Logo - Feel The Words

Doing Quotes

On action, effort and the discipline of doing the work.

These lines describe doing in its many forms: the overlap between film and television production, the uncertainty built into research, and committing to work you believe in even without much recognition. For more, see our Action quotes.

Technique is the basis of every pursuit. If you're a sportsman or you're a singer or a swimmer, well that comes under sport but you have to develop a basic technique to know what you're doing at any given time.

Quotes by Joan Sutherland

There is no theoretical study of motherhood. You know, before I became a mother, I did play a mother, but I was like - I was more thinking of my own mother. I was doing my mother.

Quotes by Joan Chen

If you know how to do a job very well, you keep doing it.

Quotes by Joan Chen

I have never started a novel - I mean except the first, when I was starting a novel just to start a novel - I've never written one without rereading Victory. It opens up the possibilities of a novel. It...

Quotes by Joan Didion

I was brought up Catholic, and even as a little girl I was affected by the idea of giving back - doing something for the needy, something of significance.

Quotes by Joan Ganz Cooney

My work has been in the field of engaged Buddhism. That is my own practice, which began in 1965 that formed the base for the work I was doing in the civil rights and anti-war movement.

Quotes by Joan Halifax

We have a massive shortage of engineers and one of the big glaring holes is that we have so few women doing engineering - it's less than 10 per cent of the workforce.

Quotes by Jo Swinson

The piece of legislation that I'm so excited and delighted to be doing is shared parental leave.

Quotes by Jo Swinson

People say I'm such a pessimist, but I always was. It never stopped me from doing what I had to do. I would say I'm a realist.

Quotes by Joan Baez

I didn't go through the routine of singing in small clubs and doing open mics and working so hard the way a lot of people do and did. It was just an overnight kind of thing.

Quotes by Joan Baez

It was like I have always had big dreams for my drag aspirations, and I talked myself into doing 'Drag Race.' I'm like, take a chance.

Quotes by Jinkx Monsoon

I am 100-films old. In my heyday, I have done a lot of commercial films, including dancing around the trees with the heroine. But after working with Rituparno Ghosh, my understanding of cinema changed. Whatever good I am doing, it...

Quotes by Jisshu Sengupta

All those trucks and barges that carry our goods to port are vital connections to the only force which can balance our trade deficit: export. We must keep doing what we do best if we are going to get America...

Quotes by Jo Ann Emerson

The thing I thought about doing it was it's Comic Relief and you've got to be funny. So although I did try to sing properly it obviously has hilarious results when you can't sing.

Quotes by Jo Brand

I'm sure some cynical people would point to that as the main reason for doing it for a lot of people.

Quotes by Jo Brand

There have been some very extreme hecklers in audiences whose bile was so hateful and so meant that it would be a bit frightening to think that all I'm doing is jokes and yet someone hates me that much.

Quotes by Jo Brand

What is so clearly in the national interest is everything the government is doing in its strong, one nation domestic policy agenda: more police on the streets, more doctors and nurses in our hospitals, a welcoming face to scientists and...

Quotes by Jo Johnson

I'm the gooney bird that walked to the bank. I'm doing better than most of those guys who said I was crazy.

Quotes by Jimmy Piersall

It is in the public interest to know what our governors are up to. If they are up to doing good, then they are only too happy to let us know. When they are up to no good, they want...

Quotes by Jimmy Reid

I project stronger. If you notice the old records - they're much lighter - vocally much lighter in sound than the records that I'm doing today.

Quotes by Jimmy Scott

You may also like

Frequently Asked Questions

What does "doing" mean across these quotes?
The quotes use "doing" to describe the actual craft of working (film vs. TV production), following through on belief in your own work, playing certain kinds of roles, and even the nature of research itself.
Is there a quote comparing film and TV work?
Yes: "When you're doing the work, film and TV are exactly the same. TV is just film in reduced pieces." For more on taking action rather than just planning, see Action.
Is there a witty quote about research here?
Yes: "Research is what I'm doing when I don't know what I'm doing" is a short, self-aware take on the research process.
Does this page include anything about acting roles or casting?
Yes, one quote describes being cast more often as a villain-type ("more Iago than Hamlet") while insisting the real goal is playing people doing the right thing rather than simple villains. For more on positive action, see Doing Good.
Is there a quote about believing in your own work despite doubt?
Yes, one recalls finding award shows hard to watch early in a music career, "because I believed in what I was doing" even while unsure of having a real shot. For more short, punchy takes on getting things done, see Doin or Doers.

Also see our Doing Good quotes for a values-driven angle, or Doers quotes celebrating people who take action.