Ricky Gervais Quotes

When humor works, it works because it's clarifying what people already feel. It has to come from someplace real.

I show them the funny part, the silly part, the laughing part, the crazy part and then the really deep, deep part where I'm talking from my heart to these people. Because I've been through everything they've been through.

If I'm in something funny, I like to try and find some kind of serious line in it that people can relate to.

Comedy's about opening up and being unique, but to a point where the audience can relate to what you're saying.

You've got a song you're singing from your gut, you want that audience to feel it in their gut. And you've got to make them think that you're one of them sitting out there with them too. They've got to be able to relate to what you're doing.

My music is straightforward because I want to give people me and let them know they're not alone in going through the things that they go through.

You can't worry too much about what you think the audience wants to hear. You just have to hope that you're a likeable enough person that what you're saying will relate to other people, so they can laugh at it as well.

My songwriting is personal in the hope that listeners will know that I relate to them.

I love the fact that people can relate to what I'm saying, even if it's not for the same subject I was writing about. That is the power of real music and real expression.

If you can't laugh at yourself, then how can you laugh at anybody else? I think people see the human side of you when you do that.

I feel that if I'm going through something, I'm sure someone else is, too. I try to be as honest with myself and others as I can be.

I want to be the first person to laugh at myself. It makes other people feel at ease - we're all on an even playing field.

People come up to me and say, 'Can I just thank you for writing my life?' And I reply, 'I'm glad someone else is as idiotic as I am.'

Country music busts the wall between performer and audience. There's a connection because there's a vulnerability, a confessional quality, to so much of the songwriting. Those lyrics take you in.

Some of the writers I admire who seem very, very funny and very emotional to me can develop a closeness with the reader without giving too much of themselves away. Lorrie Moore comes to mind, as does David Sedaris. When they write, the reader thinks that they're being trusted as a friend.

I chose to present myself as one who comes from among the people, and I can be touched by their pain because I have my own.

I primarily have had my career in comedy, and that is something that I have never been too concerned about because I know there is really no room for vanity in comedy. Comedy comes from pain and it is a lot easier to empathize with somebody who is out of shape.

I'm all about showing people that I'm a little messed up, I have a lot of the same problems you have. By exposing myself and putting myself out there, people can relate to me and my act won't grow stale. I mean, nobody wants to hear a comedian say, 'Life is great.'

Adulthood is interesting to adults. But I would never want to write about stuff I don't feel everybody can connect to.

While eschewing emotion - and its companion, vulnerability - Obama should be careful not to sacrifice empathy, the 'I feel your pain' connection that sustained Clinton. This connection is the shorthand people use to measure their leaders' intentions. If people believe you're on their side, they will trust your decisions.

I think what people like about my channel is that I am not perfect. I always point to my pimple, my bad hair day... people relate to that. They are watching somebody who is exactly like them and talking about things that they experience as well.

If someone is expressing everything I am feeling at the moment, it's probably Jon Stewart. I hear him and think, Yeah!

For me, I can only do that from my own experience with people I've known and things that I've lived and experienced. That's what good pop music is all about, pop music that does reach out to people. It's very personalized and very real, honest and sincere.

As a fan, I connect with realness. Whether it's strong or vulnerable, if it's real, I can connect with it.

One thing about America is Americans are real people. So it's like, if they see that you're real, this is real, then they're gonna relate to it.