Quotes

Personal Quotes

In my own mind, I'm not sure that acting is something for a grown man to be doing.

[From TV Guide]: When a horse learns to buy martinis, I'll learn to like horses.

I don't believe in that phony hero stuff.

If I hadn't made it as an actor, I might have wound up a hood.

There's something about my shaggy-dog eyes that makes people think I'm good.

When I believe in something, I fight like hell for it.

Sometimes kids ask me what a pro is. I just point to the Duke [John Wayne]

I live for myself and I answer to nobody.

Stardom equals freedom. It's the only equation that matters.

I just want the pine trees and my kids and the green grass. I want to get rich and fat and watch my children grow.

An actor is a puppet, manipulated by a dozen other people. Auto racing has dignity. But you need the same absolute concentration. You have to reach inside yourself and bring forth a lot of broken glass.

Stardom equals financial success, and financial success equals security. I've spent too much of my life feeling insecure.

I really don't like to act. At the beginning, back in '51, I had to force myself to stick with it. I was real uncomfortable, real uncomfortable.

When a kid didn't have any love when he was small, he begins to wonder if he's good enough. You know if my mother didn't love me, and I didn't have a father, I mean, well, I guess I'm not very good.

You only say what's important and you own the scene.

I worked hard, and if you work hard you get the goodies.

I'm not sure whether I'm an actor who races or a racer who acts.

The main thing I was shooting for was not to make bucks but to have something I could believe in. - On O Inimigo do Povo (1978).

I am a limited actor. My range isn't that great and I don't have that much scope. I'm pretty much myself most of the time in my movies and I have accepted that.

The Marines gave me discipline I could live with. By the time I got out I could deal with things on a more realistic level. All in all, despite my problems, I liked my time in the Marines.

I believe in me. I'm a little screwed up but I'm beautiful.

They call me a chauvinist pig. I am... and I don't give a damn!

I have to be careful because I'm a limited actor. I mean, my range isn't very great. There's a whole lot of stuff I can't do, so I have to find characters and situations that feel right. Even then, when I've got something that fits, it's a hell of a lot of work. I'm not a serious actor. There's something about my shaggy-dog eyes that makes people think I'm good. I'm not all that good.

I'm out of the Midwest. It was a good place to come from. It gives you a sense of right or wrong and fairness, which is lacking in our society.

Listen, in Taiwan most people don't know who Lyndon Johnson is, but they sure as hell know who John Wayne is.

If a guy like him can become a star, what'll happen to guys like Newman and me? - On Dustin Hoffman.

Every time I look in the rear-view mirror, I see Robert Redford.

[His last words] I did it.