Quotes by Clint Eastwood

Man becomes his most creative during war.

Yes, I'm always -- I'm always surprised when you make a film and you live with it a while and you put it out, you never dream that anybody is ever going to want to really see it.

We all boil at different degrees.

It's always appealing to play a character that has to overcome himself as well as an obstacle. It makes the drama so much deeper.

Yeah... you're a legend in your own mind.

I have strong feelings about gun control. If there's a gun around, I want to be controlling it.

As much as I love the Western genre, I figured if I kept doing those, I'd eventually run out of steam on that, and that would've been the end of it.

Acting to me is a very organic art form and you just go and do it. And I like to direct the same way that I like to be directed. Let me bring in what I want to bring in, and if something's wrong, just tell me about it and I'll make some corrections or adjustments. And that's what I do.

I was always annoyed by too much explaining.

In America, instead of making the audience come to the film, the idea seems to be for you to go to the audience. They come up with the demographics for the film and then the film is made and sold strictly to that audience.

My father had a couple of kids at the beginning of the Depression. There was not much employment. Not much welfare. People barely got by. People were tougher then.

Extremism is so easy. You've got your position, and that's it. It doesn't take much thought. And when you go far enough to the right you meet the same idiots coming around from the left.

FBI philosophy is Go ahead and make the story you want to make, and hopefully we'll love it. So that's that.

I always felt blessed that I was able to make a living in a profession acting that not a lot of people can make a living at, and I was able to do something I liked, rather than be in a job that I hated.

Don Siegel last advice to me was 'Don't short yourself.' He said the tendency is when an actor's directing is to kind of you want to work on everybody else but you're going to short yourself. He said, take the time to do a good job with yourself so that you're satisfied with it.

I think as you get older, you find you can play more things because you're moving to a different category. You play a certain thing as a younger man, playing action roles like I did. Then I moved out, and I kept trying to do different things all the time.

If you get a certain amount of notoriety for doing something, and you can stick to that type of project for the rest of your life and make a decent living, I think you still have a responsibility to stretch. Flexibility is what keeps you alive.

You spend your life training to be an actor, observing people's characteristics so that you can design characters around what you've seen.

I'm suffering from oxygen deprivation. It's overwhelming watching your career go by.

Take your work seriously, but don't take yourself seriously.

I don't believe in pessimism.

I'm trying to preach the idea that if we don't pay attention to history we're destined to repeat it.

If you don't pay attention to history, you're destined to repeat it.

I am sort of anti-hunting. I don't put down what anyone wants to do, but it seems to me that killing a creature for fun is not a progressive idea.

Hitchcock used to believe that if there were three or four memorable scenes in a film that would be enough to drive it, but I don't know if that's true or not.

I don't wanna need you because I can't have you.

Hollywood seems to succumb to fads. Well, action films do well. Give me violence. Give me a scene where there's a couple of car chases or shooting and stuff like that. They're forgetting the fact that there's a basic structure to a story that is essential to making it really broad and appealing.

I found out that a lot of my liberal friends weren't liberal because they weren't liberal about approaching anybody else's ideas, or at least standing for it. They started getting really animalistic about, I can't even associate with this guy. He's stupid. He's an idiot.

Directing is more like you're being a psychologist and you're kind of analyzing the situation and evaluating each person for their idiosyncrasies.

I'd say, go ahead, shoot your shot. More power to ya if you can come up with a different angle on the character.

I'm just naturally gravitating towards different things. As you mature, different subject matters. And as you're older, you can't play as many parts, or you shouldn't be playing the parts that you used to play. But also there's the opportunity to play parts that you couldn't have.

When you're making a film you start living with it, and I find myself sitting down and figuring out a sound or melody that would go with a film, or a particular period. It's not brain surgery, you just kind of feel it along.

When you're an actor, you're so busy: people are always coming up to you and pulling your collar, making sure that things fit, brushing your hair and you're always being yanked up, so finally when you're behind a camera, you're just a slob.

