Get QuoteDark Inspirational Quotes App

" Fifteen years ago, I suffered a stroke, which caused me to lose my speech. Now, what does an actor who can't talk do? Wait for silent pictures to come back? I work with a speech therapist twice a week. "

Kirk Douglas

Week

Work

Related Quotes:

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

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

" Acting is a youthful profession. "

" My mother, we were a very poor family. When I was a kid, we would be in our little room, and there would be a knock on the door almost every night with a hobo begging for food. Even though we didn't even have enough to eat, my mother always found something to give them. "

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

" The learning process continues until the day you die. "

" God bless Dad, he came to every one of my shows. I was bad, and I had horrible stage fright. My dad was so relieved - he'd say, 'You were terrible; this kid is not going to be an actor.' Finally, I did a play and he said, 'Son - you were really good.' "

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

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

" Being second generation in Hollywood is complicated: Success is expected, and yet the track record of the second generation is not great. Only a small group of us, like Jane Fonda, have succeeded. "

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

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

" I have been an actor for most of my life. When I started out, I didn't think about anything except what was good for me. Like many movie stars, I became all wrapped up in myself. "

Kirk Douglas

Myself

Good

" Too often, I have not been what I wanted to be; I've succumbed to pressures. Yes, I have. The things I've done that I liked, I've always done against advice. "

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

Kirk Douglas

Public

Terrified

" 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. "

Kirk Douglas

Nobody

Boss

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

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

" My first job was on Broadway. Then I went into the Navy. When I came out of the Navy, I went back to Broadway and a friend of mine, Lauren Bacall, was in Hollywood filming with Humphrey Bogart. She told one of her producers I was great in my play, and he saw it and cast me in 'The Strange Love of Martha Ivers'. "

Kirk Douglas

Love

Great

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

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

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

" Love has more depth as you get older. "

Kirk Douglas

Get

Depth

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

" People are always talking about the old days. They say that the old movies were better, that the old actors were so great. But I don't think so. All I can say about the old days is that they have passed. "

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

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

" People are composed of many things, and in my work, what influences me is the complexity of people - the chiaroscuro of dark and light. When I play a strong guy, I try to find, where is he weak? And, conversely, when I play a weak guy, where is he strong? "

Kirk Douglas

People

Work

" All my life, I have taken inventory at intervals. For example, when I became a movie actor and suddenly I had to deal with fame, money and playing so many roles, I lost myself. I said, 'Who am I?' And I wrote my first book to deal with that, 'The Ragman's Son.' "