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Daily Inspiration Quote by Jerry Orbach

"I like to work fast"

About this Quote

“I like to work fast” is the kind of line an actor like Jerry Orbach could deliver with a half-smile and a hard stop: plainspoken, a little brusque, quietly revealing. Coming from a career built on Broadway discipline and TV reliability, it reads less like a productivity slogan than a statement of craft ethics. Orbach wasn’t branding himself as “hustle” before it was a TED-talk cliché; he was telegraphing a performer’s preference for momentum, for decisions made in motion.

The intent is practical: speed as a way to protect the work. Acting can curdle when it’s over-massaged, when a scene gets picked apart until the impulses die. “Fast” suggests he wants the first honest choice, the take before self-consciousness moves in and starts decorating. It’s also a subtle assertion of authority. In collaborative environments where everyone has notes, speed becomes leverage: the person who moves quickly can set the temperature, keep the set from spiraling into insecurity, and make the day feel inevitable.

Context matters here. Orbach’s fame rests heavily on the machine-like rhythms of network television and long-running theater runs, spaces where professionalism is measured in preparedness and stamina. Liking to work fast implies he arrives ready, knows his lines, trusts the director, trusts the crew, and most of all trusts himself. The subtext: don’t confuse seriousness with slowness. Real pros don’t linger to prove they’re deep; they hit their mark and make it live.

Quote Details

TopicWork Ethic
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I like to work fast
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About the Author

Jerry Orbach

Jerry Orbach (October 20, 1935 - December 28, 2004) was a Actor from USA.

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