Dick Cavett Quotes

I've never really done any interviews as myself.

People always think I hate doing interviews. I don't. I wouldn't do them if I didn't like them.

I find it weird to use my own voice on TV.

Doing the press has become as much of a job as getting in front of the camera. You have to avoid burnout, avoid saying anything stupid, but still come across as yourself.

On the microphone, I'm not scared to step up and say, 'This is my ability, this is how good I am.' In other areas of life, I'm not so confident; I'm still adjusting to the photo shoots, all that stuff. But behind the mic, I'm fully confident.

I never wanted to perform and never proclaimed myself to be a performer.

I'm not those kind of persons that's afraid to be on radio or TV, you know? I'm always the same.

I'm not a performer. If they're looking for entertainer-in-chief, I'm probably not the guy.

Instead of exhibiting talent in the hope that the world would forgive their eccentricities, they have exhibited only their eccentricities, in the hope that the world would give them credit for talent.

I've never been one of those actors who has touted myself as a fascinating human being. I had to decide early on whether I was to be an actor or a personality.

I think that you have to present an image that is... true to you, and... the way you would like to be perceived, so I think that through the years I've worked really hard at trying to create an image that is true to me.

I'm not Gore Vidal or William Buckley.

I had to fight the intellectual label when I started in television, because, first of all, it's not going to help you commercially, and also, it wasn't particularly true of me. I mean, if anybody thought I was an intellectual, they probably had never really seen one.

I think the more you expose yourself as a celebrity, the less interesting you are to watch in your work, because if you're putting yourself out there all the time, you're not holding anything back.

I have proven to the world that I am articulate, I am very intelligent, I'm well exposed.

I hate anything with 'celebrity' in the title, where people are playing to the cameras all the time.

On set is where I feel comfortable. The red carpet stuff, talking about the film, explaining your own life, it doesn't come naturally. It's all necessary stuff I suppose but it's not my strength.

Not long after I published my first book, I quickly found I was terrible at being interviewed.

I'm not a pundit. I don't want to be a pundit.

I'm a writer. I'm naturally introverted, so being the public face of something, I don't think I do it well.

When I was first asked to be on 'Washington Week', I never prepared more for an appearance.

I'm shy. I'm not outgoing. I'm a homebody. I am on TV, but you know, it's interesting. How much do I talk on TV?

My own experience with being interviewed is mixed. I suppose they're a part of my job, and as I would like readers to connect with my books, I do them. I've also made many lifelong friends whom I first encountered as interviewers - as a writer, they're a terrific way to meet and add smart new people to one's life.

One of the things is, I don't read my own press. I never watch myself.

I'm the same Nina Turner, whether I'm on MSNBC or talking to my hometown newspaper or CNN.