Michelle Forbes Quotes

Our aim is not merely to make the child understand, and still less to force him to memorize, but so to touch his imagination as to enthuse him to his innermost core.

Don't limit a child to your own learning, for he was born in another time.

I always love working with young actors, because there's always something to learn. It's always exciting to see the next generation and how they approach things and what's great about them and what's not so great about them.

When you get to work with people like Ian McKellen or directors like Peter Jackson, you sit and watch.

It is only from the people I've had the good fortune to meet that I am learning the lessons to guide me. Baz Luhrmann, director of 'Moulin Rouge,' for example, has a childlike curiosity about the world. He doesn't pretend to know all the answers - quite the opposite, in fact. He asks loads of questions of everyone.

I also have a role model back in New Zealand, a woman called Miranda Harcourt. She's an actress and a writer. Her willingness to stay open to material is really great. I read a lot, and I try to watch and listen to diverse material.

You can learn so much from children, and you can give them so much.

I love working with children and this young boy, Thomas Sangster, is quite a remarkable young actor. He raises your game, you know. He certainly raised mine.

I saw as a teacher how, if you take that spark of learning that those children have, and you ignite it, you can take a child from any background to a lifetime of creativity and accomplishment.

I just like seeing kids inspired.

I enjoy acting, and I appreciate people who have passion about what they're doing and have a vision about the film they're trying to make.

I like working with students a lot and watching some of the amazing stuff they put together.

I hope that when children read my stories that they evoke images for children. I four stories can help children use their own imaginations and lead them to act the stories out or to embark on related research, they will learn more and learn to love reading more.

Imagination is the source of every form of human achievement. And it's the one thing that I believe we are systematically jeopardizing in the way we educate our children and ourselves.

Stay close to the young... and a little rubs off.

Certainly as actors, and maybe as directors, you've got to hang on to something childlike. You've got to know what play is. I haven't worked with Mike Leigh, but I know him very well and there's something open in his eyes about what's in front of him. And the same is true of Alfonso in a Mexican, mad way. There's an enthusiastic response to something. Neil Jordan, the same, when he gets excited . You just want to know there's a human being in there.

I do not teach children, I give them joy.

A mentor, a 'teacher,' is like an editor. I absolutely value my editor, who is my teacher.

I always learn something from every actor I've ever worked with. I always pick something from them.

Being on set is like being in college, for me, because I get to watch other people perform and I can learn from them if I listen and pay attention.

During my time at Watchung Hills Regional High School, I was fortunate to have a number of teachers who inspired me and filled me with enthusiasm for learning.

Over the years, I played with a couple of spectacular guitar players, and playing with them has made me play better than I knew how to play. I hope the same thing is true with acting.

I've gotten to work with some wonderful directors and people who have been great teachers to me.

I think the way kids create is so inspiring. They're drawing a picture? They love the picture they drew; they're not tortured about it.

You don't want to give kids an idea that they might not have thought of.