My wife is my closest friend. Sure, I'm attracted to her in every way possible, but that's not the answer. Because I've been attracted to other people, and I couldn't stand 'em after a while.

I guess a great movie would be one that has the most great moments in it.

Most people are afraid of change, but if you look at it as something you can always count on, then it can be a comfort.

If you're afraid to take risks in anything in life, it's just boredom.

An awful lot of good movies have gone unrecognized, and an awful lot of bad movies have had tremendous recognition. As long as you keep that in mind, you are never really disappointed.

I'm past doing one chin-up more than I did the day before. I just kind of do what I feel like.

Michael Moore and I actually have a lot in common. We both appreciate living in a country where there's free expression. But Michael, if you ever show up at my front door with a camera, I'll kill you. I mean it.

Hillary Clinton has made a lot of dough out of being a politician. I gave up dough to be a politician. I'm sure that Ronald Reagan gave up dough to be a politician.

If you approach a film with the feeling that you are going to have some impact on society then you're liable to get carried away with yourself. Alfred Hitchcock once told me, when I was analyzing a lot of things about his pictures, Clint, you must remember, it's only a movie.

That's the secret to a movie career -- just keeping an open mind.

What Trump is onto is, he's just saying what's on his mind. And sometimes it's not so good. And sometimes it's... I mean, I can understand where he's coming from, but I don't always agree with it.

I'd like to be a bigger and more knowledgeable person ten years from now than I am today. I think that for all of us as we grow older, we must discipline ourselves to continue expanding, broadening, learning, keeping our minds active and open.

To me, life is like the back nine in golf. Sometimes you play better on the back nine. You may not be stronger, but hopefully you're wiser. And if you keep most of your marbles intact, you can add a note of wisdom to the coming generation.

A lot of people when they retire, they just expire. It happens to men more than women. Women usually have great interest in the family, because the family's always growing and they're always coming to the rescue.

Acting gets into your blood, after so many years, and I just always like revisiting it. It's fun to meet new people and watch them coming along, at different stages of their careers.

Everybody wants to make something they think is a surefire winner, though nobody knows what a surefire winner is, in my opinion.

Nobody knows diddly. They just think they do. And the people that think they know the most know the least.

When a naked man is chasing a woman through an alley with a butcher knife and a hard-on, I figure he isn't out collecting for the Red Cross.

If anybody asks me what I attribute the longevity of my career to, then I say it's because I was never satisfied with being a cowboy in the plains of Spain and later I was never satisfied with just playing a detective in San Francisco, and constantly just pushing the envelope.

Listen, punk. To me you're nothin' but dogshit, you understand? And a lot of things can happen to dogshit. It can be scraped up with a shovel off the ground. It can dry up and blow away in the wind. Or it can be stepped on and squashed. So take my advice and be careful where the dog shits ya!

The more time you have to think things through, the more you have to screw it up.

Twenty-some states in the United States have statutes that say showing the nipples to children is obscene. That's the first thing we come into contact with when we arrive on this planet: a woman's breasts!

There was a stool there, and some fella kept asking me if I wanted to sit down. When I saw the stool sitting there, it gave me the idea. I'll just put the stool out there and I'll talk to Mr Obama and ask him why he didn't keep all of the promises he made to everybody.

Over my career I played some badass characters. So, people sometimes think I should have a .44 magnum. But that's not true, I don't have that. But I do fire them and I do enjoy target shooting and all that sort of thing. I'm not much of a hunter. I don't like killing animals, but I love to shoot.

Everybody is looking for a reason to not to take responsibility for their own actions in hand.

Let's not go and ruin it by thinking too much.

I'd have to go for Donald Trump ... you know, 'cause Hillary Clinton is declared that she's gonna follow in Barack Obama's footsteps. There's been just too much funny business on both sides of the aisle. She's made a lot of dough out of being a politician.

