Best 115 quotes of Philip Seymour Hoffman on MyQuotes

Acting is so difficult for me that, unless the work is of a certain stature in my mind, unless I reach the expectations I have of myself, I'm unhappy. Then it's a miserable existence. I'm putting a piece of myself out there. If it doesn't do anything, I feel so ashamed. I'm afraid I'll be the kind of actor who thought he would make a difference and didn't. Right now, though, I feel like I made a little bit of difference.

Acting's difficult for me because I think you have to be passionately involved in what you're doing.

Actors are responsible to the people we play. I don't label or judge. I just play them as honestly and expressively and creatively as I can.

All over the world, young men and young women will always dream dreams.

A lot of people describe me as chubby, which seems so easy, so first-choice. Or stocky. Fair-skinned. Tow-headed. There are so many other choices. How about dense? I mean, I'm a thick kind of guy. But I'm never described in attractive ways. I'm waiting for somebody to say I'm at least cute. But nobody has.

A self-awareness moment. All of a sudden everything he has done comes flashing into his mind, a self-criticism that is unbearable.

Being unemployed is not good for an actor. No, it isn't, no matter how unsuccessful you are. Because you always remember getting fired from all the restaurants. You remember that stuff very, very strongly.

Being with a kid always takes you to being a kid somehow, and they really are showing me a childhood I might not have had in some way.

Bob Glaudini, the writer, he's a wonderfully talented man and all his plays and his screenplays, they all have sense of something bigger, even though you're looking at something very simple.

Creating something is all about problem-solving.

Directing is a really kind of amazing thing, because you're helping others and, in the middle of that, you have to worry about yourself.

Don't let people treat you like a cigarette, they only use you when they're bored and step on you when they're done. Be like drugs, let them die for you.

Films are always a fiction, not documentary. Even a documentary is a kind of fiction.

Film's hard when you don't have any relationship with the director at all and you just show up. Then you really are just a gun for hire.

For me, acting is torturous, and it's torturous because you know it's a beautiful thing. I was young once, and I said, that's beautiful and I want that. Wanting it is easy, but trying to be great - well, that's absolutely torturous.

Frankly, I get much more sensitive about what's written about me than how I look in a photo. I'm so used to people seeing my image in plays and films that what they think about how I look is none of my business. If they says, "Hey, he doesn't look good," I'm like, Whatever, because I know I look different from day to day. But if you're up there putting your heart into something and people reject your performance, that's very painful. The written word can kick your ass.

Good work is the only thing that would make me feel jealous or envious.

I always knew where I needed to go but I sometimes had a problem getting there, so I had to work harder at it. Once in a while I'd wanna take off the blouse and heels because I'd get that "I just wanna be a guy" feeling I had when growing up.

I always thought I'd be a New York theater actor, riding my bicycle to rehearsal. That was all I ever wanted.

I didn't go out looking for negative characters; I went out looking for people who have a struggle and a fight to tackle. That's what interests me.

I do feel like all the people I meet, all the people I'm in discussions with, if I'm working with somebody, I sense the same energy that everybody is suffering from the same predicament.

I don't get nervous when I'm directing a play. It's not like acting.

I don't know, I was young, I drank too much, you know, so I stopped. You know what I mean, it's not really complicated. I had no interest in drinking in moderation. And I still don't. Just because all that time's passed doesn't mean maybe it was just a phase. That's you know, that's who I am.

I feel like the need to want to create and make something is stronger than the difficulties are going through.

If I'm directing actors, I learn about acting that way. If I'm acting, I learn about directing that way. Producing is just something that's come about because there's projects I find interesting that I would like to help get done.

If I was a little bit younger I would worry more. I'd want to do one thing at a time but now I try to do a bunch of different things at a time if I can.

If you get a chance to act in a room that somebody else has paid rent for, then you're given a free chance to practice your craft.

I got into plays in high school then I ended up going to college for it.

I had a father who was a traveling salesman.

I had insecurities and fears like everybody does, and I got over it. But I was interested in the parts of me that struggled with those things.

I have a fine level of recognition in the business and among the acting community now, so I consider myself one of the lucky ones. If I didn't think that, there would be something wrong with me. I'm grateful and thankful for what I've got.

I have an awful memory, and I have a great memory. Meaning that, if I'm trying to remember something, I can't remember it. But my recall is fantastic.

I have so much empathy for these young actors that are 19 and all of a sudden they're beautiful and famous and rich. I'm like, 'Oh my God, I'd be dead.'

I have three children and I think I'm happy when I'm with them and they're okay. When I see them enjoying each other in front of me, and then they let me enjoy them in turn. That brings a feeling which I would say is happiness.

I know I wasn't as handsome as some other guys, but I was OK with that.

I know some really great actors who are pretty judgmental people, pretty critical people. But they're great actors. When they're acting, that's the craft.

I know that obviously, that if you want to get the story, if you want to get close to somebody, if you want to find out what is really the truth or what's really interesting, you have to create a trust between these two things, between the journalist and the subject.

I like so many different kinds of music just because all I did was listen to the radio as a kid.

I like to come to the set with very strong ideas and strong opinions about how to do things. And I like also dealing with somebody who's like that.

I'm probably more personal when I'm acting than at any other time. More open, more direct. Because it allows me to be something that I can't always feel comfortable with when I'm living my own life, you know? Because it's make-believe.

In film, you have to let go sometimes.

In order for something to be born, something has to die.That's not always, but there is something about that that I find to be true. That is, it's a natural thing.

I think directors should be confident in their leadership capabilities. I think directors should be confident in what they want to do.

I think good art, if I could be pretentious enough to say, I think good art deals with the micro to explain the macro.

I think I would have drank myself to death, literally, if I didn't just stop, once and for all when I did. I am not ever going to preach to anyone about drugs or drinking. But, for me, when they were around, I had no self control.

I think Magnolia is one of the best films I've ever seen and I can say that straight and out and anybody that disagrees with me I'll fight you to the death. I just think it is one of the greatest films I've ever been in and ever seen.

I think therapy is a helpful thing. I think everyone knows it. You do it for your life, you do it for yourself, because you want to explore some things, and get at the bottom of some things. It's about your life, the quality of your life.

I think you gotta have an honesty and a humility about human nature and that it's not about you at the end of the day.

I think you ultimately have to love who you're playing. You have to have that kind of feeling. You have to have passion for the person.

I try to live my life in such a way that I don't have any regrets. That's probably why I work so much. I don't want to feel I missed something important.