Trip of a Lifetime (1999)
Context: What I always wanted to be was a magician... My real upbringing when I was a teenager was doing magic shows, all over the state, with my father and brothers. Doing magic, you not only have to be able to do a trick, you have to have a little story line to go with it. And writing is essentially a trick.
“The trick is that you have to stay naked. You must be naked.”
Heidi Klum (1973) German model, television host, businesswoman, fashion designer, television producer, and actress
Discussing the secret to a successful relationship to Ryan Seacrest at the 2011 Grammy Awards.
F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896–1940) American novelist and screenwriter
Letter to Frances Turnbull (9 November 1938), in A Life in Letters (1994), p. 368
Quoted, Letters
“There's no trick to being a humorist when you have the whole government working for you.”
Will Rogers (1879–1935) American humorist and entertainer
As quoted in Peter's Quotations : Ideas for Our Time (1979) by Laurence J. Peter, p. 524
As quoted in ...
“You can play jacks, and girls do that with a soft ball and do tricks with it.”
Dutch Schultz (1902–1935) American mobster
From police transcripts of incoherent deathbed confession
“I'm still trying to perform those tricks. Now I do it with writing.”
Ray Bradbury (1920–2012) American writer
Playboy interview (1996)
Context: I had decided to be a magician well before I decided to be a writer. I was the little boy who would get up on-stage and do magic wearing a fake mustache, which would fall off during the performance. I'm still trying to perform those tricks. Now I do it with writing.
“You have to develop a style that suits you and pursue it, not just develop a bag of tricks.”
Jimmy Stewart (1908–1997) American film and stage actor
As quoted in "Innocent Revisited" in TIME magazine (29 June 1970)
Context: I've always been skeptical of people who say they lose themselves in a part. Someone once came up to Spencer Tracy and asked, "Aren't you tired of always playing Tracy?" Tracy replied, "What am I supposed to do, play Bogart?" You have to develop a style that suits you and pursue it, not just develop a bag of tricks.
Koichi Tohei (1920–2011) Japanese aikidoka
28
Ki Sayings (2003)
Context: Until you can clearly make up your mind, you are better off not doing something. Make a habit of being decisive in your daily affairs. Some people can be heard to say, "what will I do if I get killed?!" If you die, there is nothing you can do. Whatever you have to do, do it now, while you are still living. You must practice to be able to return to essential principles at any moment.
