Isaac Stern Quotes

When it comes to your career, you must always try and allow the positive aspects of your character to dictate what happens to you. Be led by your talent, not by your self-loathing; those other things you just have to manage.

Life changed at 40 for me, as predicted by my acting teacher when I was leaving college. I became more hirable and more interesting... I'm not sure why.

My philosophy is: It's none of my business what people say of me and think of me.

A big part of life is realizing what you're good at.

Other people have a much better idea of what I might do than I.

I believe I am a person with unusual talents. I think I'd be a liar or stupid if I were to deny that.

I'm really happy with where I am, the movies in my life. Not satisfied, necessarily. But I won't put it on somebody else, blame anybody else for my position in the business. It's the choices I have made.

I was very insecure at the beginning of my career. I didn't value my talent. I would have probably skipped signing up for movies that I didn't want to do if I had understood that I had been accepted and people liked my work.

I did learn eventually - perhaps far too late - to respect the talent I have. For a lot of years out there, I was just bashing on to the next thing and not really thinking about it too much. That's what we do. But I'm learning to appreciate the moment.

I've learned an enormous amount about the business itself, about what it takes - the stamina and the dedication and the diligence - to succeed out here... And I'm very, very thankful, and I have a wonderful career, but it's hard work... I'm very comfortable with who I am as an actor now and excited to try all kinds of things.

If I was able to be omniscient and look at my career objectively, I'd be very happy.

It's easy for us to look at another country or another political party and say, 'Enough! Do better!'. It is a tougher conversation when the problem is in our own tent.

I'll look back on my career as a whole and at parts of it and say I should have enjoyed that more. I suppose that's my own fault.

I had some terrible times - comparatively speaking. I saddled myself with a load of debt, I wasn't liked by a lot of my fellow comics and I used to blame other people for me not getting a break. But now I realise I just wasn't very good. And as soon as I became good, things took off pretty quickly.

The world is a reflection of who we are and if we don't like the reflection, it doesn't really help to break the mirror.

I have no one to blame for the construction for myself, of course, but I'm always surprised and slightly sulky when I realizeВ people are buying the whole thing.

If we recognize our talents and use them appropriately, and choose a field that uses those talents, we will rise to the top of our field.

There's a scripture in the Book of James which says, 'Become a doer of the word and not a hearer only.' A hearer is someone who looks into a mirror, walks away, and quickly forgets what sort of person he is.

Now, I've gotten to the point in my career, I'm 13 years in, to where I know that I'm funny. I know that I'm good at this.

Don't blame the mirror if your face is faulty.

Understand that there is no relationship between your inner happiness and your inner joy and the outer things that you experience and behold in the world, that it all begins with you, the world is a mirror to your own Self, when you can look at things and feel joy not in the things but in yourself.

All we need to do is pay attention to ourselves and pay attention when somebody gives you a compliment based on something that you do naturally. Then that lets you know that that's your talent. I mean, talents come in so many different sizes, so many different colors, so many different ways.

I suggest to everyone: Look in the mirror. Ask yourself: Who are you? What are your talents? Use them, and do what you love.

I'm starting with the man in the mirror

Though I was standing in front of a mirror, I wasn't really seeing my reflection. I was seeing, very clearly, that—at the moment—I was all in the world that Eric could think of as his own. I had better not fail him.