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" They're very harsh people, the British: hard to impress, very tough on each other, but I rather like that. It's not that the British are more honest - you're just under no illusion with them. "
Hugh Laurie
You
Illusion
Impress
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" Directing is the best job going. I don't understand why everybody doesn't want to direct. It's an absolutely fascinating combination of skills required and puzzles set on every level - emotional and practical and technical. It calls up on such a wide variety of skills. I find it completely absorbing. I just love the whole process. "
Hugh Laurie
Process
Understand
Love
" Humility was considered a great virtue in my family household. No show of complacency or self-satisfaction was ever tolerated. Patting yourself on the back was definitely not encouraged, and pleasure or pride would be punishable by death. "
Hugh Laurie
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" I personally believe that the iPod is a frankly corrosive device because it encourages you to surround yourself with your favorites. The whole idea of a playlist is to surround yourself with your favorite things, and the interesting thing is that when you do that, they cease to be your favorites. "
Hugh Laurie
Surround Yourself
Believe
Yourself
" I just read an 800-page history of the Scottish Enlightenment and, honestly, I may as well just start it again now, because I cannot remember a single thing. I can barely remember where Scotland is. "
Hugh Laurie
Remember
Enlightenment
History
" I feel like I'm working on an oil rig right now. I'm away from home a lot. "
Hugh Laurie
Oil
Now
Working
" Riding my motorcycle around L.A. is like my own video game. But unlike many folks at the wheel, I am occupied with getting where I'm going and keeping myself safe. Most people are applying makeup, texting, and checking out the beauty in the next car. "
Hugh Laurie
Makeup
Game
I Am
" I'm reasonably easygoing. Messing up my lines or making a fool of myself is where you find my fears. Like a lot of English people, I'm prey to embarrassment - the dread that everyone's sort of sniggering at you, that you're going to look like an idiot. I think that sort of halts us all. "
Hugh Laurie
You
Look
People
" Unhappiness is an unfinished state; happy people don't need our help. "
Hugh Laurie
People
Unhappiness
Help
" I don't really understand why everybody doesn't want to direct. It's an absolutely fascinating combination of skills required and puzzles set on every possible level, emotional and practical and technical. It calls upon such a wide variety of skills. I find it completely absorbing. "
Hugh Laurie
Skills
Want
Understand
" I don't have a single complete show or movie or anything else that I could look at and say, 'Nailed that one.' But endless dissatisfaction is, I suppose, what gets us out of bed in the morning. "
Hugh Laurie
Look
Bed
Say
" I think of House as a deeply moral character, though some would no doubt argue with me. He does not judge. Beyond his normal tetchiness, there were no more than a half-dozen moments of actual condemnation from him. He understood lies and also why you lied, and there was an absolution there that is very, very appealing. "
Hugh Laurie
Character
Judge
Me
" I admit I can't shake the idea that there is virtue in suffering, that there is a sort of psychic economy, whereby if you embrace success, happiness and comfort, these things have to be paid for. "
Hugh Laurie
You
Suffering
Success
" I don't talk like House, or walk like him. I certainly don't think like him. I don't like to think for more than 15 minutes at a stretch actually; I am a fragile flower. "
Hugh Laurie
House
Flower
Walk
" I never thought I'd end up living in Los Angeles while my children grew up in Britain, but here I am, and we are all making the best of it. "
Hugh Laurie
Best
Thought
I Am
" Driving a motorcycle is like flying. All your senses are alive. When I ride through Beverly Hills in the early morning, and all the sprinklers have turned off, the scents that wash over me are just heavenly. Being House is like flying, too. You're free of the gravity of what people think. "
Hugh Laurie
Think
Morning
Motorcycle
" I feel when acting, I am sometimes overly self-conscious; I think, 'Going, no, don't, put your eyebrow back where it was and, you know, turn to the left.' You know, I'm sort of very consciously adopting this character. But with music, I don't know. I found it was a question of just closing my eyes and just sort of letting things come out. "
Hugh Laurie
Character
I Am
Think
" I think actors are attracted to the idea of other identities and concealing themselves behind some other identity. "
Hugh Laurie
Identity
Behind
Idea
" In film, because you know where the ending is, characters can change, but in television, you substitute revelation for change, and that can be hard to pull off. "
Hugh Laurie
Television
You
Ending
" It doesn't rain at all in California. Once a month, a man drives through spraying Evian. "
Hugh Laurie
Man
Rain
California
" I never went to drama school, I don't have any certificates saying: 'He's a qualified actor.' But I did think that 'House' was something I didn't have to apologise for. It was something I was really proud of and it was sort of... whether you liked it or not, it was undeniable. "
Hugh Laurie
Proud
You
Think
" I have resolved to pick one novel and just read it over and over again for the rest of my life, because I cannot remember anything anymore. "
Hugh Laurie
Remember
Rest
My Life
" I didn't realize House would be the central character, more the bitter comic relief appearing occasionally. I relish his wounded nature - the lameness, the scarred Byronic hero. "
Hugh Laurie
Realize
Character
Hero
" I do actually like Los Angeles. Partly because I was told I wouldn't. "
Hugh Laurie
Actually
Because
Like
" I wouldn't be able to act like Al Pacino or play the piano like Dr. John, But I could probably act better than Dr. John and play the piano better than Al Pacino. "
Hugh Laurie
Than
Better
Play
" One great benefit of not being on TV every week is that people will be a lot less interested in what I have in my supermarket basket. I could even un-tint my car windows - or at least opt for a lighter shade. "
Hugh Laurie
Car
Windows
Week
" Piano was - well, all musical instruments were taught in this very rigid, formal, classical method when I was young. "
Hugh Laurie
Piano
Well
Very
" I don't like the act of talking; it makes me slightly light-headed. "
Hugh Laurie
Makes
Talking
Slightly
" Clive Dunn, as I understand it, retired to the south of Spain, where he worked extensively in watercolours. I don't own any of Clive Dunn's watercolours. I loved him in 'Dad's Army,' loved him. But not enough to actually seek out his watercolour work. "
Hugh Laurie
Loved
Army
Enough
" I feel like a hostage to fortune. Not that I am complaining. I wanted to play the role. But in truth I didn't think the show would be such a success. OK, I thought it would fail. Not because it was bad. I was confident it was good, but plenty of good things just sort of wither on the vine. "
Hugh Laurie
Think
Success
Play
" The first big stars, Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, you know, these were gigantic stars. I even wonder sometimes whether all music actually comes from women, whether the first glimmering of music is a mother soothing a baby. "
Hugh Laurie
Baby
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Know