I don't see myself as conservative, but I'm not ultra-leftist. You build a philosophy of your own. I like the libertarian view, which is to leave everyone alone. Even as a kid, I was annoyed by people who wanted to tell everyone how to live.

If you cast a film incorrectly, then you're going to be fighting an uphill battle.

What do you want me to tell Romney? I can't tell him to do that. I can't tell him to do that to himself. You're crazy. You're absolutely crazy. You're getting as bad as Biden.

Well, if you're waitin' for a woman to make up her mind, you may have a a long wait.

Every man has got to know his limitations.

Dyin' ain't much of a living, boy.

Ever notice how you come across somebody once in a while you shouldn't have messed with? That's me.

You have to be realistic about where you are in life and enjoy it.

No, I don't have to practice that grunt. You just do it. Once you're in character, you're in character. You don't sit there purposely thinking, Well, I'll grunt here, or I'll groan there.

Once you finish a film, it doesn't belong to you anymore -- it belongs to the audience to interpret it the way they feel like interpreting.

I have great respect for the FBI, and I know that there have been some rumors lately that the FBI was disenchanted because of what we were doing in story, or doing a certain take: that's not true. Actually the FBI was tremendously enthusiastic about us doing J. Edgar Hoover film.

If you read any of the biographies on J. Edgar Hoover, you find that they contradict each other more than they agree. Often times, they're often told from a political perspective.

I think the only way it has influenced me is to cause me to try to branch out and do other things. So that people will know that I am reaching out and trying to be a little more versatile. So they realize he is not a Dirty Harry. He doesn't advocate martial law or mayhem -it's a character.

Now you've got to ask yourself one question. Do I feel lucky? -- Inspector Harry Callahan.

I always thought what an interesting idea because almost everybody's fascinated by the perpetrator of a crime; very few people study what happens to people for the rest of their lives, and how it affects not only that particular character but other characters around him as well.

The interesting thing with child actors is that kids are natural actors. They're wonderful actors, and most kids are acting all the time. They're imagining they're out in the yard playing. They're imagining that things happened, and they can get very vivid.

I'm not really a Hollywood person. Not that I don't like L.A., but I'm just a Northern California guy.

I love every aspect of the creation of motion pictures and I guess I am committed to it for life.

As a movie actor, once you've become known, you're observed all the time so you don't get the chance to observe anymore. You still get a taste of life but it's not quite the same and there's something to be said for a more anonymous life.

Kids piercing themselves, piercing their tongues, what kind of masochism is that? Is it to show you can just take it?

In recent times it just seems that women have been relegated to either romantic roles or fluff pieces. So the appeal, for me, is to make a picture about a real woman.

Are you going to pull those pistols or whistle Dixie?

Most people who'll remember me, if at all, will remember me as an action guy, which is okay. There's nothing wrong with that. But there will be a certain group which will remember me for the other films, the ones where I took a few chances. At least, I like to think so.

The reason I don't retire is that I learn something new every day. The brain has to be exercised the same as the rest of the body. It's about expanding, constantly pushing yourself.

There's a lot of young guys coming along, but I'd like to say to the various financiers, don't forget the senior guys. The senior guys and gals are there, willing to do their best work for you.

A Love like this happens but once in a lifetime.

Dying ain't much of a living, boy.

One day we will look back and realize that the Barack Obama Presidency was the biggest fraud ever perpetrated on the American people.

Participating in a gun buy-back program because you think that criminals have too many guns is like having yourself castrated because you think your neighbors have too many kids.

The reason I still work at this stage of life is because I enjoy learning something new each day.

Keep your eyes on the horizon and your nose to the wind.

A good man always knows his limitations.

Tomorrow is promised to no one.

Go ahead, make my day.

They say all marriages are made in heaven, but so are thunder and lightning.

What I think the mentor gets is the great satisfaction of helping somebody along, helping somebody take advantage of an opportunity that maybe he or she did not have.

