Orson Bean

“The reason I became a Christian is the same reason I became a conservative: I paid attention.”

“Young actors ask me for advice. They say, 'Should I get an agent?' I tell them, 'Don't worry about that. Act, act, act. Get into that production of 'The Three Sisters' in a church basement. Consider every audition a chance to act, even if it's just for three minutes. Just do it whenever and wherever you can.'”

“TV and film are always slipping in political messages, not ones designed to bring us together but to divide us.”

“My grandfather lived in New England all his life and was a Vermonter.”

“Even I get fan mail.”

“I don't believe most kids enjoy school at all, and that's a shameful waste, considering how curious and excited kids are to learn. They're naturally curious, full of wonder.”

“Strange are the ways of human behavior.”

“In '08, Barrack Obama was famously elected president. Even though I'd supported McCain and dreaded what I feared Barrack might do, I felt a surge of elation when the networks announced he'd won. I really hadn't thought the U.S. would go for an African-American for a decade or so.”

“Children can become self-reliant and self-disciplined by being free to do what they want to do.”

“I've made a lot of dumb mistakes, but I don't regret them at all.”

“I loved New York in the '50s.”

“I think it was a miracle that Trump got elected.”

“Every restaurant in the world is owned by a Greek.”

“Anything that's done correctly is easy.”

“It's wrong to make a living off the theater. Theater should be supported, like redwood trees. You should make your living - whether you're a writer or an actor or a director - in movies or commercials. But you do theater out of love.”

“Whatever else it was about, the feminist movement had no interest in exploding the myth of the mysterious and wonderful world of business; it simply wanted in on it.”

“People shouldn't get into show business because they want to become stars or become rich; they should get into it because they can't help but put on a show.”

“Old people come up to me and say, 'Are you still alive? I used to watch you on 'To Tell The Truth' when I was a kid.'”

“Part of me is nonhuman and eccentric, which is what a hobbit is, and I don't mind being eccentric.”

“I grew up on Harvard Square and I watched 50-year old men walking around with green book bags slung over their shoulders going for their fourth PhD, never having left the world of academia to alleged reality.”