Orson Bean Quotes

Coming off of 'Book of Mormon,' I had a lot of opportunities. I didn't want to do TV, actually. I really wanted to get paid nothing and keep doing theater at all costs.

We're so bereft of support of theatre in this day and age.

I don't want the kind of theater that I love and grew up seeing to die out.

The reason I did fashion was it was the only way to get paid to do anything creative. You couldn't support yourself as an 'artist' - I hate that word. The only way you could be 'arty' was as a fashion photographer, because it still had a certain amount of integrity involved.

The only way you can continue to make artistic films is to make an occasional one of those. They kind of keep your marketability going to the extent that people will employ you.

The economics of being a playwright are abysmal. I like to think of the work I do out in Hollywood as a way to actually make a life in the theater easier.

As much as like my first love and first entry point into this business is through the theater, it's hard to make a living exclusively in theater, and so you kind of have to branch out and have as many revenue streams, and capacities and possibilities for expression that you can.

I'm just happy that I'm able to take care of what I need to take care of, live, and do the thing that I love the most and that is to sing. People want to hear it, buy it, see it, hold it, record it, bootleg it. It's fine with me as long as it's good but when it's bad I'm in trouble!

The more everything gets digitalised, the more precious the live experience of going to the theatre is.

In the beginning, because of the Pavement thing, we were able to sell a certain amount of records. We were able to sell not such a great amount of records, but enough to live on. So there was no incentive to do what didn't come naturally.

I don't really do any corporate gigs or I don't really cash in which is a bit silly and much to the annoyance of my family. I'd rather just do gigs that I like and TV shows that I like rather than personal appearances at a nightclub.

The market kills more artistic passion than anything else.

Painting is a faith and that it brings with it the duty to pay no heed to public opinion - and that in it one conquers by perseverance and not by giving in.

Just as a musician loves music and not nightingales, and a poet loves poetry and not sunsets, a painter is not primarily a person who responds to figures and landscapes. He is primarily one who loves pictures.

For the serious artist does not satisfy needs

To express what is the most moral, healthful and beautiful in art this is the mission of the dancer, and to this I dedicate my life.

I don't resent being a female painter. I don't exploit it. I paint.

The art is more important than the artist. The work is more important than the person who does it. You must be prepared to sacrifice all the you could possibly have, be, or do; you must be willing to go all the way for your art. If it is a question between choosing between your life and a work of art -- any work of art -- your decision is made for you.

I wasn't afraid of being poor; I rather took it for granted. I was good at getting by with very little. I couldn't imagine sacrificing my writing to anything else.

What happens in the studio is technically the same thing that happens on the stage. In the past I had to make quite brutal adaptations of the material to make it work on stage. I don't always like doing that because sometimes you're shaving away the things that you actually quite like about them, the spontaneity of it.

Whoever wishes to devote himself to painting should begin by cutting out his own tongue

I have been sent more ridiculous press notices. People are frequently comparing my work with Van Gogh... I do hope I do not get bloated and self-satisfied. When proud feelings come I step up over them to the realm of work, to the thing I want, the liveness of the thing itself.

As an artist, you don't stop making art because people are not buying it.

I put everything I can into a record. That's what art is for. I take a risk every time I do one with my whole being.

You stand your ground and you perform your art. That's what the artist does. The artist is about perfection.