Ted Shackelford Quotes

I'm always aware that there are, broadly speaking, two different ways to act: there is acting, and then there's being, and I'm always more interested in that.

The way it actually works is the reverse. You must first be who you really are, then do what you need to do, in order to have what you want.

I just do what feels right. I think the great thing about getting to do what I do is that you can try out being a different person without having to screw up your life to do it.

As a young woman, I had been seeking experience, knowledge, truth, the stuff writers need in their work, but when the artist actually kicked in, I came to understand that in this romantic relationship I was not free to be myself, or to find myself, in order to begin the true work I needed to do.

Plots and character don't make life. Life is here and now, anytime you say the word, anytime you let her rip.

It only seems that there is something more important for you to do than to just quietly be yourself.

Experience, as a desire for experience, does not come off. We must not study ourselves while having an experience.

I come out of real life.

I am my own experiment. I am my own work of art.

Life is about, every single day, getting up to manifest your truth.

When I perform, I'm just very much just being myself.

All goals apart from the means are illusions; becoming is a denial of being.

One of the most important reasons for living is to do something - live outside of yourself and put together an idea, an idea that you want to explore and then complete... Awaken your creative sensitivities!

If I feel like doing something, I do it. If I feel like saying something, I say it. If I feel like dancing, I do. If I don't, I don't.

I am not reggae, I am me. I am bigger than the limits that are put on me. It all has to do with the individual journey.

My act is based on my life.

There's something liberating about not pretending. Dare to embarrass yourself. Risk.

There's a Zen to acting, by being in the moment. That's where the power is.

I believe in individuality, that everybody is special, and it's up to them to find that quality and let it live.

My improv definitely shows a different side of myself, which is more true to what my real humor is and what my real personality is, and I think - I guess 'wild' is a good word for it. I'm still sweet! But I won't let anyone walk all over me.

The more time we invest imitating others, the less that's available to discover and be ourselves.

I love to reinvent myself, and that's because I am a very free person. I do what I feel, and I love who I am.

It's a life's journey of finding ourselves, finding our power, and living for yourself, not for everyone else.

While we have the gift of life, it seems to me the only tragedy is to allow part of us to die - whether it is our spirit, our creativity or our glorious uniqueness.

Writing comes from that territory of being invalidated. But I had a sense of purpose, too. I wanted to stop apologising for my health, and I thought I might do some good.