"When I've gone back to work, it's always with that sense of inevitability. That may be a complete delusion, but it's the one that I need to get out of bed and go about my business. That sense that I can't avoid this thing. I better just get on with it"
About this Quote
The subtext is less about method acting than about survival. “The one that I need to get out of bed” quietly shifts the stakes from career to psyche. He’s not selling motivation; he’s describing a coping strategy that keeps doubt from negotiating the terms of the day. By calling it “business,” he strips the craft of romance. That phrasing doesn’t belittle the work; it professionalizes it. Great performances aren’t born from sacred thunderbolts, they’re clocked in.
Context matters because Day-Lewis is famous for disappearing between roles and for treating each return as an ordeal, not a victory lap. The quote reads like a self-intervention: if you wait for certainty, you’ll never start; if you grant inevitability, you bypass the argument. “I can’t avoid this thing” turns vocation into a force that drafts you. The payoff is bracingly unglamorous: stop mythologizing the feeling, and just get on with it.
Quote Details
| Topic | Work Ethic |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Day-Lewis, Daniel. (2026, January 16). When I've gone back to work, it's always with that sense of inevitability. That may be a complete delusion, but it's the one that I need to get out of bed and go about my business. That sense that I can't avoid this thing. I better just get on with it. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/when-ive-gone-back-to-work-its-always-with-that-114389/
Chicago Style
Day-Lewis, Daniel. "When I've gone back to work, it's always with that sense of inevitability. That may be a complete delusion, but it's the one that I need to get out of bed and go about my business. That sense that I can't avoid this thing. I better just get on with it." FixQuotes. January 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/when-ive-gone-back-to-work-its-always-with-that-114389/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"When I've gone back to work, it's always with that sense of inevitability. That may be a complete delusion, but it's the one that I need to get out of bed and go about my business. That sense that I can't avoid this thing. I better just get on with it." FixQuotes, 16 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/when-ive-gone-back-to-work-its-always-with-that-114389/. Accessed 13 Feb. 2026.






