64+ Theodore Bikel Quotes On Education, Music And And Death

Theodore Bikel is an Austrian-American actor, folk singer, musician, composer, and activist. He is best known for his role as Tevye in the musical Fiddler on the Roof, which he performed more than 2,000 times. Bikel has also appeared in numerous films and television shows, including The Defiant Ones, My Fair Lady, and The Twilight Zone. Following is our collection on famous quotes by Theodore Bikel on education, life, music.

Top 10 Theodore Bikel Quotes

1. No heirloom of humankind captures the past as do art and language.
2. Epistemology is the study of knowledge. By what conduit do we know what we know?
3. I am determined to give the Yiddish language a fighting chance to survive.
4. I have always striven to raise the voice of hope for a world where hate gives way to respect and oppression to liberation.
5. By showing hunger, deprivation, starvation and brutality, as well as endurance and nobility, documentaries inform, prod our memories, even stir us to action. Such films do battle for our very soul.
6. I prefer to make common cause with those whose weapons are guitars, banjos, fiddles and words.
7. All too often arrogance accompanies strength, and we must never assume that justice is on the side of the strong. The use of power must always be accompanied by moral choice.
8. After the advent of the written word, the masses who could not - or were not permitted to - read, were given sermons by the few who could.
9. But there is a difference here: When Jewish children are murdered, Arabs celebrate the deed. The death of an Arab child is no cause for celebration in Israel.
10. No movement can afford to be caught in a time warp and exist in a state of suspended animation.

Theodore Bikel Short Quotes

• I am a universalist, passionately devoted to the cause of equality within the human family.
• The play is always fresh to me. It's not the audience's fault that I've said the words before.
• Retiring' - within that word is 'tiring,' and I'm not tired. I don't believe in retirement, really.
• Every actor wants to direct.
• You learn more from the flops than from the hits.
• I always sang, I always acted, I always played.
• I do prefer the stage. It's really the granddaddy of them all.
• There is no role I cannot play except a midget.
• It's a sad thing to contemplate, but I'm the last surviving cast member of 'The African Queen.'
• In my mind the city of Ariel is a thorn in Israel's side and a serious obstacle to peace.

Theodore Bikel Quotes About World

We live in a world of guns, bombs and terror. To conquer hate seems a nigh-impossible task. — Theodore Bikel

In my world, history comes down to language and art. — Theodore Bikel

In my world, history comes down to language and art. No one cares much about what battles were fought, who won them and who lost them - unless there is a painting, a play, a song or a poem that speaks of the event. — Theodore Bikel

Right up to the middle of this century all perceptions of the world around us were delivered via the bookshelf or the paper route. — Theodore Bikel

You can't expect the entire world to come to New York to see you. You have to travel to them. — Theodore Bikel

I am not a specialist but a general practitioner in the world of the arts. — Theodore Bikel

One might have thought the world would stop ascribing moral equivalence between acts of terrorism and acts of punishing terrorism. It has not happened that way. — Theodore Bikel

Theodore Bikel Quotes About Jewish

But, when I toil in the field of Jewish culture which I frequently do, I am indeed a Jewish artist. — Theodore Bikel

What moves me is neither ethnocentric pride nor sectarian arrogance. I make no claim that Jewish culture is superior to other cultures. But it is mine. — Theodore Bikel

I make no claim that Jewish culture is superior to other cultures or that the Jewish song is better than the song of my neighbor. — Theodore Bikel

Despite a large body of work in films, TV, theatre and concerts, I am viewed by many as a Jewish artist. I do not resent the label, except for the fact that I disapprove of labels in general. — Theodore Bikel

For I firmly believe that Jewish life, indeed any communal life, can only be organized according to democratic principles. — Theodore Bikel

Theodore Bikel Quotes About Live

On the stage you're there, it's live. There's a beginning, a middle, an end. When something is funny you hear it right away. — Theodore Bikel

You always draw on your experiences with live audiences to know how to do comedy on films. You're working for a laugh that may or may not come six months later, but you're working in a vacuum at the time you are doing it. — Theodore Bikel

Having come to live in this age is as though one were to have entered another country. Learn its language or risk being left out. — Theodore Bikel

Theodore Bikel Quotes About Arts

Must we be put to shame by much smaller and poorer countries, by Ireland, France, Austria or Sweden, who have understood that a nation's support of its arts is a matter of both national pride and cultural survival? — Theodore Bikel

