Andrew McCarthy Quotes

I think most people try to get others to see through their eyes.

Just to get the basic fundamentals and empathy - I think that's the most important thing to bring to it if you've acted in the past and are now a director: the empathy.

Empathy is the most mysterious transaction that the human soul can have, and it's accessible to all of us, but we have to give ourselves the opportunity to identify, to plunge ourselves in a story where we see the world from the bottom up or through another's eyes or heart.

Sometimes films ignore other points of view because it's simpler to tell the story that way, but the more genuine and sympathetic you are to different points of view and situations, the more real the story is.

If there's one thing I've learned about women, which I try to pass on to my boys, it's listening. Listen to the other side of the story first.

If men and women are to understand each other, to enter into each other's nature with mutual sympathy, and to become capable of genuine comradeship, the foundation must be laid in youth.

Seeing things from a different point of view can help us understand why other people act the way they do. We too often judge people without having all the facts.

I love meeting new people; I think everyone has a story to tell. We should all listen sometimes.

I used to not listen that much, but I've really learnt to listen to other people and to really listen to what they're saying. I've found, especially being on a film set, people have so many different stories; if you just listen, you can pick up so much stuff. I try to listen as much as I can.

There is one particular argument that I call our 'ancient war.' If it could be summed up in one phrase, it would be, 'You don't get it. You don't understand what it's like to be me living with you.' There is such truth in that statement. None of us can really appreciate what it is like to be the other person, what that point of view feels like.

At the end of the day, you have a side of the story that needs to be heard, too.

I try to speak from a place of understanding and most times I'm speaking from a place of experience.

It's always easier to dismiss other people than to go through the awkward and time consuming process of understanding them.

I try not to put messages in my songs. My only message is man's communication with his fellow man. I want to narrow the gap of strangeness and alienation.

My wife Patrice, in addition to being enormously supportive, has taught me a lot about life. She might argue it's because I have so much to learn. One of the most important things I've learned is the art of listening.

A good listener is not only popular everywhere, but after a while, he knows something.

I think understanding is the way to gain perspective - and therefore can live among those hideous realities. You can live with them.

I think one of my better gifts as a writer is empathy.

Conrad Ludlow was an extraordinary partner... We just called him the greatest partner because he just knew what a woman's balance was.

One of the most sincere forms of respect is actually listening to what another has to say.

You can learn from anyone even your enemy.

The real business of life is trying to understand each other.

I think there's an ongoing effort involved in trying to get a bigger perspective, trying to let go of things that limit your capacity to love and be loved or your capacity to hear and to really speak.

One must be fond of people and trust them if one is not to make a mess of life.

You have to want to be in the company of those you're making films about.