You've got to keep fighting; you've got to risk your life every six months to stay alive.
Elia KazanRead
You have no idea how fragile an actor's self-worth is.
Interpretation
An actor's sense of value is often dependent on external validation, making it fragile.
This quote by Elia Kazan highlights the vulnerability that actors face regarding their self-esteem. Since their worth is frequently measured by public reception and critical acclaim, it creates a precarious situation where external opinions can significantly impact their self-image, revealing a deeper truth about the nature of self-worth in creative professions.
In practice
In discussions about mental health in the entertainment industry, this quote can highlight the demands actors face.
You've got to keep fighting; you've got to risk your life every six months to stay alive.
Acting... was the biggest charge I ever had. What other artist has it so good? Approval so quick?
I've come to believe that everything worth achieving is beyond one's capacity - or seems so at first. The thing is to persist, not back off, fight your fight, pay your dues, and carry on. Effort is all; continue and you may get there despite everything.
A good director's not sure when he gets on the set what he's going to do.
To be a member of the Communist Party is to have a taste of the police state. It is a diluted taste but it is bitter and unforgettable.
I've lost many of my best friends... I'm going to satisfy myself now, not the critics, not even my friends.
It is the mind which creates the world around us, and even though we stand side by side in the same meadow, my eyes will never see what is beheld by yours, my heart will never stir to the emotions with which yours is touched.
I have never been one of those who cares about happiness. Happiness is a strange notion. I am just not made for it. It has never been a goal of mine; I do not think in those terms.
Reactionary: a man walking backwards with his face to the future.
You can always cope with the present moment, but you cannot cope with something that is only a mind projection - you cannot cope with the future.
I think we're lucky to be living when we are, because things are going to get worse.
The meaning of life is that it is to be lived, and it is not to be traded and conceptualized and squeezed into a patter of systems.
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