The theatre is the involuntary reflex of the ideas of the crowd.

Each action of the actor on the stage should be the visible concomitant of his thoughts.

I have often been asked why I am so fond of playing male parts. As a matter of fact, it is not male parts, but male brains that I prefer.

... actors of the first water are not more plentiful than playwrights of genius.

He who is incapable of feeling strong passions, of being shaken by anger, of living in every sense of the word, will never be a good actor.

Those who know the joys and miseries of celebrities when they have passed the age of forty know how to defend themselves.

The artist's personality must be left in his dressing-room; his soul must be denuded of its own sensations and clothed with the base or noble qualities he is called upon to exhibit.... [he] must leave behind him the cares and vexations of life, throw aside his personality for several hours, and move in the dream of another life, forgetting everything.