Neil Patrick Harris's Quotes

I felt a little green, because Shakespeare writes the thought process within the text; it was tricky not to think of what to say and then say it, and instead just deliver the lines.

I loved Rent when I first heard it, but it grew on me and so did Tick, Tick... Boom. Some songs are more interesting than others and sometimes the ones that never stood out at first end up being the best to perform.

I remember thinking that the rest of my life would be solo. I wasn't weepy when I thought that - it was just a realization that I had gone this long being self-sufficient.

I think it has been a weird mistake to have people with their own music careers going on and judging people because when they're too critical, it affects them. They don't want to be that honest, because they need to keep their appearance up.

I thought the idea of 'Smurfs' lent itself to the 3-D environment pretty well, I think, better than some of the farm animal movies that have been done before. I was a fan of the 'Smurfs' and they come with their own fan base, which I thought was nice.

I was a big fan of how Johnny Carson hosted awards shows. Dick Cavett, as well, I think did a really great job of providing a nice blend of comedy, wit and class.

I'm probably my biggest critic. I worry that if you spend any quality time reveling in good things then karma will slap you upside the head, so I try to stay as even keel as I'm able.

I'm shocked at how early everything closes here. But people start earlier. I miss the late nightlife in NYC, but then again I sing and burn so much energy in the show that it's probably good - I get to go home and sleep.

I've done plenty of daredeviling - from white-water rafting to bungee jumping. But I think the most fearless was hosting the Emmy Awards. It was overwhelming, and I definitely had to leave fear at the door.

I've gotten to hang out with Elmo, I'm the Fairy Shoeperson on 'Sesame Street'. So hopefully our kids will get to see and hear me as much as they're able.

It's good to have a lot of once-in-a-lifetimes in your lifetime. If you get the chance to skydive, go skydiving. If you're offered a part in a weird Shakespeare play in San Diego, slap on some tights and rock out some iambic pentameter.

It's nice to establish yourself as an actor first and a singer second. Proof is such a tremendous piece of work, and I'm incredibly lucky to be a part of it. I'm sure that the musicals will happen in the future, though.

Mmmmmmmm. Anderson. He's dreamy. Just dreamy. I've been a fan of his since season 1 of 'The Mole.' I just thought he was so cool when he talked in this cool, low, secret-agent voice.

Rather than ignore those who choose to publish their opinions without actually talking to me, I am happy to dispel any rumors or misconceptions and am quite proud to say that I am a very content gay man living my life to the fullest and feel most fortunate to be working with wonderful people in the business I love.

'Smurfs' just seemed like a great way to represent a young father to be, guy in a marriage, work in conflict, and I was really interested in the technical CG side of things. I'd never done a movie that I thought would be so physical and yet so precise. So I was intrigued by all of that.

So I've done my fair share of theater. I have also been very fortunate in that I've been able to come to New York two or three times a year just to see as many shows as possible. I think the live theater culture here is incredible.

Starship Troopers was great. It was great fun to work on something with blue screens and big budget special effects. Denise Richards was nice to look at too, of course.

Thankfully, the meat of the Tony telecast is the performances from the shows, so the awards show kind of creates itself around the season, and then I fill in based on the vibe of the season in general. I'm happy that there'll be so many legitimately good performances on the show.

The Tonys are the once-a-year shot for all of these shows and artists who work so diligently every single performance but only for a thousand or so people at a time. This gives them the opportunity to perform to millions of people.

The TV schedule is fantastic. It allows you to have a life. Theater actors are so disciplined - especially if you're doing musicals, you have to be in shape physically, mentally, and have to be on your game all the time. That's exhausting. On TV, especially a sitcom, you have a lot of free time to play.

The voiceover thing is very selfless. You go in there and they've hired you for your voice, but they know exactly what they want, and the writer's there and he knows exactly how it's supposed to be said. So you can't really argue with them, you just have to let them tell you what to do and then do it.

There are so many examples of talented actors working today, no matter how they live their private lives. I'm lucky that people believe me when I'm in character.

There is just a lot of creativity and theatricality in performers who happen to be gay. Maybe there's a success in numbers, so by the law of averages we are going to get these jobs.

Tobey's a mellow, cool guy. He's just a good guy. I know that's not the answer you want, and I don't mean that as the political thing to say, but he's a nice guy.

We're in such a volatile climate right now politically. I think they didn't want Assassins to not succeed due to popular opinion and politics, versus on its own merits. I can respect that.

We're trying to get as many people to become interested in seeing it, but if you like the theater and you're interested in seeing what live theater looks like in New York, you probably already set your DVR. It's gonna be a hard ask to get a bunch of college-basketball fans to tune in for three hours to watch the Tonys.

When I auditioned for the show, I didn't realize it was an MTV production, which is going to make for really good tunes during the episodes, if nothing else.

When you call someone and ask them to do something they've never done before, in different mediums I think they would be inclined to pass because they're afraid of the risk. But the creative people who populate the theater world love the challenge of new things.

