Neil Patrick Harris is currently enjoying a prominent presence in the entertainment world. Earlier this year, he attended the Berlinale International Film Festival in Berlin to promote his film 'Sunny Dancer,' walking the red carpet alongside co-stars Bella Ramsey and Este Haim. In May, he and his husband David Burtka were honored at the Family Equality Gala with the Luminary Award for their visibility, advocacy, and enduring commitment to LGBTQIA+ families. The award was presented by longtime friends Elton John and David Furnish. Just last week, at the Tony Awards on June 7, Harris and Burtka confirmed to E! News that their fifteen-year-old twins, Gideon and Harper, had already approved of them being the cool dads. Throughout all of this, Harris has maintained the same quality he first articulated in a magazine interview nearly two decades ago: the ability to be fully present in whichever chapter he is currently living.
The Quote of the Day
"I've got a lot of little plates that I'm trying to keep spinning at the same time. As I learned from chapters past, it's important to try and stay in the chapter that you're in, and enjoy it while it's lasting. Not be constantly worrying about where this step will take you, living in the potential future. Like a good meal. Like a good chef's tasting meal. You don't want to wonder what's next while you're eating the foie gras."
Meaning of the Quote by Neil Patrick Harris
Neil Patrick Harris said this during a September 2008 interview with The A.V. Club, at a point in his career when he was juggling multiple projects simultaneously. He was starring as Barney Stinson on 'How I Met Your Mother' while pursuing theatre, producing, and various other creative endeavors. The metaphor of a chef's tasting menu is precise and vivid for a career conversation, revealing his mindset at the time. The tasting menu image captures how anxiety about the future ruins the present. If you are eating an extraordinary dish but constantly wondering what comes next, you are not truly experiencing the dish. You are managing anticipation rather than savoring the moment. Harris applies this logic to creative work and life in general. If you are always living in the potential future, calculating the next move, you never fully inhabit the current step. The phrase "chapters past" indicates that Harris learned this from experience, not just theory. He speaks from a place of real understanding, having paid the price for not staying present in previous periods of his life.
Neil Patrick Harris: A Life Lived Chapter by Chapter
Neil Patrick Harris was born on June 15, 1973, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, according to IMDb. He began his acting career as a child, most notably in the title role of the television series 'Doogie Howser, M.D.,' where he played a teenage medical prodigy. The show ran from 1989 to 1993 and made him one of the most recognizable young actors in America. What followed was a multi-chapter career that the 2008 quote describes. He transitioned from child star to adult performer with determination, building credibility in theatre and stage work before landing the role that reintroduced him to a generation of television audiences. As Barney Stinson on 'How I Met Your Mother,' which ran from 2005 to 2014, he became one of the most beloved comedic presences on American television, earning four consecutive Emmy nominations for the role, according to IMDb. In 2006, he publicly came out as homosexual, and in 2011 he married chef and actor David Burtka. They have fifteen-year-old twins, Gideon and Harper. The family has become one of the most openly celebrated and warmly regarded in the entertainment industry, regularly appearing together at public events and speaking candidly about building a visible, happy LGBTQ+ family in Hollywood. In 2026, he opened on Broadway in 'Schmigadoon!' at the Nederlander Theatre, adding another chapter to his stage career. His film 'Sunny Dancer,' which premiered at the Berlinale earlier this year, marks his most prominent international film presence in years, placing him alongside Bella Ramsey in a project that generated significant attention on the festival circuit. The man who said in 2008 that he was trying to keep many plates spinning has, in the years since, kept them all in the air. The secret, as his quote teaches, is not speed or calculation or relentless forward planning. It is the willingness to be fully inside whichever plate you are spinning right now, trusting that the others will hold until you get to them.