I take vitamins daily, but just the bare essentials not what you'd call supplements. I try to stick to a vegan diet heavy on fruit, vegetables, tofu, and other soy products.

Self-respect leads to self-discipline.

I try to stick to a vegan diet heavy on fruit and vegetables.

As I get older, I tend to put more into family than I used to.

I probably would have retired years ago if I hadn't found interesting things to do.

There has to be something in every role that interests you.

Every picture has its own demands, and every picture stimulates something within you to tell it a certain way. I don't know what that is; I don't think too much about that.

A war is a horrible thing, but it's also a unifier of countries.

My wife used to be an anchorwoman in Arizona, so she knew John McCain, and she liked him, and I kinda liked him.

Romney and Ryan would do a much better job running the country, and that's what everybody needs to know.

I haven't been very active in politics.

Our modern society -- especially in the West, and especially now -- reveres youth.

I've taken advantage of a few breaks that came along and moved along with them.

I don't really get into a big intellectual analysis of why I am going to do a certain script or not.

I still work out on a daily basis.

My mother knew how to read music and everything. But I just kinda learned off of records. And so, I was listening to records and I'd play 'em over and over.

I'm not a chick-flick enthusiast.

Stage actors are usually much more conscious of speaking up and making sure that everyone can hear in the back of the theatre; a film actor probably thinks of that a little less.

'Unforgiven' is probably an example of a script that I liked right away but thought, 'This is great, but I'd like to do this when I'm older.' So I stuck it in the drawer for ten years and then took it out.

I like Italian movies. I was frequently there in the '60s, in Rome and the vicinity. It was a great period in life. I was very influenced by their stuff.

I think our politicians could learn a lot from Mandela.

As long as somebody finances you, can make a film and get it seen any place and in any language; then, hopefully, it's a success.

I am certainly not politically affiliated with Mr. Obama.

If you consider film an art form, as some people do, then the Western would be a truly American art form, much as jazz is.

Society has made us believe you should look like an 18-year-old model all your life.

My dad was a big admirer of Sergeant York stories from the First World War.

I think everybody has something that they've been obsessed about in their lifetime.

I liked Vittorio De Sica a lot, and I got to work with him once in a segment movie. He was a great director. He was a very charismatic character and a guy I watched a lot when he was directing.

I kind of make a film for myself to sort of express myself.

A lot of dumb pictures have made a lot of money, but that doesn't mean they're going to be anything cinema students will revel over in the future.

I tend to believe that audiences are relatively well-balanced people.

I always thought of myself as a character actor. I never thought of myself as a leading man.

I loved the fact that Obama is multi-racial. I thought that was terrific, as my wife is the same racial make-up.

Other than obvious errors like forgetting a line, often I can't see any difference between take one and take 20.

When I'm a director, I look at myself the actor as a completely different person. It's somebody else up there, an actor playing a role. I keep myself out of it.

Why am I a star? It can't be because of looks.

In past generations, people would try to play younger than they really are. My trick is, I don't try to play younger than I really am.

I knew Billy Wilder socially and would have loved to work with him.

Movies are fun, but they are no cure for cancer.

I'd always tried to resist playing the supervirility thing. I liked showing the vulnerability of age.

I will never win an Oscar, and do you know why? First of all, because I'm not Jewish. Secondly, I make too much money for all those old farts in the Academy.

In the Bay Area, there was a resurgence of Dixieland jazz in the '40s -- there was the Frisco Jazz Band, and Lu Watters and the Yerba Buena Jazz Band.

I'm not a regrets-type person.

I'm not a reality-TV kind of guy. But it's almost like we're living in a reality show. Every day in this country, everybody keeps worrying about the deterioration of America, and it's like a big reality show.

There are two kinds of people in this world. 'I' people and 'we' people. I've always tried to be a 'we' person.

My dad was fiscally conservative, and I was influenced by that. He didn't believe in spending more than you had because it gets you into trouble.