Whenever I wasn't in school with a tutor three hours a day, I'd get a knock and be rushed to set and they'd be waiting and I'd film my thing and then I'd go back to school again.

Whether it's a double take or a spit take or an extra-long pause before a reaction or a line, I try to be as cognizant as possible about the technical end of it. So I think the physical stuff works easier for me than maybe for others who are more just going on instinct.

With the Tonys it's a little tricky because a lot of the funnier jokes are more insider, so people watching at home may not get a Julie Taymor reference the way that New Yorkers would. So you have to figure out what comedy plays to a large audience and still respect the individuals who are there.

I have more artistic control in a smaller show. But it doesn't really matter. Sometimes you can have the smallest role in the smallest production and still make a big impact.

As an actor, you most often play relatively average parts, so to get to play extreme versions of anything, those are the most exciting parts.

Charlie Sheen is who again? Denise is engaged?

I absolutely loved 'Hugo'.

I always thought filet mignon was the steak to beat, but the fat content in a rib eye is fantastic.

I do a lot of books on tape for Beverly Cleary, and another 'Smurfs' shout-out for that demographic.

I don't know, but I think kids just want to be listened to, so I want to make sure I do that.

I don't stay up and rent private jets and go on yachts and whoop it up in Miami.

I enjoy being a hyphenate. I've always thought of my career as a plate spinner in the circus.

I feel like I know where I'm going. And I like where I'm going.

I have a very large forehead. I have a pronounced skull. Maybe producers think that there is a lot going on up in there.

I have an unbelievable assistant who handles all of my scheduling! It's like a Tetris game.

I like the tube more than the NY subway though, you've got cushioned seats.

I like to make decisions based on things I'm interested in doing, not what seems like the next move in my quote-unquote career.

I love Buster Keaton. I was a big fan of the stunt shows at Universal Studios. I'm a huge Cirque du Soleil nut.

I love the 'So You Think You Can Dance' show. I love it. I think it's some of the best hours on TV.

I need to stop carving out four-hour chunks to do random things and go home and watch my children grow up.

I think things through a lot, so I probably use my head more than my heart. That probably comes through in my acting.

I think when dance is mediocre, it's painful. But when dance is really impressive, it destroys.

I'm a big proponent of monogamous relationships regardless of sexuality, and I'm proud of how the nation is steering toward that.

I'm a games and theory kind of guy. I love puzzles, so it was fun dissecting Shakespeare's prose.

I'm a nerdy, geeky fan of' Labyrinth' and 'Dark Crystal'.

I'm a very lucky man in this chapter of my professional life, 'cause I get to do jobs with wildly different skill sets.

I'm in a play on Broadway, I have an animated TV show coming up, I have a few movies that just came out.

Descendants of New England pioneers are proud of their ancestry and glad to proclaim the fact that so far as the United States are concerned, New England is in deed the cradle of religious liberty.

In course of time, religion came with its rites invoking the aid of good spirits which were even more powerful than the bad spirits, and thus for the time being tempered the agony of fears.

It did not come naturally; in fact, it would be difficult to conceive of any more dogmatic and less tolerant people than the first settlers on New England shores.

It would not be fair to the critics of Rotary, who include some of the most brilliant of the British and American writers, to charge them with prejudice.

Singing is not indulged in by Rotary clubs of some countries and all clubs are given full privilege to do as they please about including it in their programs.

The lawlessness of frontier life in America has been pictured as a remarkable phenomenon. In reality, it was the natural consequence of indiscriminate mixing of volatile substances.

While the struggle for religious liberty had proceeded without large-scale bloodshed in New England and elsewhere in the United States, the struggle for political liberty had not fared so well.

In the clashes between ignorance and intelligence, ignorance is generally the aggressor.

Permanent superiority has never been realized by any nation in history. After the rise comes the fall.

Personality has power to uplift, power to depress, power to curse, and power to bless.

Ideas have unhinged the gates of empires.

Segregation never brought anyone anything except trouble.

One's nativity is not of his own choosing, but whatever it may be, it is entitled to respect; and all nations have honorable place in the world's family.

When an individual, a sect, a clique or a nation hates and despises another individual, sect, clique or nation, he or they simply do not know the objects of their hatred. Ignorance is at the bottom of it.

One's religion is one's own possession and he has a right to it.

The higher the general average of intelligence, all things else being equal, the less the disposition to be meddlesome, critical, and overbearing.

The less one knows, the more he thinks he knows, and the more willing he is to employ any and all measures to enforce his views upon others.

There is nothing in the genius of America more precious today than the spirit of religious and political tolerance in its application to our own people.

How strange it is that murder has the sanction of law in one and only one of the human relationships, and that is the most important of all, that of nation to nation.

If there is anything worse than international warfare, is civil warfare, and the United States was destined to experience it in the extreme of bitterness.

It has been the way of Rotary to focus thought upon matters in which members are in agreement, rather than upon matters in which they are in disagreement.

But primitive man had enemies real as well as imaginary, and they were not subject to priestly sorceries.