insecurities that often accompany the pursuit of one's dreams in a competitive and judgmental environment.
In practice
This quote can be used to open a discussion on the pressures of fame in a film studies class.
Maybe it'll stop you trying to be so desperate about making more money than you can ever use? You can't take it with you, Mr. Kirby. So what good is it? As near as I can see, the only thing you can take with you is the love of your friends.
America was founded by people who believe that God was their rock of safety. I recognize we must be cautious in claiming that God is on our side, but I think it's all right to keep asking if we're on His side.
Though the most beautiful creature were waiting for me at the end of a journey or a walk; though the carpet were of silk, the curtains of the morning clouds; the chairs and sofa stuffed with cygnet's down; the food manna, the wine beyond claret, the window opening on Winander Mere, I should not feel -or rather my happiness would not be so fine, as my solitude is sublime.
I am not myself in any degree ashamed of having changed my opinions.
Laissez faire does not mean: let soulless mechanical forces operate. It means: let individuals choose how they want to cooperate in the social division of labor and let them determine what the entrepreneurs should produce.
Every day a new picture is painted and framed, held up for half an hour, in such lights as the Great Artist chooses, and then withdrawn, and the curtain falls. And then the sun goes down, and long the afterglow gives light.
Only in the last moment in history has the delusion arisen that people can flourish apart from the rest of the living world.
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