Javed Jaffrey Quotes

If I don't ask for something, I'm not going to get it.

People are so afraid of hearing "No" that they often don't even try. You have nothing to lose by just asking! A good friend of mine once told me, "Harv, a closed mouth won't get fed." Open your mouth! Say something if negotiations aren't going the way you'd like.

You don't get what you don't ask for

If you don't go talk to your boss, if you don't go talk to your mentors, if you don't go talk to people who can influence where you want to be, then they don't know. And they're not mind readers.

Learn to ask for what you want. The worst people can do is not give you what you ask for which is precisely where you were before you asked.

If you don't ask, you don't get.

f you don't have a seat at the table, then bring a folding chair.

I used to send out emails to producers to collaborate and they'd give me nothing, not even a response. As soon as I started popping off, out they came!

If you don't ask, the answer is always no.

The only thing that's problematic is the constant explaining, the constant need to kind of go, No, I don't want that because of such and such. I feel like I'm a pain in the ass, and I don't like being difficult.

It was only when I started to dig my heels in that I started to realize that's what I needed to do - that nobody was going to open the door for me, that I had to make some space.

Don't wait. If it's not right, move on.

Am I pushy? Yep. Do I like taking 'no' for an answer when 'no' means New Yorkers aren't going to get something they need? No. Do I push back and crack some eggs? Absolutely.

The thing I hate most in acting is asking permission to do things. What you really want to do is say, 'This is my need; this is what's going to get me further; this is what's going to be alive. I don't ever say, 'Do you mind if...?' I just come in and do it.

I spend a lot of my time on the phone, pestering people. 'What's new in your lab? Can I come visit your lab? When can I come visit your lab?' I'm basically a professional pesterer.

Opportunity does not knock, it presents itself when you beat down the door.

Cats seem to go on the principle that it never does any harm to ask for what you want.

The most you get is what you ask for.

I've been surprised at how much an unknown like myself can accomplish just by reaching out to people and pleading my case. Quotes for the book cover, reviews and interviews, readings and radio appearances - all this by simply moving ahead and making contact with folks I thought might enjoy the writing.

I am no advocate of passivity.

One thing I would tell women is that they must take up the challenge. Very often, we anticipate a lot of problems, and therefore, we don't take the lead. And I think that we are shortchanging ourselves if we don't do that.

As an actor - and I say actor, but actress or actor, whatever - I've had to learn to be very open about what I want. I ask for it, even if I may not get it. I feel like it's worth the ask.

I believe that you will not get what you want unless you ask for it.

I think what I learned is that just because somebody says you can't talk to them or just because somebody says they don't have an answer for you, you don't stop.

Nobody was like, 'Kimberly, we're going to let you anchor general news or host a show or do any of that.' I at first started out doing legal analysis, but I had to make the case to my bosses... give me a shot, give me a chance, and I was able to do that: say, 'Let me fill in. Let me show you my range. Nothing to lose here - it's the holidays.'