November 17: Notable Births, with Quotes
Explore memorable and revealing quotes from public figures, past and present, who were born on November 17.
RuPaul, drag queen and television personality (November 17, 1960–present)
“If you can’t love yourself, how in the hell are you going to love somebody else?” —RuPaul
Gross, Terry. “RuPaul’s Recipe For Success? Love Yourself And Stay Flexible.” NPR, September 4, 2020, https://www.npr.org/2020/09/04/909586078/rupauls-recipe-for-success-love-yourself-and-stay-flexible
“I knew that commercially, if I wanted to make it mainstream, I would have to be nonthreatening to Betty and Joe Beercan. And what I did was I came up with a recipe, which was one part Cher, two parts David Bowie, one part, you know, Diana Ross and two heaping spoonfuls of Dolly Parton.” —RuPaul
Gross, Terry. “RuPaul’s Recipe For Success? Love Yourself And Stay Flexible.” NPR, September 4, 2020, https://www.npr.org/2020/09/04/909586078/rupauls-recipe-for-success-love-yourself-and-stay-flexible
Martin Scorsese, director and screenwriter (November 17, 1942–present)
“With the failure of ‘New York, New York’ … I felt the creativity was just punched out of me. … It was an experiment, a curiosity, to try to find if I could ever care enough to get back on the set. … I didn’t care anymore. And I had to find if I can make another film.” —Martin Scorsese
Gross, Terry. “’Can A Person Change?’: Martin Scorsese On Gangsters, Death And Redemption.” NPR, January 15, 2020, https://www.npr.org/2020/01/15/796276592/can-a-person-change-martin-scorsese-on-gangsters-death-and-redemption
“It sounds rather naive, I guess, but the point is that I do believe in something beyond the material. I do believe in this machine we’re in, this body, wouldn’t be the same without the spiritual part of it, whatever that is. And people would say, ‘Well, that’s the brain and synapses.’ Yes, but the brain is just a piece of meat, in a sense. There’s something that happens that’s transcendent.” —Martin Scorsese
Gross, Terry. “’Can A Person Change?’: Martin Scorsese On Gangsters, Death And Redemption.” NPR, January 15, 2020, https://www.npr.org/2020/01/15/796276592/can-a-person-change-martin-scorsese-on-gangsters-death-and-redemption
Lee Strasberg, director of the Actors Studio (November 17, 1901–February 17, 1982)
“Our school has principles but no rules. The ‘method’ is a basic means of solving actors’ problems.” —Lee Strasberg
Artfilms. “Lee Strasberg Interview.” Artfilms, 1975, https://www.artfilms-digital.com/item/lee-strasberg-interview
“The profession of acting, the basic art of acting, is a monstrous thing because it does with the same flesh-and-blood muscles with which you perform ordinary deeds, real deeds. The body with which you make real love is the same body with which you make fictitious love with someone you don’t like. In no other art do you have this monstrous thing.” —Lee Strasberg
Gross, Terry. “How the Method transformed film – and made acting more human.” NPR, February 9, 2022, https://www.npr.org/transcripts/1079479568
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