"I was terrified of being a teacher. To stand in front of a classroom, the responsibility is boggling. Imagine! Standing in front of people!"
About this Quote
The confession lands with a jolt: a seasoned performer admitting terror at the role of teacher. The fear is not only about speaking in public, though that alone unnerves many. It is the weight of authority that unsettles him, the sense that a classroom summons more than performance; it asks for stewardship. To stand in front of people as a teacher is to be looked to for direction, clarity, fairness, and care. The stakes are not applause or reviews but minds in formation, habits of thought taking root.
An actor can hide inside a role, sheltered by a script, a director, and the temporary contract of performance. A teacher stands as a self, not a character, and carries responsibility for how the room thinks, questions, and grows that day. The line about responsibility being boggling captures the unpredictable, relational nature of teaching. Students interrupt, challenge, drift, and surprise. Any moment can swing from breakthrough to bewilderment. There is no edit, no retake, and the feedback loop is immediate in the faces across the desks.
His exclamation, Imagine! Standing in front of people!, carries a wry self-awareness. It both pokes fun at his own profession and acknowledges how public speaking still terrifies, even for someone used to the spotlight. Yet he marks a difference: performing is a spectacle; teaching is an encounter. One seeks to absorb attention; the other seeks to distribute it, inviting others into the center of the action.
Beneath the humor lies reverence. Fear becomes a form of respect for the craft of teaching, the daily courage it takes to hold a room and guide it somewhere worthwhile. That respect also exposes an artist’s humility: knowing the difference between being seen and being responsible for others’ seeing. The classroom demands not only presence but accountability, a human exchange that cannot be faked, and that is precisely what makes it so daunting.
An actor can hide inside a role, sheltered by a script, a director, and the temporary contract of performance. A teacher stands as a self, not a character, and carries responsibility for how the room thinks, questions, and grows that day. The line about responsibility being boggling captures the unpredictable, relational nature of teaching. Students interrupt, challenge, drift, and surprise. Any moment can swing from breakthrough to bewilderment. There is no edit, no retake, and the feedback loop is immediate in the faces across the desks.
His exclamation, Imagine! Standing in front of people!, carries a wry self-awareness. It both pokes fun at his own profession and acknowledges how public speaking still terrifies, even for someone used to the spotlight. Yet he marks a difference: performing is a spectacle; teaching is an encounter. One seeks to absorb attention; the other seeks to distribute it, inviting others into the center of the action.
Beneath the humor lies reverence. Fear becomes a form of respect for the craft of teaching, the daily courage it takes to hold a room and guide it somewhere worthwhile. That respect also exposes an artist’s humility: knowing the difference between being seen and being responsible for others’ seeing. The classroom demands not only presence but accountability, a human exchange that cannot be faked, and that is precisely what makes it so daunting.
Quote Details
| Topic | Teaching |
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