Walker Percy Quotes

Have you noticed that only in time of illness or disaster or death are people real? I remember at the time of the wreck-- people were so kind and helpful and solid. Everyone pretended that our lives until that moment had been every bit as real as the moment itself and that the future must be real too, when the truth was that our reality had been purchased only by Lyell's death. In another hour or so we had all faded out again and gone our dim ways.

In acting class they tell you that you have to be real, connect with the people, connect with your partner. The same as politics, you have to connect to the people.

Well, [bad] times like that bring out the best in some people and the worst in others.

Acting is, to me now, artificial. Seeing people suffer is real. It couldn't be more real. Some people don't like to look at it in the face because it's painful. But if nobody does, then nothing gets done.

It is not my experience that life’s difficulties make people more charitable.

Its unfortunate and I really wish I wouldn't have to say this, but I really like human beings who have suffered. They're kinder.

A certain amount of anger doesn't make us less empathetic, less humane, less loving. It just makes us real.

I want to give kids that fall-off-the-bed-laughing feeling. Either that, or the sixth-grade feeling that life is hard - sometimes unbearably hard - and it is ultimately about death. But in the meantime, life can be really funny, too.

Hard times arouse an instinctive desire for authenticity.

When there's a terrible illness like AIDS sweeping through, you help people.

Everybody is friends when things are bad enough.

Real human emotion is always interesting.

The emotions you see when you watch 'Narcos,' they're pretty much my emotions and the way I would react if I were there. It's not something you create; all of us have everything inside ourselves.

Certainly, hunger can bring out the worst in us. But it can also bring out the best.

I'm a big fan of honesty and being real, so to me, it seemed like Wynonna was a very human character in a very supernatural circumstance. I was like, 'I can do that!'

Despite everything that's going on, people need love.

I have found out who are my real friends, thanks to the illness and hospitals.

You know, when real trouble comes your humanity is awakened. The fundamental human experience is that of compassion.

Pain sure does bring out the best in people, doesn't it?

You have to get knocked down to realize how people really feel about you. I've realized that more than ever lately. The other day, I was on my way to the car. It was hailing, the streets were slippery and I was having a tough time of it. I came to a corner and started to slip. But before I could fall, four people jumped out of nowhere to help me. When I thanked them, they all said they knew about my illness and had been keeping an eye on me.

If I am true to myself, if I am true to mankind, if I am true to humanity, I must understand all the faults that human flesh is heir to.

I hope you will be yourself, human, even a little sentimental, possessed of a sense of humor and a sense of humility. . . . There are arrogant people in this world and, what is worse, arrogant judges.

Acting is about being real, being honest.

We are the same people as we were at three, six, ten or twenty years old. More noticeably so, perhaps, at six or seven, because we were not pretending so much then.

In acting class, you talked always about keeping it real and don't act... connect with the people and connect with the partner that you're acting with. The same is also true in politics.