"The greatest thing you can do is surprise yourself."
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Quote collection
Steve Martin quotes (page 2 of 17)
339 quotes — follow a thought to its full quote page.
"I have found that-- just as in real life--imagination sometimes has to stand in for experience."
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"Despite a lack of natural ability, I did have the one element necessary to all early creativity: naïveté, that fabulous quality that keeps you from knowing just how unsuited you are for what you are about to do."
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"Communication has changed so rapidly in the last 20 years, it's almost impossible to predict what might occur even in the next decade. E-mail, which now sends data hurtling across vast distances at the speed of light, has replaced primitive forms of communication such as smoke signals, which sent data hurtling across vast distances at the speed of light."
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"Some nights, alone, he thinks of her, and some nights, alone, she thinks of him. Some night these thoughts, separated by miles and time zones, occur at the same objective moment, and Ray and Mirabelle are connected without ever knowing it."
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"When your hobbies get in the way of your work - that's OK; but when your hobbies get in the way of themselves... well."
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"It's so hard to believe in anything anymore, you know what I mean? It's like, religion, you really can't take it seriously, 'cause it seems so mythological, and seems so arbitrary; and then on the other hand, science is just pure empiricism, and by virtue of its method, it excludes metaphysics. I guess I wouldn't believe in anything if it weren't for my lucky astrology mood watch."
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"Always make room for the unexpected in yourself."
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"If you've got a dollar and you spend 29 cents on a loaf of bread, you've got 71 cents left; But if you've got seventeen grand and you spend 29 cents on a loaf of bread, you've still got seventeen grand. There's a math lesson for you."
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"How many people have never raised their hand before?"
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"Acting is collaborative because you are working with another actor, and it's almost like a two-man juggling team. You have to really be in sync."
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"It's not the size of the nose that matters, it's what's inside that counts."
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"I believe entertainment can aspire to be art, and can become art, but if you set out to make art you're an idiot."
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"The banjo is such a happy instrument--you can't play a sad song on the banjo - it always comes out so cheerful."
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"Being on Twitter is like having a fern."
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"I was raised with "Laurel and Hardy" and "I Love Lucy" and Jerry Lewis, and I just loved it. And I had a friend in high school and we would just laugh all day and put on skits. You know, it's the Andy Kaufman thing or the Marty Short thing where you're performing in your bedroom for yourself."
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"Thankfully, persistence is a great substitute for talent."
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"I was deeply unhappy, but I didn't know it because I was so happy all the time."
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"You can't really conduct your life by one or two phrases."
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"Don't have sex man. It leads to kissing and pretty soon you have to start talking to them."
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