Theodore Bikel quotes: wise famous quotes, sayings and quotations by Theodore Bikel

Theodore Bikel Famous Quotes & Sayings

Discover top inspirational quotes from Theodore Bikel on Wise Famous Quotes.

You don't really need modernity in order to exist totally and fully. You need a mixture of modernity and tradition.

As an artist I have an even more abiding interest in the compact between the Arts and Government.

But, when I toil in the field of Jewish culture which I frequently do, I am indeed a Jewish artist.

I'm exceedingly proud of being an actor, but I never recommend it to anyone.

I remain convinced that I can be a true universalist only when I am a better Jew.

I do prefer the stage. It's really the granddaddy of them all.

Every actor wants to direct.

Accents. I'm very good with accents. I'm exceedingly good.

'Retiring' - within that word is 'tiring,' and I'm not tired. I don't believe in retirement, really.

I am a Zionist, an ardent supporter of Israel, its defender when I deem Israel to be right and its critic when I deem it to be wrong.

Epistemology is the study of knowledge. By what conduit do we know what we know?

No movement can afford to be caught in a time warp and exist in a state of suspended animation.

I always sang, I always acted, I always played.

I am filled with awe that filmmakers have the capacity to stir us and give us back a sense of wonder.

No doubt, unity is something to be desired, to be striven for, but it cannot be willed by mere declarations.

I am a universalist, passionately devoted to the cause of equality within the human family.

I know for certain of only one commandment, one obligation, that God imposes upon us, and that is to be compassionate toward other human beings.

On the stage you're there, it's live. There's a beginning, a middle, an end. When something is funny you hear it right away.

In my mind the city of Ariel is a thorn in Israel's side and a serious obstacle to peace.

You can't expect the entire world to come to New York to see you. You have to travel to them.

For I firmly believe that Jewish life, indeed any communal life, can only be organized according to democratic principles.

If I have one vanity wish, it would be to direct. It's the only thing I haven't done yet that I would like to.

After the advent of the written word, the masses who could not - or were not permitted to - read, were given sermons by the few who could.

When something is moving you get that intake of breath and that stillness from the audience.

We Jews have a special attachment to the Book. The study of page after page in tomes yellowing with age was obligatory.

I make no claim that Jewish culture is superior to other cultures or that the Jewish song is better than the song of my neighbor.

There is no role I cannot play except a midget.

It's a sad thing to contemplate, but I'm the last surviving cast member of 'The African Queen.'

You cannot please all of the people all of the time, and that is truer in the arts than anywhere else.

I am not a specialist but a general practitioner in the world of the arts.

I created the role of Captain Von Trapp.

Right up to the middle of this century all perceptions of the world around us were delivered via the bookshelf or the paper route.

No heirloom of humankind captures the past as do art and language.

I have always striven to raise the voice of hope for a world where hate gives way to respect and oppression to liberation.

Audiences are audiences.

I prefer to make common cause with those whose weapons are guitars, banjos, fiddles and words.

Although I am deeply grateful to a great many people, I forgo the temptation of naming them for fear that I might slight any by omission.

I am determined to give the Yiddish language a fighting chance to survive.

I am not, and have never been, in favor of boycotting Israel.

We live in a world of guns, bombs and terror. To conquer hate seems a nigh-impossible task.

Having come to live in this age is as though one were to have entered another country. Learn its language or risk being left out.

You learn more from the flops than from the hits.

I prefer to choose which traditions to keep and which to let go.

Throughout my life I have cared as deeply about the songs of all peoples as I have about the rights of all peoples.

I do not know who there is among us that can claim to know God's purpose and God's intent.

The play is always fresh to me. It's not the audience's fault that I've said the words before.