Professional Demeanor Quotes

I have the version of me where I'm interviewing someone, where I definitely am the straight man, and I like to show a lot of respect to my guest and let them take the reins. I don't like to compete with my guests. I don't like to be funnier than my guests or get into a 'Who's wackier?' sort of thing.

As an attorney, I could be rather flamboyant in court. I did not act as though I were a black man in a white man's court, but as if everyone else - white and black - was a guest in my court. When trying a case, I often made sweeping gestures and used high-flown language.

Have you ever noticed that the lawyer always smiles more than the client?

A lot of guys out here are very serious, and God bless them, that's their personality. It's not a sin to be business-like.

At home, a man is entitled to raise his voice maybe once a year, if something really gets under his skin. At work, it's different. I raise my voice all the time. Not out of malice, but to get things right. It's never personal.

I can't tell my self that I'm a serious actor. But I'm serious person.

One trouble: to be a professional anything in the United States is to think of oneself as an expert and one's ideas as semisacred, and to treat others in a certain way - professionally.

Let's take the work seriously, and not ourselves seriously.

Be easy and condescending in your deportment to your officers, but not too familiar, lest you subject yourself to a want of respect, which is necessary to support a proper command.

You don't need to be flamboyant in your life to be flamboyant in your work.

When I was a very young lawyer, I had a senior partner who advised me never to get mad, except on purpose.

I'm not the same person on the court. I'm different when I'm off the court. Off the court, I don't need to be aggressive or anything.

Why does every flight attendant seem like they are going through a divorce?

I think that I probably break on set more than I make other people break. I've realized recently that, in my everyday social life, I'm a very easygoing person, but when it comes to work, I'm pretty type - A. I'm very focused and I take it maybe too seriously sometimes. So, when I'm on set, even when there are really funny people that I'm in the scenes with, I'm generally good at not breaking too often.

I think where I've instinctively found myself is that I am somewhat guarded in my public life. Being interviewed or being photographed or just in public attention, I have a certain reserve. But when I'm working I feel like I'm very open. At least I like to believe that I feel like nothing is held back when I'm in front of a camera. That's my job.

You have to take your job seriously, but you can't take yourself seriously.

Most of the drug CEOs I know, they're not themselves - they're what people want them to be. It's pretty obvious of the different drug executives. They're old white men, very buttoned up. They're appropriate, so to speak. I'm a little bit more irreverent, and I'm not going to change just because I have this job.

When I'm on the court, I don't smile, I don't joke, I'm not friends with anybody.

My professional persona never loosens its grip, keeping an eye on me at all times.

For someone to be taken seriously it was valuable to have the appearance of someone who deserved to be taken seriously.

I have a lot of friends, in and out of golf, and there is a mutual trust. I'm very serious at the course. Maybe if I joked around more around the press tent, your image of me would be different. But that's not me. And the golf course is my office. If I come up to you when you're writing a story, are you going to drop everything to talk? Or are you going to say you're too busy doing your job?

I don't think my acting was ever bad; I always knew that I could do it. But when you go to audition for a drama, they're very serious in the room, and I was used to being kind of goofy and having small talk.

He really just wanted to go about his business. I would put Eddie Murray in the same category as Andre Dawson. He would like to kid around with the press and (be surly), but he was a total professional. I see why he is a Hall of Famer. I am just glad I had the pleasure of playing for Eddie (Murray) for one year.

I'm not in the business of being "friendly."

The main thing I do is to carry myself as best as I can on my pro level.