Quotes by Russell Crowe

'Swallow My Gift' is all about music being its own reward. I don't do it to become more famous; I don't do it to make money. I don't do it from an ego-driven point of view.

I got a guitar when I was six and, instead of learning other people's songs, started to try to write my own, even at that young age.

The Americans love Aussies, but they're actually quite afraid of us at the same time because they think we're insane. Then they see our sports -- league, union, and AFL -- and that makes them even more worried.

Even bad men love their mamas.

I don't really take vacations because when I'm working, it's usually in a far-flung, exotic place somewhere. But I have a farm in Australia I like to go back to when I'm at home and not working.

Music's always been a huge part of my life, and my first record came out in 1981.

I'd done stage musicals for quite a few years, starting with 'Grease' in Auckland.

My kids are being raised in a much more affluent environment than was mine. My wife and I talk about that all the time because neither of us had this kind of experience.

Imagine what you will be, and it will be so.

When I read 'The Water Diviner,' I was having the same kind of visceral reaction that I would normally have acting in something. I believed that I was the only person that could tell this story the way it needed to be told. That's the real arrogance of a director!

If I'm creating the composition, it's easier for me as an actor because I've just cut out the middle man. Because I've created the composition and now I'm in it, I already know exactly what I want to get out of it. So, bang!

People say, 'Surely there's the right reasons for going to war?' And my perspective is, 'Surely there's a better way of asking that question?'

I don't know if I was ever looking for this kind of success- it came along as a by-product of concentrating on what I was doing.

Brothers, what we do in life........echoes in eternity.

I'm not one of those fellows that is just going to have a psuedo-middling relationship.

Are you not entertained?

This is possibly the most shameful situation I've ever gotten myself in in my life, and I've done some pretty dumb things in my life. So to actually make a new No. 1 is spectacularly stupid.

Some people have got advice, some people have got horror stories. I like people that look you in the eye with a glow and say It's gonna be cool.

I hate having long hair. It's like walking around with a dead koala on your back!

I have to believe I got some kind of say over our lives.

Even though Noah is in the Koran as well. But we knew going into this project that you can't make stories or render images about the Prophet. But I do believe people are missing out if they don't have the choice to see this film.

When you're heading into Anzac cove you are going into this battle situation staring into the sun. So, any movement in that water, any glint is going to be seen for miles away. Even in the first rays of dawn, there's nowhere to hide.

Once you're a parent, male or female, every single thing that happens in your life is seen through the prism of being a parent.

It's such an intimate experience, being a director, artistically. It's deep and it's satisfying and it's wonderful, on so many levels, but it's also really scary.

I never actually expected success, but it doesn't surprise me when it comes because I know how much work I put into what I do.

Sport for me is about inspiring kids. Here's the rules, here's the play area, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. This is all about teaching kids how to approach life. If we're not playing sport to benefit kids, I'm not really sure why we play sport.

I am a man that has a lot of respect for faith and spirituality. I think it is important that we talk about religion in today's world.

I think that if there are problems in journalism they're created by journalists... the trivialisation of the news and the sort of snyed, cynical allowance of untruth to be in a newspaper because it might be titillating.

My bottom line is that I think Ridley Scott is one of the greatest visual artists of our time and I feel very privileged that he wants to work with me, so I go with that flow.

We can't repay our good luck with bad grace. It invites darkness.

The thing about films is you learn new stuff all the time. You think you can get to a point where you've got it all down. But then another, different situation arises.

You can't understand it until you experience the simple joy of the first time your son points at a seagull and says 'Duck!'

Nobody wants zealotry in a police force, you know? You do want to know that the guy who's got that badge, is confident enough to judge a certain level of benign corruption. Like a man steals some food to feed his starving children.

'He's the most charming man. He's the Oscar Wilde of our time. I only had one moment with him in that film and it's a great source of regret. I love spending time with him. He's always very open and effusive. His interest in you is genuine.'

I have respect for beer.

I love going shopping. I have a black belt in it.

I suppose 'Gladiator' could be a Western -- if you were writing your review in Athens, that is! To be honest, we didn't really think that way at the time. But there is common ground. And they both have horses -- I liked that, obviously.

People accuse me of being arrogant all the time.I'm not arrogant , i'm focused.

Iceland is fascinating; really an amazing place to visit, and great for a film to go there.

God bless America, God Save the Queen, God defend New Zealand and thank Christ for Australia.

