Michael Rapaport Quotes

Normally when you meet a person you don't like, you might have words with them, but then you walk away. When you're filming a show, you can't walk away.

I don't think that there is a person that I've met - I'm sure there are - that I've had any conflict with.

I think most of the time when people have big disagreements and big misunderstandings, when time lessens that blow it creates a deeper understanding for both people.

Confrontation is something that I accept as part of the project though not its purpose.

My mom always said fighting with me as a kid was like going to court. I'm trying to realize that being right is not the most important thing.

What's that line from TS Eliot? To arrive at the place where you started, but to know it for the first time. I'm able to write about a breakup from a different place. Same brokenness. Same rock-bottom. But a little more informed, now I'm older. Thank God for growing up.

It's part of our nature. As much as I love (brother and guitarist Eddie), if you put us in a room with no one else for 15 minutes, we'd be at each other's throats.

Experience means conflict, our natures being what they are, and conflict means drama.

There were times that I needed to go to battle, but how I went to battle wasn't always the best way in.

There is love there. And then there's times when I can't even stomach Simon. You don't have to sit next to him. That's all I have to say.

The list of problems that we all experience may be endless, but I honestly cannot abide by the rule that, 'He who yells louder is heard.'

I try not to deal with people's hostility, though I must if they have something I need from them, as the professors did at Columbia or my landlord did.

We experience problem-solving sessions as war zones, we view competing ideas as enemies, and we use problems as weapons to blame and defeat opposition forces. No wonder we can't come up with real lasting solutions!

What I do know from my life is the phenomenon of saying, 'This is too small a thing to argue about', but then nevertheless finding oneself in that argument.

A lot of time when you clash, sometimes it helps the relationship because then you grow closer after that.

If I had a choice, I'd rather not fight someone from Brazil, but as a professional, I couldn't say no.

To me, there's no point in having confrontation for the sake of it.

We must acknowledge that there are factions in our movements... We should not be telling lies to each other; we should tell the truth to each other with the view that there will be unity.

I believe that it's important to not just shy away from confrontation.

In quarreling, the truth is always lost.

You've got to be able to know someone really well to be able to have a row and then also walk away from it and not have it matter, especially in this business. That doesn't mean to say we have many rows but I think the nearest thing to a row would be just flatly disagreeing with something .

I was born to argue... I don't know why. I mean, from arguing with my teachers and, on occasions, my parents. I think I've mastered the art of argument at a fairly young age.

Why are we talking about talking? Why negotiating about negotiating? It's very simple. If you want to get to peace, put all your preconditions on the side, sit down opposite a table, not in a studio, by the way.

I think confrontation is healthy, because it clears the air very quickly.

So many bad things happen in this world because people don't know how to express things.