Hamlisch Marvin Quotes & Sayings

From the time I could play the piano, I remember trying to write tunes. They were in my head, and I would just sit down and start noodling. Next thing I knew, I had written a melody. — Marvin Hamlisch

Maybe I'm old-fashioned. But I remember the beauty and thrill of being moved by Broadway musicals - particularly the endings of shows. — Marvin Hamlisch

Nature isn't positive in that way. It doesn't aim itself at you. It's not being unkind to you. — David Attenborough

You mustn't underestimate an audience's intelligence. — Marvin Hamlisch

It is written that adversity introduces us to ourselves. — George W. Bush

I never took any vocal training. — Marvin Hamlisch

I still have great faith in what is good and right in all of us. — Marvin Hamlisch

Let's say music is needed for only 43 seconds of film. You have to score it so it is an entity, so it won't bother anyone when it ends so quickly. Or if a song runs 2 minutes and 45 seconds, but the titles run a minute longer, you have to arrange that song so it doesn't get repetitious. — Marvin Hamlisch

The eminent cleric was poking fun at original sin. 'That sin is your meal ticket. Without it, you'd die of hunger, for your ministry would then no longer have any meaning. If man is not fallen from the very beginning, why did Christ come? to redeem whom and what?' To my objections, his only response was a condescending smile.

A religion is finished when only its adversaries try to preserve its integrity. — Cioran

Music can make a difference. There is a global nature to music, which has the potential to bring all people together. Music is truly an international language, and I hope to contribute by widening communication as much as I can. — Marvin Hamlisch

there is no such thing as chance. All is either a trial, or a punishment, or a reward, or a foresight. Remember the fisherman, who thought himself the most wretched of mankind. Oromazes sent thee to change his fate. Cease then, frail mortal, to dispute against what thou oughtest to adore." "But, — Voltaire

Writing about writing is a bit like talking about a conversation you are having; it tends to obscure desperation about where the next word is coming from. — Renata Adler

Writing in the first person helps to make clear the author's role in constructing rather than discovering the story/knowledge. — Gayle Letherby

The night you gave me my birthday party ... you were a young Lieutenant and I was a fragrant phantom, wasn't I? And it was a radiant night, a night of soft conspiracy and the trees agreed that it was all going to be for the best. — Zelda Fitzgerald

You know, anyone who invites me to do something makes me feel special. — Marvin Hamlisch

Normally I can balance two or three things. The problem is when you're out of work and don't have anything to balance. I think people assume you're always busy. You go through dry spells. — Marvin Hamlisch

I think that when NASA works on a moon shot, they know too well that all of the people working on it must do their job at 110 percent. Sometimes they probably put in 18 hour days, but they're aiming for the moon, and that's what counts. — Marvin Hamlisch

I have always thought of music as a highway with many lanes. — Marvin Hamlisch

My show business career doesn't mean I can't write a symphony. It just means I was never asked to write one. — Marvin Hamlisch

I'm not one of those people who says, 'I never read reviews,' because I don't believe those people. — Marvin Hamlisch

There have been studies that clearly state that children who are exposed to arts education at a young age will in fact do markedly better in their SAT tests. — Marvin Hamlisch

I don't think they understand it's as important as math and science. It rounds you out as a person. I think it gives you a love of certain things. You don't have to become the next great composer. It's just nice to have heard certain things or to have seen certain things. It's part of being a human being. — Marvin Hamlisch

As I get older, I'm slowing down and, yes, calming down in my desire to be taken seriously. That I can be entertaining and funny and high nervous energy can work against me as a serious composer, slowly but surely you'll see me be quieter just so that people will listen. — Marvin Hamlisch

Some years ago, I read an article about two people in the arts (alas, I can't remember who they were) who'd been married for many, many years. Asked for the secret of their long partnership, they said: "We fell straight into conversation when we met, and we haven't come to the end of that conversation yet."
I can't think of a better model for marriage than that. Or of a narrative more romantic ... — Terri Windling

If I'm within reach and can be helpful, I have a tendency to say 'Yes.' It's hard to say 'No.' — Marvin Hamlisch

I was always drawn to Broadway musicals, and obviously composers like Gershwin, Rodgers, Berlin and Porter were writing music that I found wildly impressive. — Marvin Hamlisch

I started studying music at the age of five and a half. My older sister was taking piano lessons. When her teacher left our apartment, I would get up on the piano bench and start picking out the notes that were part of my sister's lessons. — Marvin Hamlisch

My whole thing is not just to play music for people, but to make them part of the evening. — Marvin Hamlisch

I can make a song up about anything: garbage, the weather, things in the news. — Marvin Hamlisch

When she entered the dining room, she tried to ignore Caleb's gaze on her. He wasn't outwardly leering, but she could feel the intensity coming from his direction as if he was sending heat-seeking missiles her way. She knew he wanted her. She might not have much experience with men, but she knew when one was interested and Caleb Ryder was. — Katie Reus

The biggest thrill you can have is to tell people one of your songs, and have them be able to hum it. — Marvin Hamlisch

I was doing a Broadway musical called 'Smile' with Howard Ashman and Marvin Hamlisch in 1984/5 when it abruptly closed. Howard was in the middle of pre-production for 'The Little Mermaid,' so he kindly invited all the girls in our cast to audition for the film. — Jodi Benson

I celebrate myself," the poet Walt Whitman wrote. The thought is so delicious it is almost obscene. Imagine the joy that would come with celebrating the self - our achievements, our experiences, our existence. Imagine what it would be like to look into the mirror and say, as God taught us, "That's good. — Joan D. Chittister

If you're still standing, and able to string two words together, that wasn't and orgasm."
She frowns. "What was it then?"
"A rehearsal. — Roxy Sloane

Barbra Streisand is without a doubt one of the most honest people I have ever known. There is no doubt in my mind that she will not be doing any more concerts. Of course, she still will be making records and starring and directing in movies. — Marvin Hamlisch

I watch the Discovery Channel, and you know what I've discovered? I need a girlfriend. — Dave Attell

Stories mimic life like certain insects mimic leaves and twigs. — Mary Gaitskill

Carving out our own place, making something out of nothing. It feels as right as it doesn't and I think maybe I was wrong. We can't have exactly everything we lost. But maybe we can come close. — Courtney Summers

Guys aren't deep enough to need CliffsNotes. — Rachel Caine

Many, many years ago, I was one of the few conductors who talked to the audience and now a lot of classical conductors have figured it out ... otherwise, you just get the back of someone's head playing music you could hear on a CD. It's not enough anymore. — Marvin Hamlisch