Ben Stiller Quotes

I love history. I'm very interested by it and I think it's great to have a movie that brings it alive in a way. It's sort of that romanticized version of it.

It's weird that people expect me to be funny. I find it a real burden when I'm expected to be humorous on talk shows.

It was a mixed blessing to have famous parents. It was tough to go to auditions and be bad, since I couldn't be anonymous.

I think you never want to have to go into the scene having to improvise; you want to make sure its working on the page. But I do like to have the ability to try stuff just in the moment, to give it some sort of spontaneity.

There's an old saying in Hollywood: It's not the length of your film, it's how you use it.

Oh, dear God, thank you, you are such a good God to us. A kind and gentle and accommodating God, and we thank You oh sweet, sweet Lord of hosts for the smörgåsbord You have so aptly laid at our table this day, and each day, by day, day by day, by day oh dear Lord three things we pray to love Thee more dearly, to see Thee more clearly, to follow Thee more nearly, day, by day, by day. Amen.

I'd love to travel more. I really look forward to traveling with my kids. I'm just waiting for them to want to travel with me.

I have not been an easygoing guy. I think it's called bipolar manic depression. I've got a rich history of that in my family.

Sometimes I wondered whether I hadn't let my career get confined to one direction, but lately I've decided to accept the fact that I have this opportunity to be successful doing comedies.

I enjoy the work I do in comedies. It's a valid test of your creative abilities.

I'm Jewish, but my mom's Catholic, so the guilt area is covered. I have the highest expectations, along with the lowest. I tried to put as much of myself as possible in Reality Bites, but in terms of my humor, I'm still trying to figure out what my sensibility is. It's a process, really. I don't feel like I have a very clear idea of what I'm supposed to be, or even of how people perceive me, except that I got put into this Generation X file.

I have a lot of nervous energy. Work is my best way of channelling that into something productive unless I want to wind up assaulting the postman or gardener.

The big-name stars . . . are always going to be playing what they've played before if they want to remain so-called A-list stars. That's why someone like Johnny Depp is doing more interesting roles not caring about the size of the movie.

I know that I'm better as an actor when I'm working with a good actor. I think anytime you're working with a better actor, it makes you a better actor.

People like to define you through what they've seen you do. There are aspects of my personality, I guess, that come through on-screen, but I don't sit around thinking, 'I've been a bumbling suitor all my life.'

I wanted to be funny for people who didn't care about fashion at all, to just to kind of exist as a silly character.

All those rumors about her being underweight are trash. She's [Calista Flockhart] gorgeous.

Jim Carrey, a comic genius, has a harder time overcoming the public's desire for him to be funny simply because he's so good at it.

When you're doing a comedy and you want to somehow satirise people who are taking themselves seriously, I think the most serious genre is the thing you're going to get the most out of. If you're trying to satirise a comedy, it's hard to do that - it doesn't really work as well. But I love the war movie genre and I'm a fan of all those movies that are part of what this movie is.

Stiller was able to reach speeds of around 35 miles per hour, no small task for someone who had never longboarded before.

I don't need a compass to tell me which way the wind shines !

I don't devalue comedy as compared to drama. Not one bit.

Very quickly after meeting Dustin, the whole image I had of him was shattered.

I don't think know if anything's going to translate anywhere. You're making a movie, you hope it's going to be funny, you can't think about how it's going to go over.

My own parents were touchy-feely.

I've had a very good career and I'm grateful that the public has had some level of acceptance and appreciation of my work.

Oh, you can milk just about anything with nipples.

Paul is Starsky, and I met him before shooting. He was very kind and encouraged us to go with what we wanted to do. It was very sweet to see them back with the car after 25 years.

Words can only hurt you if you try to read them. Don't play their game!

I was a bad student. I liked archaeology actually, I was interested in maybe becoming an archaeologist but I was such a bad student and had such bad grades that I wasn't going to get into any really good college so I fell back on acting.

I don't think the public is dying to see me necessarily be funny all the time.

I studied Tom Cruise running in all the Mission Impossibles. I think he's one of the best screen runners.

I don't have a burning desire to be taken seriously as an actor. I don't have a master plan in that way.