Kirk Douglas quotes: wise famous quotes, sayings and quotations by Kirk Douglas

Kirk Douglas Famous Quotes & Sayings

Discover top inspirational quotes from Kirk Douglas on Wise Famous Quotes.

Sometimes, the thing that ties you down sets you free.

The only advantage I have found in being Jewish is that I can be openly anti-Semitic.

Virtue is not photogenic. What is it to be a nice guy? To be nothing, that's what. A big fat zero with a smile for everybody.

The first time I had got an offer to come to Hollywood, I turned it down. I said, 'No, I'm an actor of the stage.'

If you want to know about a man you can find out an awful lot by looking at who he married.

Really a bad guy is more interesting, dramatically, than the good guy.

Listen - pacemaker, crash, stroke. What does it mean? God doesn't want me now. That's all.

I know Italians and I like them. A lot of my father's best friends were Italians.

All children are natural actors, and I'm still a kid. If you grow up completely, you can never be an actor.

Sometimes an interviewer will look at me and say, 'You're bright!' They're actually surprised I might be bright.

Acting is make-believe. I never believe I'm the character; I want you to believe.

Being seventy has its advantages. I was outspoken before, but now what have I got to keep quiet about?

I came from abject poverty. There was nowhere to go but up.

I think that [Barack] Obama was elected because young people are starting to get interested in their country and I think that's a very healthy thing.

What would my parents think about America if they arrived here today? Would they even want to come? I wonder.

When you get old the worst thing is you lose so many friends. Burt Lancaster, Frank Sinatra, John Wayne. People who I loved to work with.

It's tough to make a movie about movies ... We're all too close to it. But 'The Bad and the Beautiful' was very good.

I guess I was a bad boy ... Yes, yes, I've had lots of women in my life.

I have studied religion, and I have concluded that there is some power. We don't understand it.

Life is like a B-picture script.

My children didn't have my advantages; I was born into abject poverty.

You have not learned to live until you have learned to give

Now, what does an actor who can't talk do? Wait for silent pictures to come back?

In order to achieve anything you must be brave enough to fail.

Life is like a B-picture script. It is that corny. If I had my life story offered to me to film, I'd turn it down.

I didn't think I was so tough until I did 'Champion'; then I was a tough guy.

I have one computer that my wife gave me. All I know how to do, and I do it every day, is play Spider Solitaire. And I don't have a cell phone.

I think religion has caused so much catastrophe in the world.

I was conscious of my father's fame from the time I was 6.

With John Wayne, we argued all the time and we made four pictures.

I directed two films, not very successfully, and after that, I went back to being an actor and a producer.

You haven't learned how to live until you've learned how to give.

If I thought a man had never committed a sin in his life, I don't think I'd want to talk with him. A man with flaws is more interesting.

I was not a very good Jew. I never practised what Judaism tells you to do, to teach your kids all about Judaism.

Fame is as much about luck as it is about talent, perhaps more.

My kids never had the advantages I had. I was born poor.

Love has more depth as you get older.

When you become a star, you don't change - everyone else does.

I don't need a critic to tell me I'm an actor. I make my own way. Nobody's my boss. Nobody's ever been my boss.

I have always been grateful that my Russian mother and father came to this country to give me a better chance, and I have had a better chance.

The first thing I look for in a woman is warmth-femininity. It's got nothing to do with a pretty face.

You know, you have to have some inner philosophy to deal with adversity.

The older you get, the more awards you get. So, if you live long enough, then you get all the awards eventually.

I didn't start out to be a movie star. I started out to be an actor.

No matter how bad things are, they can always be worse. So what if my stroke left me with a speech impediment? Moses had one, and he did all right.

Virtue is not photogenic.

When you reach 95, after you get over your surprise, you start looking back.

Fear is a terrible thing. It makes you do awful things.

Obey the voice within - it commands us to give of ourselves and help others. As long as we have the capacity to give, we are alive

I never wanted to be in movies. In a sense, I'm still a failure because I wanted to be a star on the stage.

If I have to speak in public, I am terrified.

I love talking to interesting people - people like O.J. Simpson, Andretti ... I love champions. A champion has something special about him.

Maybe there is no peace in this world. I don't know ... But I know as long as we live we must stay true to ourselves.

The learning process continues until the day you die.

Why can't a woman be more like a dog, huh? So sweet, loving, attentive.

When you get to my age, you find that most of your dear friends are gone.

Acting is a youthful profession.

I never had any desire to be a film actor. I never thought I was the good-looking movie type, which I assumed they wanted.

The best wine comes from home, wherever it is.