118 Quotes by Patrick Stewart

If someone says ‘Give me one word of advice,’ I say ‘be fearless.’ And knowing without any shadow of a doubt that what they have to give – who they are – is totally unique and not shared by anybody else. And to believe in that uniqueness. It took me decades before I developed courage as an actor.

Violence against women is learned. Each of us must examine – and change – the way in which our own behavior might contribute to, enable, ignore or excuse all such forms of violence. I promise to do so, and to invite other me and allies to do the same.

One day, out of irritation, I said, you know all of those years with the Royal Shakespeare Company, all those years of playing kings and princes and speaking black verse, and bestriding the landscape of England was nothing but a preparation for sitting in the captain’s chair of the Enterprise.

What identifies an individual as a king is how other people behave towards him. All authority is assumed, and if other people don’t accept your authority then you don’t have it. Perhaps the critical thing to being a convincing figure of authority is actually not to try too hard.

The studio have always claimed that the ship is the star of the show, especially when they’re renegotiating contracts.

I like things that are funny – in everyday conversation, in incidents that you see, in watching TV or watching film. Comedy has always had an impact on my life.

I made a promise to myself that I would try to introduce something unexpected in every single episode of the series. It was largely to amuse myself as much as anything. I didn’t ever want the audience to feel that they knew everything.

Having spent so much of my life with Shakespeare’s world, passions and ideas in my head and in my mouth, he feels like a friend – someone who just went out of the room to get another bottle of wine.

William Shatner has one style. We have completely contrasting personalities. We’re very good friends. I adore him, but we’re very different people, so they were smart enough to write characters that reflected that.