Sidney Sheldon Quotes

I was afraid if I didn’t do the right thing a lot of people would die

I was under so much pressure. I often felt scared.

Only in a true life or death scenario can you have mental clearness to know that you cannot feel guilty for surviving.

I know I have to do the right thing. And the sooner you do the right thing, the better. You get it over with, and you don't have to worry about it anymore. But who does that in real life? Instead, you procrastinate and think about it and put it off and think about it some more until that one little pebble grows into a giant block inside your head.

The fear of life is the favorite disease of the 20th century.

Failure? Scared to death of it.

I almost feel more anxious lately about, 'Here's your opportunity, now you've got to make something of it.'

Auditioning for 'Philomena' was such a traumatic experience because I had three callbacks, and I was absolutely positive that I was just an option.

The thought of having the expectations of the whole country on my shoulders worried and unnerved me.

I associate my motion picture career more with being unhappy and scared, or being under the gun, than with anything pleasant.

I'm incapable of truly relaxing. I remember when I was younger and less wise or experienced, actors that I knew would always talk about jobs ending and wondering whether they were ever going to work again. Now that's my life.

There is something wonderful about turning up every day and knowing that not just the character but the whole movie kind of rests on your shoulders. And there's great satisfaction when you think it's going well and then real terror when you think it's not.

I was a serious kid to an absurd degree. I was overwhelmed with responsibility. You know, trying to play grown up. I overdid it.

When I was immobilized by fear, I might have a panic attack. I've had a couple of panic attacks in my life.

I think about dying a lot, every time I fall asleep on a train or a plane I expect to wake up to a crash!

I have been afraid all my life that I am going to die. All my life it has been stuffed in my imagination.

After I was assaulted in Egypt, I learned fear. I've just never been so scared in my life. I've never been so close to death.

What I wasn't prepared for were the feelings of anxiety that it stirred in me. I wasn't prepared for the initial feeling of I don't want to have to do that again. I was scared.

In this situation I was constantly exposed to danger and death.

The scariest thing in my life is the first morning of production on all my movies. It's the fear of failing, the loss of face, and a sense of guilt that everybody puts their faith in you and not coming through.

If I relaxed, if I took my foot off the gas, I would probably die.

I still have nightmares about taking tests.

The release of 'Lungs' was so hard. It was terrifying, because it was the first time doing everything. The first experiences of media exposure were almost paralysing. I spent a lot of time crying on the floor of the studio - it sent me a bit mad.

Stress is a killer.

I think the stress will kill me. I think it will be the stress.