Dick Cavett Quotes

I stopped doing standup because it stopped being fun. And the reason it stopped being fun was it was harder to write - and this was before the Internet - it was harder to write new stuff. It had gotten so crazy.

I know a lot of shows are like, 'Here's the pages,' right before they start filming. I'd have a heart attack. The anxiety would be way too much for me. I don't have as strong a backbone as those other show writers.

Stress is something that is sort of out of your control. You get stressed out over looking at the finish line. Stress is something that is an outside thing. Stress is an anxiety.

I think it's one of the main negative emotional ingredients that fuels show business, because there's so much at stake and the fear of failure looms large.

Desperation is the perfume of the young actor. It's so satisfying to have gotten rid of it. If you keep smelling it, it can drive you crazy. In this business a lot of people go nuts, go eccentric, even end up dead from it. Not my plan.

Show business is, essentially, a fear-based industry.

There's no damn business like show business - you have to smile to keep from throwing up.

People who go into show business are screwed up.

If you take every challenge everyone has in their life and multiply it in severity you get what it's like in the life of an actor.

I think every entertainer's had nights when things go wrong. I mean you can't remember everything all the time, and especially if you're having hard times personally, things going on that you - you know, and then people make it worse. And that makes you feel worse.

'SNL' can be a stressful environment, and I am panicking constantly, but I guess I keep it pretty internal.

If I thought of gymnastics as a job, it would put too much stress on me.

Every field has its pressures and stress factors.

There's games you try one field goal, and if you miss that one field goal you'll feel like crap for the whole rest of the week... It doesn't do you any good.

The thing is, comparison and pressure have no boundaries. There will be comparison with your co-star, with the films that are releasing with your film.

I'm always nervous before playing a gig, to tell you the truth. It's what nearly did me in when I was with the Libertines. I just couldn't handle it.

Reality shows can put a lot of stress on you.

Broadway is intimidating. Don't think it's not.

Performing gives me so much anxiety.

I think anytime you put the weight of the world on yourself saying, 'I have to perform,' or, 'I have to get a completion. I have to throw a touchdown,' nine times out of 10, I think you're going to fail.

I still feel pressure - I'm sure everyone who plays feels pressure - but I don't feel it as much now as when I was younger.

Don't misunderstand,' he said, 'there's pressure with every football game… Sometimes players, coaches, teams put pressure on themselves when they don't have to.

Growing up, I was often put under a lot of pressure. Being an athlete, I've been dealing with pressure for a long time.

Nineteen ninety-five, when I was still with Jordan, was the lowest moment. It was my third season and the travel was getting to me and I was missing my family. I felt under a lot of pressure and even thought of going to America - to race there.

It's my life's aim to make people understand the job of an actor, what they go through, and why they are such a protected species. People see the glamour part of it. But there's so much stress that often you don't even pay attention to the luxuries.