Ed Asner

“I went into acting as psychotherapy, and it's still a work in progress.”

“When I was working my way up, it seemed to me that only Westerns and 'Star Treks' or sci-fi movies could afford to get away with presenting the problems - like prejudice and desegregation, for instance - that we face in our everyday lives.”

“I am not a method actor, though I studied for a year with Lee Strasburg.”

“I don't know who made the Earth. I woke up one morning, and it's here. I make the best of it.”

“You don't work with Cloris Leachman, you experience her.”

“My first job was with an auto plant, Kansas City - they treated you like slaves. From there I went back to Chicago, worked in steel mills, drove a cab, stuff like that.”

“They say making laws is like making sausages. You shouldn't watch. It's the same for acting, especially for the actor who works unconsciously.”

“In a way, 'WALL-E' had some of the same disturbing elements that 'Up' does.”

“The treasure shouldn't do the hunting, and you're a treasure.”

“Raising kids is part joy and part guerrilla warfare.”

“Never stand still. Only stand still enough to learn, and once you stop learning in that stance, move off. Always keep yourself engaged, in theater, in whatever job you can get. If you can't get an acting job, then go backstage. Or take tickets. But be around actors because that is where you will primarily learn.”

“Some of my earliest political feelings were based on the anti-Japanese bubblegum cards I got. There were also Spanish Civil War bubblegum cards. Awful.”

“The older I've gotten, the more the need to exert comedy no matter how tragic a character I may be portraying because they are essentials for presenting truth.”

“I pray that this council, which will probably be too late to save Iraq, will do what it can, which will be immeasurably strong in what it does in trying to save our democracy.”

“Always keep yourself engaged, in theater, in whatever job you can get.”

“I regard myself as a beautiful musical instrument, and my role is to contribute that instrument to scripts worthy of it.”

“I'm not sought after. I never get enough work. It's the history of my career. There just isn't anything to turn down, let me put it that way.”

“I don't believe in God, though I'm not prepared to call myself an atheist either. You know the old phrase: 'There are no atheists in foxholes.' I've never been in a foxhole, and if I ever find myself in a foxhole, I'll let you know if I believe in God or not.”

“They're sheep. They like Bush enough to credit him with saving the nation after 9/11. Three thousand people get killed, and everybody thinks they're next on the list. The president comes along, and he's got his six-guns strapped on, and people think he's going to save them.”

“To my knowledge, there is no blacklist. But there is a mindset, even among liberal producers, that says 'He may be difficult, so let's avoid him.'”