Jesse Tyler Ferguson Quotes

I was very insecure approaching the idea of directing a feature film. I told myself I would not move until I felt I was moving in power rather than moving in desperation to make a movie.

Startups can be the most conservative organizations in the world. We spend so much energy nurturing our delicate egos against naysayers and self-doubt that we can hardly admit mistakes. This is especially true of first-time CEOs.

I don't think I will be able act; I am not talented in that area.

Giving yourself permission to lose guarantees a loss.

I've always felt like an imposter, in the whole, as a musician.

I'm an introvert at heart... And show business - even though I've loved it so much - has always been hard for me.

When you are new to the business, you think if you give a really bad performance, that's one they will print. You will be judged. You just have to be brave.

I think I was probably that kid in the neighborhood who you could expect once or twice a year to be knocking on your door trying to sell you something stupid.

I never thought I was much of an actor anyway.

I never feel like I have anything. People can tell me a thousand times, 'You're the guy, you're the guy,' and I'm just like, 'We'll see when I'm on the set.'

Sometimes I find myself in this super-raw place onstage where I'm like, 'Maybe that's not the best thing. Maybe I need to shut down a little.'

Popularizing - much less venturing beyond one's secure turf - was frowned upon for many years. I think I probably internalized the prohibition, even though I was - and knew I was - among the best speakers and writers of my age cohort. I don't mean I was the best historian - a quite different measure.

Leaders thrive when they feel creatively empowered, when they trust the people around them, when their confidence is swelling. Leaders make mistakes when they lose that same confidence, when they're fretting about their power base, when they're reacting instead of acting.

Although I don't gamble in life - I've never played poker - I do gamble on stage. I gamble with myself: 'Can I do this?'

Like everybody in show business, you think you're going to wake up one day, and it's all going to be taken away from you. I think we all share an insecurity in that way, everybody in show business - the ones I talk to, anyway.

I've always been the guy that loved being scared or loved having pressure on me, because I always wanted to prove myself wrong and always wanted to prove that I could do it.

I know, it's weird that I've never done a musical. I turned down two of them. 'The Lion King' and 'The Producers.' I turned two of the biggest Broadway musicals down, am I a mess?

I've gotten a lot more comfortable with the audition process, but there's something that really turned me off initially when I was younger, to auditioning. The idea that I couldn't get to the person that was actually making the film really frustrated me.

I still don't think I'm a good actor. The only reason I'm doing it is because I've got a lot of support behind me.

All performers get on stage because they need to feel love from an audience. I might appear confident, but those three seconds before I get out there, I'm a mess. But I have to take the risk; otherwise, I'd be miserable and would feel like I wasn't seeing through my personal destiny.

Acting is the most insecure profession in the world - you're insecure if you're successful, you're insecure if you're not. A tightrope walk without a net. It's a miracle I'm still standing!

I had very little confidence in myself as an actress.

I'm constantly doing new stuff, and I want it to be received really well. Who knows what's ego, what's business, what's artistic. It all shifts on a day-to-day basis.

I'm not the most confident dancer, to be honest. Dancing on film was very difficult for me because you can see it after it's been done.

He either fears his fate too much, Or his deserts are small, That dares not put it to the touch, To gain or lose it all.