[May 1958, on playing Macbeth at age 30 and age 48] When you're a young man, Macbeth is a character part. When… — Laurence Olivier Copy Share Image
What is the main problem of the actor? It is to keep the audience awake, and not let them go to sleep,… — Laurence Olivier Copy Share Image
I believe in the theater; I believe in it as the first glamorizer of thought. It restores dramatic dynamics and their relations… — Laurence Olivier Copy Share Image
I should be soaring away with my head tilted slightly toward the gods, feeding on the caviar of Shakespeare. An actor must… — Laurence Olivier Copy Share Image
The art of persuasion. The actor persuades himself, first, and through himself, the audience. — Laurence Olivier Copy Share Image
If I wasn't an actor, I think I'd have gone mad. You have to have extra voltage, some extra temperament to reach… — Laurence Olivier Copy Share Image
My stage successes have provided me with the greatest moments outside myself, my film successes the best moments, professionally, within myself. — Laurence Olivier Copy Share Image
I believe that in a great city, or even in a small city or a village, a great theater is the outward… — Laurence Olivier Copy Share Image
Of all the things I've done in life, directing a motion picture is the most beautiful. It's the most exciting and the… — Laurence Olivier Copy Share Image
[on whether he harbored any resentment at his forced retirement from the stage after he was fired by Britain's National Theater] I… — Laurence Olivier Copy Share Image
The office of drama is to exercise, possibly to exhaust, human emotions. The purpose of comedy is to tickle those emotions into… — Laurence Olivier Copy Share Image
I don't know what is better than the work that is given to the actor-to teach the human heart the knowledge of… — Laurence Olivier Copy Share Image
I often think that could we creep behind the actor's eyes, we would find an attic of forgotten toys and a copy of the… — Laurence Olivier Copy Share Image
Autograph-hunting is the most unattractive manifestation of sex-starved curiosity. — Laurence Olivier Copy Share Image
I believe in the theater; I believe in it as the first glamorizer of thought. It restores dramatic dynamics and their relations to life… — Laurence Olivier Copy Share Image
I suppose, unconsciously, I used all my wives to further my journey up the ladder. — Laurence Olivier Copy Share Image
“[in 1979] You must have - besides intuition and sensitivity - a cutting edge that allows you to reach what you need. Also, you… — Laurence Olivier Copy Share Image
If I wasn't an actor, I think I'd have gone mad. You have to have extra voltage, some extra temperament to reach certain heights. — Laurence Olivier Copy Share Image
[on whether he harbored any resentment at his forced retirement from the stage after he was fired by Britain's National Theater] I should be… — Laurence Olivier Copy Share Image
If he was lost for a moment, he would dive straight back into its honey. — Laurence Olivier Copy Share Image
![“[May 1958, on playing Macbeth at age 30 and age 48] When you're a young man, Macbeth is a character part. When you're older, it's a straight part.” quote by Laurence Olivier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/46a/laurence-olivier-11163_age_may-1958-on-playing-macbeth-at-age-30-an_1782352.jpg)
![“[on whether he harbored any resentment at his forced retirement from the stage after he was fired by Britain's National Theater] I should be soaring away with my head tilted slightly toward the gods, feeding on the caviar of Shakespeare... An actor must act.” quote by Laurence Olivier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/756/laurence-olivier-11163_actors_on-whether-he-harbored-any-resentment-at_368719.jpg)
![“[in 1979] You must have - besides intuition and sensitivity - a cutting edge that allows you to reach what you need. Also, you have to know life - bastards included - and it takes a bit of one to know one, don't you think?” quote by Laurence Olivier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/11d/laurence-olivier-11163_cutting_in-1979-you-must-have-besides-intuition_331373.jpg)
