James Lipton Quotes & Sayings

“Comedians don't laugh. They're too busy analyzing why it's funny or not.”

“I did get Tom Hanks to say, Life is just a box of chocolates.”

“I think that anybody's craft is fascinating. A taxi driver talking about taxi driving is going to be very, very interesting.”

“They change. They're different. There are no two alike, that's the miracle of it. But if they have something to teach the students. You can see them writing during the show.”

“I thought we would have at most an audience of 5,000 devotees because I made the decision to stick to craft, not to gossip, not to be interested in any of the juicy stuff that they talk about on other shows, but stick to the question of craft.”

“The difference - the fundamental difference between theater acting and film acting is that film acting is disjunctive.”

“The foundation for film acting is stage acting.”

“I was dealing with craft, and that's the surprising thing, the number of people who have literally broken down on our stage, because when you're talking about the thing that is most important to someone, they're liable to feel something strong.”

“If I were to ask you for example right now to go back with me and define those moments in your life that shaped you as a person and you began to reexamine them, something would happen.”

“The definition of genius, really, should be that that person can do what the rest of us have to learn how to do.”