Quotes From Eight Of Hollywood’s Living Legends On Life, Career, And Keeping It Real

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1. James Garner, Age 86

“When I started working, I didn’t have a clue what I was doing, in that I was just wandering around, hoping that I could succeed. Then after I got a little under my belt, it took me about 25 years to feel like I knew what I was doing.”
“I said, ‘Well, I’ll give myself five years to see if I can make a living at it.’ And after five years I was 30 and I said, ‘Yeah, I can go another five years on just the reputation I have now’ and then I went another five, and another five, and another five, and finally — at 50 years old — I said ‘You know, I think I have a career ”
“When we go home, we’re not off work.”

2. Bill Cosby, Age 76

“The heart of marriage is memories; and if the two of you happen to have the same ones and can savor your reruns, then your marriage is a gift from the gods.”
“Like everyone else who makes the mistake of getting older, I begin each day with coffee and obituaries.”
“If the new American father feels bewildered and even defeated, let him take comfort from the fact that whatever he does in any fathering situation has a fifty percent chance of being right.”

3. Betty White, Age 92

“I’ve enjoyed the opposite sex a lot. Always have. Always will.”
“It’s your outlook on life that counts. If you take yourself lightly and don’t take yourself too seriously, pretty soon you can find the humor in our everyday lives. And sometimes it can be a lifesaver.”
“The bottom line is, I’m blessed with good health. On top of that, I don’t go around thinking ‘Oh, I’m 90, I better do this or I better do that.’ I’m just Betty. I’m the same Betty that I’ve always been. Take it or leave it.”

4. Eli Wallach, Age 98

“Having the critics praise you is like having the hangman say you’ve got a pretty neck.”
“I’ve learned that life is very tricky business: Each person needs to find what they want to do in life and not be dissuaded when people question them.”
“When I saw the movie, I said, I wish I had heard the music. I would have ridden the horse differently.”

5. Mel Brooks, Age 87

“Look, I don’t want to wax philosophic, but I will say that if you’re alive you’ve got to flap your arms and legs, you’ve got to jump around a lot, for life is the very opposite of death, and therefore you must at very least think noisy and colorfully, or you’re not alive.”
“Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you fall into an open sewer and die.”
“Everything we do in life is based on fear, especially love.”

6. Phyllis Diller, Age 95

“Whatever you may look like, marry a man your own age – as your beauty fades, so will his eyesight.”
“Never go to bed mad. Stay up and fight.”
“Always be nice to your children because they are the ones who will choose your rest home.”

7. Dick Van Dyke, Age 88

“I’ve made peace with insecurity… because there is no security of any kind.”
“As wonderful as they were, my parents didn’t teach me anything about self-discipline, concentration, patience, or focus. If I hadn’t had a family myself, I probably never would’ve done anything. Marriage taught me responsibility.”
“Somebody asked what I wanted on my gravestone. I’m just going to put: ‘Glad I Could Help.'”

8.Carl Reiner, Age 92

“Comedians are really writers who don’t have pens and pencils about them, but they riff.”
“A fellow who has a funny bone can learn to hone his skills, but I don’t think you can develop a funny bone – you either have it or you don’t. And by the way – when you get it, we don’t know it.”
“I’m a charming coward; I fight with words.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0W_ZHz4BVkE

image – Vlasta Juricek