A Quote by Dick Van Dyke

A producer came to me about doing a memoir, and at first I thought, "Well, it's a little bland." But then I realized that almost everything that's happened to me was the result of being in the right place at the right time. And I thought "Well, luck has a lot to do with it," so I wrote it from that perspective.
Well, it is certainly not by choice at this time you don't see or hear about me. This business is very unpredictable. A lot of it is luck and being in the right place at the right time.
I was running to catch a train when one of my teachers saw me. He thought I was fast, time me, and later gave me my first instructions in sprinting. I happened to be at the right place at the right time.
Friends give me a hard time about the pants I'm wearing, which are made in China. Well, how do you find the right clothes? Or the right movie studio? The right people giving you checks? Good luck doing the right thing all the time.
People call you "director," but it really should be "economic manager." Because everything is "Well, we can do another take here, but then you're gonna lose that shot over there." Or "The sun's going down, sorry, you're outta luck. We can't afford to." You know? And meanwhile, how do you get the performer's performance? I'm thinking the whole time all about "How can I get my day done?" And my performances are primarily a result of casting the right people at the right time in the right parts. And then I do little modifications.
The big thing is, everybody says it's being in the right place at the right time. But it's more than that, it's being in the right place all the time. Because if I make 20 runs to the near post and each time I lose my defender, and 19 times the ball goes over my head or behind me - then one time I'm three yards out, the ball comes to the right place and I tap it in - then people say, right place, right time. And I was there *all* the time.
When I came here, I was a little bit different and in Finland people didn't really accept me, and then I came here and I saw Honey G doing so well and I thought 'British people are so great, they accept Honey G as she is, so maybe they'll accept me as well.'
Otherwise, everything got better and better, just one surprise after another. And that's why I wrote the book about a matter of being in the right place at the right time, and just luck.
My introduction into making records was through a sampler, and that's what I did for a long time. And through doing that over a period of time and kind of coming out of it, I've realized that one of the reasons it works so well for me, one of the reasons psychologically I took to the process so well, was because I'm a problem-solver by nature. If you stick me in a void, I don't do so hot. As soon as there's one little thing to spark an idea, and then I have something to bounce off of - then I'm all right. But until I have that, like in that void, it's kind of hard.
I haven't gotten jobs because I'm famous or I have a big Twitter feed - it's primarily directors. People employ me because I'm right for the part. But then, everybody needs a bit of luck, being in the right place at the right time. You just gotta be in that place for that opportunity to come by.
The only good grades I ever got in school before I was kicked out were for creative writing. I thought that fiction might be in my future but then my career took a different path once the Beatles showed me what a blast being in a band could be. Writing my memoir Late, Late at Night reminded me how much I love the craft. So I decided to give fiction a shot again.Magnificent Vibration is the result. I’m still not quite sure where it came from, but once I got going, it practically wrote itself. I’ve heard writers I admire speak of that phenomenon, so maybe I’m on the right track.
I was having a conversation with one of my teammates and she asked me, "Aren't you so glad it's over? We don't have to compete anymore." I thought that was a strange comment but in that moment I realized that I was doing it for the right reasons. I wasn't looking at the Olympics to define me. I wasn't to arrive somewhere by performing well in a contest.
I'd always thought, 'When I finish modelling, I'm going to pursue this.' But then it really kind of hit me. I realized, 'Well, no, you can't do it when it's convenient. If I'm going to do it, I've got to do it right now.' (talking about pursuing her career as a singer)
I've worked hard, for sure, but like anything, it takes a lot of luck and being in the right place at the right time, and then making the most of the opportunity.
If I'm not directing it, I need to be right in the director's ear so we can be talking about this." You do something like use the wrong music, the tone's off, and everything feels off". And I was like, "I'm not going down with this one. I wrote it, but I don't like that play." Then I thought, "Well, no one's producing my stuff, letting me star in it, and direct it at these theaters, so I'll just do them in comedy clubs."
I had an interesting moment with 'Wonder Woman' where, when I first thought about doing 'Wonder Woman 2,' I thought, 'Well, these are so intense, making these movies. It's a lot to think about doing more.' But then I had an epiphany, and I thought, 'Oh, it's not more - it's better.'
Charles Burchfield would look at what you were working on and not say anything for several minutes. Then he would very sensitively respond - "Well, have you thought about?" or "Might you consider?" I respected that so much because I thought he was so sensitive to my work, and didn't want to offend me, but in the right way to encourage me.
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