Terry O'Quinn Quotes

Some of the movies I did - well, you have to feed your family.

Everybody has to sell out at some point to make a living.

Life isn't all me. I have a family to support. I can't rob them of a good life simply because I want to play something.

I don't know how you make a living without a few personal compromises.

I was going to be the head wrangler at a ranch in Wyoming, and the reason I didn't take the job is because I couldn't have my family there - the family had to stay in town. I just wasn't willing to do that.

I rarely need career advice because I don't have a career. No, that's not true. I can't really go far away while my kids are living with me.

I want to live a good life and pay my taxes. 'The Killing' was a blessing. It was two wonderful years. But I had reached a point in my life, especially with a young son, that I was no longer willing to compromise my life for the sake of a paycheque. I was no longer willing to move where the tax credits are strong.

First of all, I choose the great roles, and if none of these come, I choose the mediocre ones, and if they don't come, I choose the ones that pay the rent.

I don't see how a woman in documentary photography could have children. I think it's a very difficult thing to do to raise a family, and I have enormous respect for people who do it. I'd hate to do something like that and not be good at it.

I probably made a few pictures I shouldn't have done, but I have four sons and I have to pay the rent. If you have a decision to make about whether or not you can buy groceries at the market or whether or not you're going to make a bad movie, you're going to make a bad movie.

If I want to tuck my son into bed and read him a story, but that means I have to take a red-eye to get to a concert - which I would never think of doing otherwise - that's just the way it is. Even if I can't hit the note that night, I got to tuck my child in!

When I come home, it's about my kid, who needs to eat, needs to do homework, and needs to get to basketball. I don't have a lot of time to think about me.

I don't think most people understand that when I wasn't running for president, I was working. Because I have to earn income. I have three kids in college. And three in school. And I have a little girl that has a lot of special needs. So I've got to work for a living. I was working already.

I've realized as well after five years of being on the road that if I'm going to four or five months of my life to something even if I'm overpaid, it's four or five months of my life away from home, away from my son, away from family and friends. I better believe in it on some level even if it's a big movie.

I have a family to support. And I'm not always going to be doing exactly what I want to do.

I just asked myself, what piece of that man's soul did he just chew off and swallow to get next week's assignment? You know, just to live, just to work as an artist, or to feed the family?

I always put dance stuff out because you have to work, man. You have to eat. You have to compromise sometimes to make it. I had to make sacrifices, and I had to raise my children.

Working long hours being single helps because your time is yours. Once you have a family your time isn't all yours anymore. Most of the Mac team, we were in our mid-20's, most of us were single, and we were able to essentially devote our lives to it.

Of all the tough decisions in life, choosing between the job you need and the family you love should not be one of them.

What people don't always understand is that I established a certain lifestyle for my family back in the days of 'Species' and 'Mulholland Falls' and 'The Getaway.' I wasn't about to move my six kids into a trailer park. So when people offered me work, it wasn't always the best, but I had to buy groceries, and I had to put gas in the car.

The bottom line is, I've got a wife and three kids. I've got bills I have to pay.

I got a family to take care of and kids to feed. That's my motivation, this is my job.

You want to be the best at your career, you want to be the best mum, a great wife and all of that. Most of the time, it's not possible. You have to compromise somewhere.

I have immense amount of respect for women who leave their kids and go to work because they have to. They don't have a choice. I couldn't have done that.

Whether we have a new baby, a sick parent or an injured spouse, taking time off to care for our family member or ourselves is a need almost every one of us experiences during some point in our lives. This is true no matter where people live, what their income level is, or what kind of job they do.