Do you want to know who you are? Don’t ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you.
I predict future happiness for Americans, if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.
Honesty is the first chapter of the book wisdom.
The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do.
I’m a greater believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.
The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers.
On matters of style, swim with the current, on matters of principle, stand like a rock.
We in America do not have government by the majority. We have government by the majority who participate.
I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it.
History, in general, only informs us what bad government is.
In my opinion, the most important thing in governance is management control.
The problem is not in the office: the problem is out there. Every day I go to the people, go to the street. I can ask the people what they want, what they need.
We need peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region. It is important to have political and security stability to build up our economic growth.
For me, democracy must deliver a better life for the people.
When we have a corporation, we must know what the customer wants, what the customers needs. Also, the politician must know what the people want, what the people need.
To deal with radicalism and extremism, we need to deal with economic inequality. This is what I learned from my experience in Solo and then in Jakarta.
I don’t mind being called a puppet. But I’m the puppet of the people.
It’s now our responsibility to prove to ourselves, to other nations, and especially to our children and our grandchildren, that politics is full of fun; politics has some wisdom. Politics is freedom.
Indonesia is the world’s third-largest democracy. And we also have the world’s largest Muslim population. This demonstrates that democracy and Islam are not incompatible. Terrorism is not associated with any religion.
I’m willing to work with all parties to reform Indonesia.
People don’t try to show their feelings, they try to hide them.
If it’s the right chair, it doesn’t take too long to get comfortable in it.
The hardest thing about being famous is that people are always nice to you.
Sometimes if you have financial restraints, it’s a benefit. It forces you to come up with a more creative way.
When you are working hard, you don’t have time for anything other than what you are doing.
There are certain things I am clueless about as far as the new technologies. I see these people in front of these computers all day and I don’t know what they are doing – they are doing something, obviously – with Facebook, Instagram and all that. I am aware of it, but basically not in touch.
Any depression should be met with a smile. Depression will think you are an idiot and will run away.
Don’t let yourself get attached to anything you are not willing to walk out on in 30 seconds flat if you feel the heat around the corner.
When you love someone you gotta trust them, there’s no other way. You gotta give them the key to everything that’s yours. Otherwise, what’s the point?
I have so much respect for directors. It’s a tremendous amount of pressure; you have to keep steadfast and keep what you know is right.
When I don’t feel free and can’t do what I want I just react. I go against it.
It’s the journey of self, I guess. You start with this kind of loner, outside guy, which a lot of people can relate to, and he goes out into the world.
The truth is often terrifying, which I think is one of the motifs of Larry and Andrew’s cinema. The cost of knowledge is an important theme. In the second and third films, they explore the consequences of Neo’s choice to know the truth. It’s a beautiful, beautiful story.
It’s always wonderful to get to know women, with the mystery and the joy and the depth. If you can make a woman laugh, you’re seeing the most beautiful thing on God’s Earth.
Fame is drag. The paparazzi culture is more pervasive than it used to be. On the positive side, it’s nice not to have to worry about bills.
Art is about trying to find the good in people and making the world a more compassionate place.
You have to change your life if you’re not happy, and wake up if things aren’t going the way you want.
Sometimes when you make a film you can go away for three months and then come back and live your life. But this struck a much deeper chord. I don’t have the ability yet to speak about it in an objective.
I’ve been really fortunate to be able to do different kinds of films in different scales, different genres, different kinds of roles, and that is important to me.
It’s a very brave thing to fall in love. You have to be willing to trust somebody else with your whole being, and that’s very difficult, really difficult and very brave.
The thing you hate about yourself tends to be the thing that everyone likes about you.
Acting for me is not a business, it’s about trying to make pieces of art that I believe that I feel proud of. And it’s the journey of that.
I think it’s important that we don’t all have to hold our heads high all the time saying everything’s fine.
To be honest, I am completely natural. I have nothing in my face or anything. I wear sunscreen, and I don’t smoke. I take care of myself and I’m very proud to say that.
I believe that as much as you take, you have to give back. It’s important not to focus on yourself too much.
Life has got all those twists and turns. You’ve got to hold on tight and off you go.
