Daily Inspiration Quote by Richard Burton

A working actor’s credo, delivered with the bite of someone who knows the difference between art and employment. Richard Burton’s line doesn’t romanticize compromise; it stares it down. “Rubbish” is doing heavy lifting here: it’s not just bad material, it’s the whole machinery of disposable entertainment that chews up talent and spits out product. Burton, a classically trained performer who ping-ponged between Shakespearean prestige and glossy Hollywood vehicles, is basically saying: if the system is going to hand you junk, don’t pretend it’s caviar. Take the job anyway, then out-act it.

The subtext is half defiance, half survival strategy. There’s a particular actor’s humiliation embedded in being asked to lend your seriousness to something shallow. Burton flips the power dynamic. By insisting on being “the best” at the lowly thing, he claims authorship over the outcome: the script may be trash, but your craft doesn’t have to be. It’s also a sly jab at the industry’s snobbery. Plenty of people make “rubbish” while insisting it’s important; Burton’s honesty is the flex.

Context matters: Burton’s career was a constant negotiation between high culture credibility and celebrity spectacle (including the tabloid opera of his relationship with Elizabeth Taylor). The quote lands because it’s both a confession and a dare: excellence isn’t reserved for worthy projects. Sometimes professionalism is the only dignity available, and he’s choosing it with his eyes open.