Jim Gaffigan Quotes

I've never, ever labeled myself.

I don't even know who I am. All I know is that I am the sibling, daughter, sister, the friend of somebody, and I need to know who I am outside of that.

It is part of me; I could definitely be that if I wanted to, I just choose not to. I mean, I am an actress at my core, and I think we're all a little crazy.

I've never felt more American than I did when I moved to England. It becomes a real kind of part of your identity: "Oh, Ben. He's the American guy." I think when you say you're from New York you get a different reception then if you just say, "I'm American." So I'd always kind of make sure I was a New Yorker first.

I used to think I'd be just like them when I grew up, but I am not. And the thing is, somewhere along the way, I stopped wanting to be like them, anyway.

I can't stand outside myself and be anybody else.

Everybody wants to be somebody; nobody wants to grow.

My personality doesn't interest me.

I think Zippy is part of me, but I'm not Zippy.

I knew Henry Fonda was my father, but I didn't know who I was. They all thought of me as Henry Fonda's son. Unfortunately for them, they never got to know me.

America saw me as a projection of me that I always wanted. That's why I love going to America so much. I feel like I started off in America exactly how I wanted to start everywhere.

It is very important to know who you are. To make decisions. To show who you are.

I have always felt that I am the sum total of my parts.

It seems that different people have an idea of what I am, and what I should be. And then there's me.

You're looking at a different me than I'm looking at.

I don't think I gain anything by seeing myself.

People say, 'What if your name was Niki Smith?' Well, if Niki Smith lived the life I've lived, it would have great bearing.

I don't believe complete assimilation is possible, at least not for anyone who has an active, open mind. Every step, every entry into the flows of existence can be seen as a beginning, a commencement of a brand new way of seeing oneself in the world. This is the case for everyone.

We all want to be someone else but without ceasing to be ourselves. I think it's very important to defend this idea in real life too.

At some point, when I finished school in Zurich, I suddenly realised that I was nobody. I couldn't find a shape. Everything I was had been invented. Initially, I took it to be a fundamental conflict. But today I find pleasure in accepting that this thing called 'identity' is the true invention. There's no way that it really exists.

I think everyone is trying to figure out who they are and their own thing.

I spent, whether consciously or unconsciously, most of my career trying to be something other than William F. Buckley's son.

Then, at some point, you get identified with certain things.

I look at that person and I'm like, That's not Kelli White. That's not who I am, who I started out to be.

A man is sometimes as different from himself as he is from others.