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" 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. "

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" 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.' "

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

" 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 studied Judaism a lot. I studied religion in general, and I have never imposed my Judaism on my kids. They are what they want to be. I think... you must care for others. That's the correct religion, I think. "

" Acting is a youthful profession. "

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

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

" When I first came to Hollywood, the blacklist was just starting, and they were having hearings in Washington. What most people don't know is the judge of these hearings himself was later convicted of misappropriation. 'Spartacus' helped break the blacklist, because Spartacus was a real character. "

" 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'. "

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

" 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 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. "

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

" 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. "

" 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. "

" My four sons all knew I was a Jew, but they were allowed to be whatever they wanted to be. The only thing important to me was that they be good people who help other people, because all religion should try to make you a better person and a more caring person. Whenever religion does that for you, it's a good religion. "

" 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. "

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

" When you have a stroke, you must talk slowly to be understood, and I've discovered that when I talk slowly, people listen. They think I'm going to say something important! "

" 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. "

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

" You know, sometimes an interviewer will look at me and say - you're bright! They're actually surprised I might be bright. "

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

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

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

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

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

" 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.' "

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

" Virtue is not photogenic, so I liked playing bad guys. But, whenever I played a bad guy, I tried to find something good in him, and that kept my contact with the audience. "