For Esquire magazine Bill Murray talks about inaccessibility, the importance of freedom, commitment, and fatherhood.
With so much semi-processed content in the name of media consumption, Murray's choice of living an engaged life by saying “no” to certain superficial things -- like unfiltered access -- and saying yes to deeper ones -- like commitment to his craft -- is remarkable.
His is a good example of being present and showing respect through work.
On choices:
“I think we're all sort of imprisoned by — or at least bound to — the choices we make, and I think everyone in the acting business wants to make the right choices. You want to say no at the right time and you want to say yes more sparingly.”
On relationships:
“People confuse friendship and relaxation. It's incredibly important to be relaxed — you don't have a chance if you're not relaxed. So I try very hard to relax any kind of tension. But friendship is different.”
On doing:
“Everything happens for a reason” is a kind of self-hypnosis.
[...] It's part of the plan, but if no one acts in the moment of possibility, then it devolves into “Well, then I got hit by a car. Because I was standing in the middle of the road. Well, everything happens for a reason.”