I wanted to be Stan Laurel, then I wanted to be Fred Astaire and then Captain Kangaroo. I actually started out as a radio announcer when I was 17 and never left the business so that's literally 70 years.
Dick Van DykeRead
I was lucky to get the kinds of parts I wanted. I always said I didn't want to do anything my kids can't see.
Interpretation
Dick Van Dyke emphasizes the importance of choosing roles that are appropriate for children while expressing gratitude for the opportunities he had.
In this quote, Dick Van Dyke reflects on his career choices, highlighting his desire to select roles that are suitable for family viewing. His focus on creating content that his children could enjoy underscores a commitment to values that prioritize wholesome entertainment and responsibility as a parent.
In practice
During a speech about family values at a charity event.
I wanted to be Stan Laurel, then I wanted to be Fred Astaire and then Captain Kangaroo. I actually started out as a radio announcer when I was 17 and never left the business so that's literally 70 years.
I didn't even start dancing until I was in my thirties, and it was like flying.
I get little kids who recognize me from 'Mary Poppins,' and it just delights me because it's our third generation.
Just knowing you don't have the answers is a recipe for humility, openness, acceptance, forgiveness, and an eagerness to learn - and those are all good things.
I never had a lot of drive, but because I had family responsibilities, I had a lot of tenacity - the tenacity of a drowning man.
Somebody asked what I wanted on my gravestone. I'm just going to put: 'Glad I Could Help.'
I wonder if anyone can ever succeed in making their children content.
The babe at first feeds upon the mother's bosom, but it is always on her heart.
Some of my best memories are sitting on my dad's lap, cheering on Olga and Nadia, Carl Lewis and others for their brilliance and perfection.
I love conversations with kids in the meet and greet lines — little people with little voices! I love babies. Someday I would love to be a parent, but I want that time to come when I’ve experienced so much of the world. My life will be devoted to making that child’s life as wonderful, beautiful, magical and perfect as it can possibly be. I want to wait until there is no ounce of me left that has anything self-centered to experience.
HERE It’s- Can I say? It’s like the song of a family where everything’s always all right, it’s a song of belonging that makes you belong just by hearing it, it’s a song that’ll always take care of you and never leave you. If you have a heart, it breaks, if you have a heart that’s broken, it fixes.
On the good days, my mother would haul out the ukulele and we'd sit around the kitchen table - it was a cardboard table with a linoleum top - and sing.
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