You have to steal a lot. You have to have a criminal mentality to be a film director.

The fact is, violence is not only not a beautiful thing, but it's also very painful and not without consequences for the perpetrator as well as the victim.

I like working. That's when I'm feeling my best. And the people around me know that. My wife knows that.

I'm not a New Age person, but I do believe in meditation, and for that reason I've always liked the Buddhist religion. When I've been to Japan, I've been to Buddhist temples and meditated, and I found that rewarding.

It must be the Brit in me, because I like animals.

When I was growing up, I wasn't an extrovert. If anything, I was an introverted kid and a very average pupil at school. I was very quiet.

They've got this crazy actor who's 82 years old up there in a suit. I was a mayor, and they're probably thinking I know how to give a speech, but even when I was mayor I never gave speeches. I gave talks.

The craving for information is so huge now, and it can be marketed at such a rapid rate.

Society is at odds with itself.

A lot of people are bored of all the political correctness.

I keep working because I learn something new all the time.

I do believe in self-help.

I'm interested in the fact that the less secure a man is, the more likely he is to have extreme prejudice.

You hear about actors being late and all that sort of stuff, but you never find that with an actor who's directed, because an actor who's directed understands all the problems your production is going through.

Liberals are not always so liberal with people who disapprove -- disapprove of their point of view.

I guess maybe when you get past 70, other people start asking you how you feel.

On 'Mystic River,' I had to cut my salary and everyone else's to get it made.

I want the troops from Great Britain and the U.S. to be successful, but by the same token, Afghanistan has always been a screw-up.

It would be great to be 105 and still making films.

Every story has its demands.

When I see a story, I ask: is this something I'd like to be in? Is this something I'd like to see? And if I'd like to see it, would I like to tell it?

I'm not really conservative. I'm conservative on certain things. I believe in less government. I believe in fiscal responsibility and all those things that maybe Republicans used to believe in but don't any more.

Aging can be fun if you lay back and enjoy it.

There's a lot of great movies that have won the Academy Award, and a lot of great movies that haven't. You just do the best you can.

We are like boxers, one never knows how much longer one has.

You can't stop everything from happening. But we've gotten to a point where we're certainly trying. If a car doesn't have four hundred air bags in it, then it's no good.

I'm a mentor to anybody who's interested.

The U.S. military was segregated 'til the Korean War, and the blacks in World War Two were totally segregated.

I was an Eisenhower Republican when I started out at 21 because he promised to get us out of the Korean War.

Some people feel that the world owes them a living.

I guess I'm living in the present more than the past.

I'm a movie maker, but I have the same feelings as the average guy out there.

You know when you're young and you see a play in high school, and the guys all have gray in their hair and they're trying to be old men and they have no idea what that's like? It's just that stupid the other way around.

We boil at different degrees.

I hate to see anybody sink. I hate to see anybody lose their dream, lose their home, something like that.

I think Pebble Beach is kind of a unique place on the planet.

I've always said the one advantage an actor has of converting to a director is that he's been in front of the camera. He doesn't have to get in front of the camera again, subliminally or otherwise.

My mother always told me it wasn't polite to ask what people make.

When I was born, the economy wasn't in a great state; it was the Depression, and my father had to be quick to try and find work.

I have worked ever since I was 13.

President Obama is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people.

If I'd had good discipline, I might have gone into music.

I just make the pictures and where they fall is where they fall. If somebody likes them, that's always nice. And if they don't like them, then too bad.

I was drafted during the Korean War.

Drama usually has some sort of intense conflict.

God gave you a brain. Do the best you can with it. And you don't have to be Einstein, but Einstein was mentally tough. He believed what he believed. And he worked out things. And he argued with people who disagreed with him. But I'm sure he didn't call everybody jerks.

In 'Gran Torino,' I play a guy who's racially offensive. But he learned. It shows that you're never too old to learn and embrace people that you don't understand to begin with. It seems like nobody else got that message, I guess.