“My dad used to say, 'You have to become part of the machine to beat th...” — Michael Shannon Quote

My dad used to say, 'You have to become part of the machine to beat the machine,' and there's some validity in it. But honestly, even when I'm inside the machine, you still see me. I stick out a little bit.

When you see a struggle that you may be having personally put on a big screen and in a roomful of people, then it makes you feel less crazy or alone, because you're seeing that other people are dealing with it too. You get to see in this imaginary scenario how people might try and answer some questions or deal with some problems.

I've known a lot of religious people. My mother is very religious, but she also is very private about it. When I was growing up, she never went to church. She just prayed and read her Bible and kept it to herself. I'm not from a background of flamboyant believers. It's much more a personal issue.

I like to play characters that get to do it all - to have a bit of comedy here and a bit of pathos here and a bit of suspense here, that's what's fun.

One of the greatest titles in the world is parent, and one of the biggest blessings in the world is to have parents to call mom and dad.

I started off playing the clarinet, after I was inspired by listening to my dad's Benny Goodman records.

My dad is an entomologist and research chemist. That's why he was in Fiji, studying the rhinoceros beetle invasive species.

I don't think my dad has ever said to me 'shall we watch a game on TV?' He absolutely isn't interested in that, I don't think he's ever watched one on TV.

Undoubtedly, church fish fries and picnics help build social cohesion. It was at my dad's medium-size evangelical church - my first real exposure to a sustained religious community - that I first saw people of different races and classes worshiping together.