Understanding Motivation Quotes

Forget about what the technology is. Just understand the motivation behind it.

I mean one of the basic rules when you're acting is that you mustn't stand in judgement on a character, you mustn't say Hitler was a bad man because you can't act in that way.

To me, the psychology behind the character is critical. So I work very hard to get into the mind of the man that I'm going to be playing, because number one, I want to understand why he's doing what he's doing. It's essential, it's absolutely essential.

I saw my dad work hard and then would see and know his interest and intentions, and that wasn't necessarily the narrative you would see in the press.

The problem I have with schools is, people are taught, 'This is how you do this.' They're not taught about why you do this.

I internalise every role that I do and my creative process sees me immerse myself with the setting and the character that I have at hand.

It's a basic tenet you learn at drama school. If you're playing someone evil, you can't make an objective moral judgment. You've got to get inside the character and empathize as much as possible.

I don't know how to play a character unless I love him.

The concept of why is already in the vernacular. It is now a noun. "That company doesn't know their why." "They need to learn their why." "That politician needs to understand his why." We talk about it as a noun. That never existed prior to 2009. That never existed prior to 2006 when I first started articulating it. This is the most amazing thing to me. It has now become a concept. It's part of the way we think about businesses and transactions and decisions.

It doesn't matter what you can do if you don't know why you're doing it.

Some writers, notably Anton Chekov, argue that all characters must be admirable, because once we've looked at anyone deeply enough and understood their motivation we must identify with them rather than judge them.