“I don’t think human beings are bad. They’re weak. And that’s what makes ’em bad.”

I think life has got to develop as you get older, and I don’t want to be wandering along doing the same old thing. I want more out of life.

I am a great admirer of other actors, but I never compete with other actors. I always compete with what I did last, and I’m my own most vicious critic. So I’m always trying to do it better.

It’s a lesson in life – don’t look back, you’ll trip over.

My father was a fish market porter. So I grew up on fish, because he used to steal one a day, I grew up on the very best fish that money could buy, ’cause he only stole the good stuff.

I felt a tremendous sadness for men who can’t deal with a woman of their own age.

It’s much harder to act in a bad film than in a good one. A terrible script makes for very difficult acting. You can win an Academy Award for some of the easiest acting in your career, made possible by a brilliant script.

Use the difficulties – if you can’t avoid them

I read books like mad, but I am careful to to let anything I read influence me.

When you reach the top, that’s when the climb begins.

I don’t have any regrets because I’m very optimistic, and live each day as though it’s the last.

It’s vital to have your own space so you aren’t constantly in each other’s pockets.

I’m every bourgeois nightmare – a Cockney with intelligence and a million dollars.

I did everything. I ran my life exactly as I wanted to, all the time. I never listened to anybody. I’m pig-headed.

You start pretending to have fun, you might have a little by accident.

Do I believe in God? Yes I do. When you’ve had a life like mine, you have to.

Funny things happen to you in movies for silly reasons.

Your character defects are not where you’re bad, but where you’re wounded. But no matter who or what causes the wound, it’s yours now and you’re responsible for it.

To experience the good you have to have seen the bad; plus it makes you appreciate blessings more. Tough times taught me to be a fighter.

Whatever you read, read the Bible first. Beware of bad books: there are plenty in this day. Take heed what you read.

Democracy means government by the uneducated, while aristocracy means government by the badly educated.

Maybe I made bad decisions, But I’m not a bad person.

The heart’s memory eliminates the bad and magnifies the good.

Many a good beginning makes a bad ending.

The object of the Bible is not to tell how good men are, but how bad men can become good.