You've got to keep fighting; you've got to risk your life every six months to stay alive.
Elia KazanRead
I've lost many of my best friends... I'm going to satisfy myself now, not the critics, not even my friends.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes prioritizing personal satisfaction over seeking approval from others.
Elia Kazan reflects on the loss of important friendships and the realization that true happiness comes from within rather than from external validation. He suggests that individuals should focus on their own desires and needs rather than trying to please critics or even close friends, suggesting that self-fulfillment is paramount.
In practice
In a motivational speech about personal growth.
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 would rather do what I did than crawl in front of a ritualistic Left and lie the way those other comrades did betray my own soul.
There is nothing more becoming any wise man, than to make choice of friends, for by them thou shalt be judged what thou art: let them therefore be wise and virtuous, and none of those that follow thee for gain; but make election rather of thy betters, than thy inferiors.
We are all travelers in the wilderness of this world, and the best we can find in our travels is an honest friend.
I'd rather have two good friends, than 500,000 admirers.
Only solitary men know the full joys of friendship. Others have their family; but to a solitary and an exile, his friends are everything.
There are few things in which we deceive ourselves more than in the esteem we profess to entertain for our firends. It is little better than a piece of quackery. The truth is, we think of them as we please, that is, as they please or displease us.
As long as you are lucky, you will have many friends; if cloudy times appear, you will be alone. -Donec eris felix, multos numerabis amicos; tempora si fuerint nubila, solus eris
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