I have a little bit of a belly, a tiny bit of pooch. It’s the one thing I don’t want to lose. I just like having some softness. If I lose that, then Tom might leave me.
When you relinquish the desire to control your future, you can have more happiness.
I’m a person that carries everything that happened to me in my past, with me into the future. I refuse to let it make me bitter.
You pray for rain, you gotta deal with the mud too. That’s a part of it.
I say luck is when an opportunity comes along and you’re prepared for it.
I’d be more frightened by not using whatever abilities I’d been given. I’d be more frightened by procrastination and laziness.
You have to grab moments when they happen. I like to improvise and ad lib.
Goals on the road to achievement cannot be achieved without discipline and consistency.
At the end of the day, it’s not about what you have or even what you’ve accomplished. It’s about what you’ve done with those accomplishments. It’s about who you’ve lifted up, who you’ve made better. It’s about what you’ve given back.
The chances you take, the people you meet, the people you love, the faith that you have. That’s what’s going to define you.
The only thing stopping you from achieving your dreams are the stories you keep telling yourself that you can’t. Don’t wait- act now. Regret nothing.
Faith will get you to a point. Luck will get you to a point. But to achieve the kind of success you dream about, you need to WORK. There are no shortcuts, you can’t cheat life, just get to work and don’t stop until you reach your highest potential.
Faith is the confidence, the assurance, the enforcing truth, the knowing.
The comic book world is so dangerous, you know what I mean? You say one thing and people – they’re ravenous – they are very opinionated fans. But they’re great fans.
I always say that the times in my life when I’ve been happiest are the times when I’ve seen, like, a sunset.
Anyone who’s had a tattoo knows once you get your first one, as you’re walking out the door, you’re planning the next.
I decided to make ‘Captain America’ because I realized I wasn’t doing the film because it terrified me. You can’t make decisions based on fear.
I swear to God, if you saw me when I am by myself in the woods, I’m a lunatic. I sing, I dance.
You know, the reward for ‘Captain America’ is amazing. It’s always fun to see a giant spectacle film and see the fun stuff – the special effects.
I’m reminded of who I am, who I was, and who I’m supposed to be.
I’m the one who fears being enveloped. I was always a really autonomous guy my whole life. Camping by myself is one of my favorite things.
I know we’re not perfect, but the safest hands are still our own.
I can handle the craziness some of the time, maybe most of the time. But I know I can’t handle it all of the time.
The great gift of human beings is that we have the power of empathy, we can all sense a mysterious connection to each other.
Acting is not about being someone different. It’s finding the similarity in what is apparently different, then finding myself in there.
I have a theory that movies operate on the level of dreams, where you dream yourself.
No one has ever asked an actor, ‘You’re playing a strong-minded man…’ We assume that men are strong-minded, or have opinions. But a strong-minded woman is a different animal.
I think the best role models for women are people who are fruitfully and confidently themselves, who bring light into the world.
You don’t have to be famous. You just have to make your mother and father proud of you.
Put blinders on to those things that conspire to hold you back, especially the ones in your own head.
I like who I am now. Other people may not. I’m comfortable. I feel freer now. I don’t want growing older to matter to me.
The formula of happiness and success is just, being actually yourself, in the most vivid possible way you can.
This is your time and it feels normal to you, but really, there is no normal. There’s only change and resistance to it and then more change.
You pray for rain, you gotta deal with the mud too. That’s a part of it.
I say luck is when an opportunity comes along and you’re prepared for it.
I’d be more frightened by not using whatever abilities I’d been given. I’d be more frightened by procrastination and laziness.
You have to grab moments when they happen. I like to improvise and ad lib.
Acting is just a way of making a living, the family is life.
Goals on the road to achievement cannot be achieved without discipline and consistency.
At the end of the day, it’s not about what you have or even what you’ve accomplished. It’s about what you’ve done with those accomplishments. It’s about who you’ve lifted up, who you’ve made better. It’s about what you’ve given back.
Don’t aspire to make a living, aspire to make a difference.
Do what you have to do, to do what you want to do.
The chances you take, the people you meet, the people you love, the faith that you have. That’s what’s going to define you.
