Quotes By Philip Seymour Hoffman

I think therapy is a helpful thing. I think everyone knows it. You do it for your life, you do it for yourself, because you want to explore some things, and get at the bottom of some things. It's about your life, the quality of your life.

Actors are responsible to the people we play.

I like to come to the set with very strong ideas and strong opinions about how to do things. And I like also dealing with somebody who's like that.

I've had to make the transition from sweeping in for 15 minutes, doing my stuff and clearing out, to carrying a movie for the duration - in a dress.

The only true currency in this bankrupt world is what you share with someone else when you're uncool.

I got into plays in high school then I ended up going to college for it.

I didn't go out looking for negative characters; I went out looking for people who have a struggle and a fight to tackle. That's what interests me.

I work constantly but I work at a lot of different things. You know, I run a theater company in New York, I direct plays, act in plays, in movies, so I try to keep it eclectic.

I've never been on a cruise.

I like so many different kinds of music just because all I did was listen to the radio as a kid.

There's nothing risky in talking about your personal life. People do it all the time.

You can look at anything as a cult. Churches are cults in their own way.

I know I wasn't as handsome as some other guys, but I was OK with that.

I don't have a specific thing I want anyone to get out of anything I do.

I have a family.

I have so much empathy for these young actors that are 19 and all of a sudden they're beautiful and famous and rich. I'm like, 'Oh my God, I'd be dead.'

I've grown to really love musicals, you know?

I think you ultimately have to love who you're playing. You have to have that kind of feeling. You have to have passion for the person.

I think I'm less anonymous than I was.

You know the circus performer who spins the plates in the air you know, and he'll spin six or seven plates in the air? Acting sometimes is kind of that guy spinning all those plates in the air but in your head and in your body.

I've worked with a lot of characters that are unhinged. I've played characters that are unhinged. That's, like, my job.

To act well isn't an easy thing.

When people don't know who you are, they're seeing your work for the first time. But if they've seen a lot, getting certain things across is a more difficult.

People used to be funny about approaching me, but now they seem to think I'm as sane as anyone who's done what I've done in movies can be.

My soul is in good shape.

Directing is a really kind of amazing thing, because you're helping others and, in the middle of that, you have to worry about yourself.

When you become a parent, you look at your parents differently. You look at being a child differently. It's an awakening, a revelation that you have.

Being unemployed is not good for an actor. No, it isn't, no matter how unsuccessful you are. Because you always remember getting fired from all the restaurants. You remember that stuff very, very strongly.

People actually live with their id exposed. They're not good at concealing what's going on inside.

I had a father who was a traveling salesman.