"It's like kids playing house: 'You play the father, I'll play the mother.' You know, you dress up, you play, they pay, you go home. It's a game - acting's a game."

Family

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This quotation examines the core nature of Family as articulated by Robert Duvall. Within historical and literary traditions, reflections on Family provide actionable mental models, challenging individuals to evaluate personal ethics, self-discipline, and daily actions.

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About Robert Duvall

Robert Selden Duvall was an American actor and filmmaker, best known for his roles in films of the later 20th century. Duvall began acting professionally on stage in 1952, performing in summer plays at the Gateway Playhouse in Bellport on Long Island until 1959, with a one-year break while serving in the U.S. Army. In his early theater career, he made contacts that then led to a career on television in the 1960s on shows such as The Defenders, Playhouse 90, and Armstrong Circle Theatre. He made his Broadway debut in the play Wait Until Dark in 1966, and, in 1977, he returned from screen acting to the stage in David Mamet's play American Buffalo, earning a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Play nomination.

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More by Robert Duvall

"I always considered myself as a character actor. I always try to be versatile to show different sides of human experience."

— Robert Duvall
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"I hope I left behind a legacy that people will enjoy. But whatever they want to say, I can't predict."

— Robert Duvall
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"I've always remembered something Sanford Meisner, my acting teacher, told us. When you create a character, it's like making a chair, except instead of making someting out of wood, you make it out of yourself. That's the actor's craft - using yourself to create a character."

— Robert Duvall
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"I always figure from the cradle to the grave, we all have our individual journeys, and maybe my journey was a positive one and I accomplished certain things without stepping on too many toes."

— Robert Duvall
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More about Family

"Those who have never had a father can at any rate never know the sweets of losing one. To most men the death of his father is a new lease of life."

— Samuel Butler
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"It's true, Christmas can feel like a lot of work, particularly for mothers. But when you look back on all the Christmases in your life, you'll find you've created family traditions and lasting memories. Those memories, good and bad, are really what help to keep a family together over the long haul."

— Caroline Kennedy
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"The real estate agent had to go door-to-door in the apartment building we wanted to rent, asking if it was OK for this interracial family - my mom is white and I was a 1-year-old half-African kid - to live in the apartment building."

— Tom Morello
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"Employee fathers need to step up to the plate and put their family needs on the table."

— James Levine
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