As an artist I have an even more abiding interest in the compact between the Arts and Government. — Theodore Bikel

You cannot please all of the people all of the time, and that is truer in the arts than anywhere else. — Theodore Bikel

Theodore Bikel Famous Quotes And Sayings

I am filled with awe that filmmakers have the capacity to stir us and give us back a sense of wonder. — Theodore Bikel

Although I am deeply grateful to a great many people, I forgo the temptation of naming them for fear that I might slight any by omission. — Theodore Bikel

No doubt unity is something to be desired, to be striven for, but it cannot be willed into being by mere declarations. — Theodore Bikel

I know for certain of only one commandment, one obligation, that God imposes upon us, and that is to be compassionate toward other human beings. — Theodore Bikel

We Jews have a special attachment to the Book. The study of page after page in tomes yellowing with age was obligatory. — Theodore Bikel

While we all could agree that the Zionist ideal is alive and well, there is serious doubt whether the Zionist movement can be said to be an ongoing proposition, fragmented as its components are in ideology and in practice. — Theodore Bikel

An actor is supposed to emulate life. Instead, alas, many are imitating other actors. You don't fashion your knowledge of theatre or your approach to a role on the basis of what other actors have done. This kind of thinking is a great danger, especially in dealing with TV producers who frequently say things like, 'This is a Sean Connery type.' — Theodore Bikel

I remain convinced that I can be a true universalist only when I am a better Jew. — Theodore Bikel

Accents. I'm very good with accents. I'm exceedingly good. — Theodore Bikel

I refuse to do shows that are narrowly constructed, that appeal to only one sentiment. I do a lot of Jewish material in front of non-Jews and a lot of non-Jewish material in front of Jews on the simple theory that the non-Jews are entitled to a glimpse of a Jewish world and the Jews are entitled to a glimpse of the world. — Theodore Bikel

When something is moving you get that intake of breath and that stillness from the audience. — Theodore Bikel

I am first, and foremost, an actor. That's what I am. To me, a song is a mini-drama. My musical ability informs the actor as well because it gives me a sense of timing that non-musicians don't have. So, one hand washes the other. — Theodore Bikel

I tried for a while to be an agricultural worker and was hopelessly bored. I would stand around in heaps of manure and sing about the beauty of the work I wasn't doing. — Theodore Bikel

I am not, and have never been, in favor of boycotting Israel. — Theodore Bikel

I created the role of Captain Von Trapp. — Theodore Bikel

If I have one vanity wish, it would be to direct. It's the only thing I haven't done yet that I would like to. — Theodore Bikel

You don't really need modernity in order to exist totally and fully. You need a mixture of modernity and tradition. — Theodore Bikel

Throughout my life I have cared as deeply about the songs of all peoples as I have about the rights of all peoples. — Theodore Bikel

Audiences are audiences. — Theodore Bikel

I don't speak out because I am an actor nor will I keep silent because I am an actor. I respect my profession, but it endows me with no special privileges; but it also does not limit me or muzzle me. I am a person and a citizen with the attendant responsibilities of voice and vote. — Theodore Bikel

I do not know who there is among us that can claim to know God's purpose and God's intent. — Theodore Bikel

I'm exceedingly proud of being an actor, but I never recommend it to anyone. — Theodore Bikel

I prefer to choose which traditions to keep and which to let go. — Theodore Bikel

I glory in the fact that a human being has multiple talents and exercises them all with a degree of integrity and artistic proficiency. That's what I do. — Theodore Bikel

John Huston was the kind of director that totally left you alone. Not every actor always does it right, every time, but most of the time he was re-directing someone. He was making tight adjustments, and not even in terms of interpretation because he knew that by the time that the character had been filmed... well, he got it right when he cast you. — Theodore Bikel

'Visiting Mr. Green' is a good play. I enjoy being in it, and I have a wonderful colleague, Aidan deSalaiz, to work with. Audiences like it a lot. What's not to like? — Theodore Bikel

Life Lessons by Theodore Bikel

1. Theodore Bikel's career demonstrates the importance of hard work and dedication to one's craft. He was an incredibly versatile actor, appearing in a wide range of genres and roles throughout his career.
2. His commitment to social justice and advocacy for the rights of minorities and refugees was an admirable example of how to use one's platform for good.
3. His legacy as an actor and humanitarian should serve as an inspiration to us all to strive for excellence and to fight for a more just and equitable world.