“I don’t consider an actor a star if he’s paid $20 million and grimaces in front of the camera and has a stunt man stand in for him. They may be fine actors, but they’re not role models.”

Hollywood is largely about scammers and con men. It was my main livelihood for about 25 years, and the scams were beautiful and ugly, cheap and expensive, but, wow, were there a lot of scammers.

The ordinary American – as far as I can tell – knows so much less than he did fifty years ago and has such poor work habits compared with fifty years ago that the average multiplicand of knowledge/capabilities is a much smaller number than it was in 1961.

The first step in getting what you want from life-decide what you want.

I have to tell you I never in my life anticipated getting this old, this fast. It seems as if I were 25 just a few days ago.

I feel as if I’m in on a pass and am damn lucky to have whatever I have. It could all be taken away in a second.

Prime-time network television has become an island without religion in an ever-more-religious America.

Emperor Sid Caesar is gone to eternity himself now. He takes with him the gratitude of every one of us who first learned the relief of laughter from this genuinely great performer.

We are mortgaging ourselves to foreigners on a scale that would make George Washington cry. Every day – every single day – we borrow a billion dollars from foreigners to buy petroleum from abroad, often from countries that hate us.

Faith is not believing that God can. It is knowing that God will.

Nothing happens by itself… it all will come your way, once you understand that you have to make it come your way, by your own exertions.

I agree that there are some bad apples on Wall Street. I spent about ten years exposing corporate and financial fraud for ‘Barron’s’ magazine and I found a lot to write about.

Somewhere there is a map of how it can be done.

It isn’t the rich people’s fault that poor people are poor. Poor people who get an education and work hard in this country will stop being poor. That should be the goal for all poor people everywhere.

Love of God and compassion and empathy leads you to a very glorious place. Science leads you to killing people.

I don’t really consider myself to be a personal finance expert compared with some others. There are quite a few that know a lot more than I do.

Darwinism is still very much alive, utterly dominating biology. Despite the fact that no one has ever been able to prove the creation of a single distinct species by Darwinist means, Darwinism dominates the academy and the media.

I did say to her that I thought that she had a real gift, and it’s a good idea to know that. It’s always good to go with your gift.

There is only one way of surviving all the early heartbreaks in this business. You must have a sense of humor. And I think it also helps if you are a dreamer. I had my dreams all right. And that is something no one can ever take away.

I like, for instance, ‘Serpico.’ I enjoyed playing Serpico because Frank Serpico was there. He existed. He was a real life person and I could – I could embody him. I could, you know.

Jamie Foxx does a good rendition of me. It’s a real gift, mimicry of that kind, the tonal thing. It’s sort of like having a talent for playing an instrument.

I’ve been a lavatory attendant, a theatre usher, a panhandler, all for real. Now, as an actor, I can be a journalist today and a brain surgeon tomorrow. That’s the stuff my dreams are made of.

They cost nothing, and they can be as real as you like to make them. You own your dreams and they are priceless.

My early career was a real rush of movies and stardom – it was almost overwhelming.

The real barrier (to building a brand) is the human mind.