John Lithgow Quotes

I'm not terribly well read. My wife forces books into my hands and insists I read them, which I'm grateful to her for. She made me read 'War and Peace.' The whole thing. It was amazing, but I had to hide it. You can't walk round reading 'War and Peace' - it's like you're in a comedy sketch and you think you're smart.

I have to admit that I only read 'War and Peace' when I was 40. But I knew the basics before then.

I think enough cannot be said for what you can discover through literature. So I think that was probably my most valued characteristic as a teenager.

You have to wonder at times what you're doing out there. Over the years, I've given myself a thousand reasons to keep running, but it always comes back to where it started. It comes down to self-satisfaction and a sense of achievement.

I'm competitive with myself, but not with other people. I set goals for myself. I don't really care about winning or losing as long as I do my best.

I've reread 'The Secret Garden' every year as an adult. I have a battered copy on my bookshelf - it's really quite a mess! The experience of reading the novel keeps deepening for me.

The Classics are those books which constitute a treasured experience for those who have read and loved them; but they remain just as rich an experience for those who reserve the chance to read them for when they are in the best condition to enjoy them.

If it can affect me, if it has meaning to me, if I feel I can do it well, I will do it and record it and thats why I recorded these songs.

Who cares if somebody dances better? Doing my very best is rewarding internally.

Read a book at the right age and it will stay with you for life.

Over the years, I've given myself a thousand reasons to keep running, but it always comes back to where it started. It comes down to self-satisfaction and a sense of achievement.

What I want is that I can match my performances during training so I can be satisfied with myself.

I know that I am my worst critic. I know that if I can walk away from the set at the end of the day and feel that I did the best job I could and feel proud, that's what will satisfy me.

I think I learned about the relationship between books and life from Margaret Mitchell.

I was a pretentious child. I grew up without a television. I read a lot of books and I loved Shakespeare. Still do.

If I get anything out, producing anything, no matter whether it's good or not, I allow myself a little pat on the back.

I love proving that I can do something.

If I've surprised others, I haven't surprised myself with the way I've played.

I read one Jane Austen in college and didn't like it at all and told everyone how much I disliked it. I read 'Northanger Abbey' sophomore year in college and hated it. I didn't read good Austen until after college, maybe a couple years out.

I don't know how I have got this habit, but I try to play one match and give it my best - it doesn't matter which level of cricket I am playing in. It gives me satisfaction that I am not thinking about others, not competing with others.

I remember when I was reading 'The Bear,' I was reading as a kid. All these years later, one returns to that for an entirely different reason.

Don't be proud of me. Do something to make yourself proud of yourself.

I think I overachieved.

I wanted to prove to myself I can do something on my own. Not for the world, but for myself. To have that self-confidence.

A sure sign of a good book is that you like it more the older you get.