Skip to main content

Daily Inspiration Quote by Norman Lear

"Life goes on pretty much the same way. I've been working on a couple of films on the side. You may see some more. You may even see another television show"

About this Quote

A shrug disguised as a promise, Norman Lear's line is doing the kind of low-key stagecraft that made his career: make the work sound casual so the ambition feels inevitable. "Life goes on pretty much the same way" reads like modesty, but it's also a flex from someone whose "same way" includes reinventing prime-time TV. The understatement is strategic. Lear doesn't frame his next moves as a comeback, a reinvention, or a legacy lap. He frames them as Tuesday.

The real action is in the hedging: "may see some more" and "may even see another television show". That's not indecision; it's a producer's realism. Entertainment is an ecosystem of pilots that die quietly, films that stall in financing, projects that get "developed" into oblivion. Lear signals momentum without tempting fate, the way veterans in Hollywood talk when they've learned that certainty is bad luck and hype is a trap.

There's also a cultural tell here: Lear as the emblem of an older creator refusing the retirement narrative. For a figure associated with watershed TV that fought over race, class, and politics in America's living rooms, the subtext is that relevance isn't a single era you nostalgically preserve. It's a posture. He positions himself less as an elder statesman and more as a working stiff with a side hustle, which slyly reclaims agency in an industry that loves to freeze pioneers in amber.

The intent, then, is continuity. Not "remember me", but "watch me keep going."

Quote Details

TopicMovie
SourceHelp us find the source
CiteCite this Quote

Citation Formats

APA Style (7th ed.)
Lear, Norman. (n.d.). Life goes on pretty much the same way. I've been working on a couple of films on the side. You may see some more. You may even see another television show. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/life-goes-on-pretty-much-the-same-way-ive-been-130146/

Chicago Style
Lear, Norman. "Life goes on pretty much the same way. I've been working on a couple of films on the side. You may see some more. You may even see another television show." FixQuotes. Accessed February 2, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/life-goes-on-pretty-much-the-same-way-ive-been-130146/.

MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Life goes on pretty much the same way. I've been working on a couple of films on the side. You may see some more. You may even see another television show." FixQuotes, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/life-goes-on-pretty-much-the-same-way-ive-been-130146/. Accessed 2 Feb. 2026.

More Quotes by Norman Add to List
Life Goes On: Norman Lear on Creativity and Continuity
Click to enlarge Portrait | Landscape

About the Author

USA Flag

Norman Lear (born July 27, 1922) is a Producer from USA.

28 more quotes available

View Profile

Similar Quotes