Alan Thicke

“If one tends to be a humorous person and you have a sense of humor the rest of your life then you can certainly lighten the load, I think, by bringing that to your trials and tribulations. It's easy to have a sense of humor when everything is going well.”

“My priority is to turn people - especially kids - on to sports and being active so they don't even have to think about it being good for their health. If people participate for the fun of it, and believe me - it is fun, then fitness programs will be much more successful.”

“I have few other characters to relate to other than myself. I have enough of a body of work now that the paternal side of Alan Thicke gets a lot of play. I do get a lot of calls to play dads.”

“On a selfish basis, I really enjoy sports and activity.”

“And introduce an element of cynicism and darkness into it and just realize that we're all vulnerable. We are humans. There is a finite end to this life and we're all going to face it and a little silliness can help.”

“About 100 things that your kid will do that will surprise you and break your heart and it will be a combination of fact based therapy, medically advised kinds of passages accompanied by celebrity anecdotes and just some funny stuff to lighten the load.”

“As a father, my first priority is to help my sons set and attain personal goals so they will develop self-confidence and individual strength. Engaging in regular fitness activities with my children helps me fulfill those responsibilities.”

“I was discovered, or mentored, by Norman Lear, who plucked me from the grinder of relative obscurity.”

“My advice, it's get involved in any and every aspect of the business that affords itself to you.”

“I did write a lot of TV themes - I wrote about 45 of them, and a couple of which are still reference and popular today, like 'Diff'rent Strokes' and 'Facts of Life.' But I was a limited musician.”

“Fitness needs to be perceived as fun and games or we subconsciously avoid it.”

“One week you may be an actor, and the next week you had to be nimble enough to be a TV host. And the week after that, you might have to do some stand-up or be in an improv company or write and sing a song somewhere.”

“I wouldn't call myself a standup in the presence of Jerry Seinfeld or Chris Rock, but I do my share of it and it has been and remains part of my activity and I like it.”

“It's always been said that comedy comes mostly out of the dark side anyway.”

“I have some realistic humility which comes from my first career as a writer. I wrote for other people for ten years. I saw some incredible egos not based on any reality. They were great when they were on top and awful when they weren't. I learned a lot about how to treat people.”

“I'm a big proponent of having a mental health component go along with whatever the physical realities are.”

“When I started out, at the CBC in Toronto, there was so little work. It was a different world from what it is now. Now we're blessed with so much production in so many Canadian cities.”

“My advice to Robin is listen to your heart, do what you feel. Follow your heart in love and marriage as you would in careers, and you'll be fine. Robin has a great heart. He's a fabulous father.”

“My kids are all pretty big and tough and strong, and I don't worry about them being bullied - the reverse, be kind to people and don't ever be a bully yourself, and I think they've followed that.”

“I'm not doing anything Jack Nicholson turned down. Any part that required a character distanced from myself would have been a reach. But the one thing I've always done well at, and I'm most devoted to, is my children.”