I've followed Leeds since I was a little kid. I used to come home from sport in the afternoon, me and my brother, and watch 'Match of the Day.' I love the club. I want nothing but success for the club.

Perhaps it is good to have a beautiful mind, but an even greater gift is to discover a beautiful heart.

Meg Ryan is a beautiful and courageous woman. I grieve the loss of her companionship, but I haven't lost her friendship. We still phone each other for a good chat.

I like villains because there's something so attractive about a committed person -- they have a plan, an ideology, no matter how twisted. They're motivated.

Like everyone else, I've had moments when I've felt that I've been losing my grip.

I'm destined to be attracted to those I cannot defeat.

Reality is, I'm an actor and an entertainer, and I really wouldn't know what to do with another profession.

When I was a little kid, I used to really embarrass my parents.

Some of the things you read you get an immediate reaction to so I've stopped reading things now. I do worry about my family though. Some people do try some nasty things to get at them and try and get a reaction from them.

Meg Ryan is a beautiful and courageous woman. I grieve the loss of her companionship but I've not lost the friendship. We talk all the time and that was what our connection was about. She has a wonderful mind and we just like a chat.

If I don't get the goose-bump factor when I'm reading it than I can't do it.

I really feel sorry for people who are, who divide their whole life up into 'things that I like' and 'things that I must do.' You're only here for a short time, mate. Learn to like it.

I don't make demands. I don't tell you how it should be. I'll give you options, and it's up to you to select or throw 'em away. That should be the headline: If you're insecure, don't call.

The important thing to me is that I'm not driven by people's praise and I'm not slowed down by people's criticism. I'm just trying to work at the highest level I can.

If there is no blood on the line, it is not rugby league.

My children have never watched any of my films. Charlie knows that daddy makes movies, but he says they are not good enough for him to watch.

There's nothing like sitting back and talking to your cows.

War isn't just about bravery and courage and jingoism and patriotism. It's also fundamentally about grief. And the people that go and do the fighting and the dying are never the people who actually benefit from the fighting and the dying.

While I was trying to save money to go to the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Australia I ended up getting all of this experience which meant that by the time I had enough money in the bank to go to school I didn't really need to go to school anymore.

God bless America. God save the Queen. God defend New Zealand and thank Christ for Australia.

I'd move to Los Angeles if New Zealand and Australia were swallowed up by a tidal wave, if there was a bubonic plague in England and if the continent of Africa disappeared from some Martian attack.

There has to be a mathematical explanation for how bad that tie is.

People accuse me of being arrogant all the time. I'm not arrogant, I'm focused.

I want to make movies that pierce people's hearts and touch them in some way, even if it's just for the night while they're in the cinema; in that moment, I want to bring actual tears to their eyes and goosebumps to their skin.

South Sydney is a very complicated and wonderful place. You have some of the most expensive bits of real estate in the country and a large percentage of government housing.

If you put 20 cents in me and ask me to talk about South Sydney, I'll play all night.

It is important to dress for success.

I've been voted one of Australia's 50 national treasures. I've even had my face on an Australian stamp -- the only non-Australian to do so, apart from the Queen, of course.

No matter how long you'd been in the country, if you weren't in Australia for the majority of 2000 to 2002 -- when I was particularly busy filming overseas -- you can't become a citizen.

I look for the role that excites me and work with whoever that director happens to be, wherever he wants to shoot the film.

I've got bits falling off me. I'm not made of rubber. That's from film stunts. Every single injury I have is related to a movie. I know that sounds fundamentally embarrassing.

It just seems like a religion that is perfect for people who feel like they need a grounding, who feels that the world has run off on them. I've discussed this with Scientologists, and they don't disagree. So, for a certain type of person, that's great.

From a young kid, I was quite interested in religion.

I've loved Danielle Spencer since 1989 -- that's never going to change -- and that's one of those things where I stare at her and go, 'How did it fail?' I still can't work it out, because my feelings for her have never changed.

I didn't get married to get divorced.

There's an ease that I have living in Australia. The best things about Sydney are free: the sunshine's free, and the harbour's free, and the beach is free.

I'm a virtuoso in my job in that there's not an actor I can't go into a scene with and be absolutely confident that, whatever is required of my character, I can do it.

I believe in singing for my supper. I'll never accept a grant because what I do should be able to be founded purely on free enterprise.

You don't have to like an actor to do a scene with him. You don't have to like a director. But it's just better if you do. And I think, you know, you've got to begin that with respect.