Top 50 Quotes & Sayings by F. Murray Abraham

Marlon Brando was the major influence in my life, though I never met him. And my father - we didn't get along, but he was an influence in terms of honesty and work ethic. That's the greatest compliment I could pay him.

My Oscar has appeared in every play I've done since - not in view of the audience, but for my colleagues to enjoy.

There are real tricks to getting a job that I just don't like or understand - it feels too close to pandering. I've tried it, but it doesn't work.

My family is blue-collar - coal miners and steelworkers. My father was an automobile mechanic, and us boys were brought up to work. I used to pump gasoline at 11 cents a gallon. I thought I would like to be a first-rate mechanic; a respected, hard-working man.

I worked with Harold Pinter once as my first Broadway show. It was one of the most exciting things that ever happened to me.

Suddenly I was the man who got the part that every actor in the English language was trying to get. I was really scared. I had talked the talk, and now I had to walk the walk. For three days, I couldn't answer the phone.

I think creativity is spiritual. I absolutely believe that.

I like to teach. And when I spot talent without ambition, it makes me angry. I give students short shrift if they're not willing to do the work. Relying on talent is not enough.

Whenever there were parties, I wasn't invited because I began to be like that character. In a way, that contributed to the success of the performance.

With Connery, he does act. He is in complete command. He completely trusts the person first, then the instrument. I've worked with his son also, on a picture in Russia.

Woody Allen sets are very quiet. Extraordinary sense of power from a man who doesn't do anything except just stand there.

I'd like President Bush to think maybe there's another way to think, that maybe Kissinger was wrong when he says we had to go in there because he was wrong about Vietnam.

I'm just having a wonderful time. It's an interesting thing that I'm very comfortable with this material and I don't know why. Maybe it's because I did MacBeth.

The difficulty is capturing surprise on film.

I can't pretend at how much I object to all of the plays that keep being brought back over and over again, the so-called classic plays. I mean how many times can we see 'The Glass Menagerie?'

One of the great values of the theater is a communal search for truth; I believe that sincerely.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, I don't know if you'd call him a great actor, but he's amazing in terms of his presence, and he is interesting enough that you want to watch him.

Milos said, You're my first choice. From my point of view, that doesn't pay the rent. I said, Tell me what I have to do next because I'm busy painting my kitchen.

All the stuff that you visualized that was going to work so beautifully, you discover is trashed, so you jump to something else.

As much preparation as I had made for the old man Salieri, gestures and so on, the fact is after sitting for hours, your movements are kind of slow.

After I finished school, I headed for Los Angeles, thinking, 'Movies. Beaches.' But I wanted to do serious stage work, so I upped sticks and moved to New York to study. I did the usual day jobs to support myself - waiting on tables, washing dishes, parking cars, anything to pay the rent. I was a terrible waiter, by the way.

No matter all of your credits and accomplishments - you can be forgotten in a trice. The idea that you have to go back and start again after considerable success can destroy you if you're not strong. I never lost track of who I am and what I can do, because I continually find things to do, but not everyone has that resource.

I'm a comedian at heart, and I really can make people laugh, but ever since 'Amadeus,' all I seem to do is play dramatic roles and villains.

The only reason I signed on for a speech and drama course was because I thought it would be easy, but as soon as I stepped on the stage, I thought, 'This is exactly where I belong.'

I'm passionate about politics, but when it comes to political parties, I'm despondent. I'm disappointed at the absence of a sense of humanity and struggle to not become a cynic.

There is one confrontation scene toward the end of the picture. In the middle of the scene, I thought, That's Sean Connery! I don't know how else to describe Sean Connery. I still feel that way.

There are certain men and women who, from the minute they step in front of a camera, that's exactly where they belong. Connery's one.

I'm first-generation American - my people came over on boats - and I think it's a shame to close the door on people who really need freedom.

I always play these bad guys, and I'm really a nice guy.

I trust that the president will try, just give it one more shot, some revolutionary way of not doing this, of bringing all those kids back home safely.

I have two brothers buried in the military cemetery in Texas. I don't want to see any more of that.

I acted my heart out.

I just throw it out and see what happens. If it sounds and feels right, then I continue.

If these men decided that they have to go in there and fight, I want them to send their own children and grandchildren. I want them to not send a bunch of strangers' kids in there to fight and die.

I'm the spokesperson for the Multifaith Alliance for Syrian Refugees. My father was from Syria. It's an American initiative, and it's multi-faith. So, it's maybe 60-65 different organisations, Jews, Christians, Hindus... Anyway, it's very important and serious.

It sounds funny, but I felt that my responsibility as an American actor was to let the British know we can act as well as they can.

I'm not afraid to go anywhere, to the smallest theatre or the least amount of money.

I don't want to talk in terms of miracles. I think this is a very serious situation. But I do want to talk in terms of Bush becoming a man of the hour, and I think this is way to do it.

I'd like President Bush to get a gun in his hands. I'll go with him. I can't think of anything better than to die in place 's just beginning their lives.

The idea that you can make love and not war really is pretty neat. That thing in Korea, the thing in Israel - that's all over the world. There must be a new way of thinking.

Once I looked into a mirror at my face I felt like it was completely convincing. I was Salieri.

I love parties. I love a good time.

With Dick Smith there, and the words of Peter Shaffer... they've got to be the most beautiful descriptions in music ever written on film or in literature. And we could hear the music accompanying the words... What more can you ask for?

I'm a very proud actor.

I really like to experiment. That's the only way I can work. It's instinctive.

I cannot imagine not working. I don't understand the word 'retirement.'

People desire power. I don't know why they want it so. It seems to me it implies a hugely superior intellect which separates them from most of the populace.

I'm not going to just say nice things about everybody unless I mean it.

I'd like President Bush to get a gun in his hands. I'll go with him. I can't think of anything better than to die in places just beginning their lives.

I was a hoodlum. I was a gang member, and art saved my life.