Michael Learned

“I used to pride myself on the fact that I kept a house running and never burdened anybody.”

“I was certainly typecast for a while on television because I was always being cast as the 'compassionate mother' or whatever.”

“I got married at 17, had three kids by the time I was 24, and have never had much time alone. I never had time to develop hobbies. Now, if I have nothing to do, I just find myself cleaning drawers incessantly.”

“I used to love people for what they could be. I thought love was how hard you tried and how much you sacrificed and suffered. That is not love. Acceptance is.”

“I am not one of those actresses who loves acting.”

“Nobody can understand the pressures of doing an hour-long TV show unless you've done one. Even when you're not on call, you still are working, learning lines, doing appearances, just tense.”

“As an actor, one of my greatest fears is losing my memory.”

“I'm grateful that I have a theater career because television isn't kind to you when you're over forty.”

“When I was a girl, my grandmother would take me during the holidays to see the windows at Saks and Rockefeller Center.”

“All of us from 'The Waltons' still love each other. I think we're closer than some real families.”

“If you care about what you do, you don't want to let people down.”

“I don't mean to insult television, but a lot of the time, it's pretty straightforward. If you say, 'I love you,' you mean 'I love you.' There isn't time for anything more.”

“I never had a driving ambition to be a star.”

“For a long time, I resisted seeing 'The Sound of Music,' but when I finally did, I cried.”

“I got married very young and put my career on the back burner for the most part because that's what you did in those days. I've never been a pushy, ambitious type of person anyway.”