Professional Decline Quotes

I just want to retire before I go senile because if I don't retire before I go senile, then I'll do more damage than good at that point.

I never contemplated any kind of existence or identity after my career. I never thought at some point the entertainment industry is going to be through with me. And when it first occurred to me that my career was going to cease to be ascendant, then I freaked out.

In any profession, whether it's teachers or doctors or lawyers, the more we say we're not going to evaluate those people on the merits, I think that's when the profession goes into decline.

I realize that I'm in the twilight of my career.

Let's face it, I'm a has-been.

Musicians and journalists are the canaries in the coalmine, but, eventually, as computers get more and more powerful, it will kill off all middle-class professions.

If you go back to the minors, you have to start swinging and hitting the ball again. I've been in the minors since the '70s semipros, let's put it that way.

She used to be a teacher but she has no class now.

Once you make the majors, it's never a great feeling to go back to the minors - no matter what the circumstances.

Like I said, a 30-year-old hockey player, even when I came to New York when I was 30, I was on the downside of my career, pretty much the end of my career.

The lawyer must either learn to live more capaciously or be content to find himself continuously less trusted, more circumscribed, till he becomes hardly more important than a minor administrator, confined to a monotonous round of record and routine, without dignity, inspiration, or respect.

James, that's a bad situation. I'm not saying it's not repairable, but it's pretty far. When you go from being in one of the best bands in the world to some cover band... as far as I'm concerned, he was playing down at the pub.

I knew it was time to pack it in. I was in my 60s... I could still sing but I didn't want to get to that point where people feel sorry for me.

I guess, as a conductor, one goes in and out of fashion. Your career starts with a bang, everyone thinks you're wonderful, and then with middle age, something happens and you go into the wilderness.

The two oldest professions in the world — ruined by amateurs.

When guys get to a certain age or certain level in their career maybe they don't do as much or work as hard so they start to lose some of that stuff. It's inevitable that at some point your going to lose most of what you've had.

God bless Hollywood and all that it stands for, but, you know, people tend to peak in their 40s, and then it's all downhill from there.

When I started in the business years ago, people would always say, 'You better get as much work as you can now, because once you get over 40, it's over.'

I've never been asked to appear on 'I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!,' so I guess I mustn't be on the professional skids just yet.

When I entered politics, I took the only downward turn you could take from journalism.

Sometimes you're in great demand. Then suddenly your career hits the breaks.

I could not keep my success. I had such a great run. By 93-94, it all came to an end and I had to go to Bangladesh and work there.

I'm not the entertainer anymore.

Everyone in Hollywood who is successful becomes less successful at some point. I'm just trying to delay that fall for as long as I can.

Going back down to the minors is the toughest thing to handle in baseball.