“I always exposed the weakness rather than the nastiness.”

Books were my window on the world. Growing up at the Elephant and Castle, which was very rough, my paradise was the library.

Great acting is about listening to what they are saying not waiting to deliver your lines.

That to me is what my idea of film acting should be. There shouldn’t be any acting. You should just be watching a real person.

People say to me, why did you do those films, and I say, for money. It wasn’t for diamond rings or kidney shaped swimming pools in Beverly Hills, it was in order to improve the lot of everyone around me.

You can’t get blase about something you haven’t done yet.

When it comes to politics, I believe you have to cut the cake so that everybody gets a piece, but at the same time, you have to keep in mind that somebody has to make the cake.

English is clipped in speech. Texas is exactly the opposite.

This is your life, Larry. Learn to enjoy what you’ve got.

You don’t sacrifice your individuality; you sacrifice a lot of freedom.

Theater acting is an operation with a scalpel, movie acting is an operation with a laser.

The difference between a movie star and a movie actor is this – a movie star will say, ‘How can I change the script to suit me?’ and a movie actor will say. ‘How can I change me to suit the script?’

I’m not in the Lifetime Achievement area yet-I’m still battling it out in the trenches.

My most useful acting tip came from my pal John Wayne. Talk low, talk slow, and don’t say too much.

There’s only two things I hate in this world. People who are intolerant of other people’s cultures and the Dutch.

A man’s body may grow old, but inside his spirit can still be as young and as restless as ever.

I’ve never been out with a married woman, never. I respect others’ properties.

What I hate is nasty, ugly people.

Capitalism is the extraordinary belief that the nastiest of men, for the nastiest of reasons, will somehow work for the benefit of us all.

You don’t hear me lambasting, engaging in personal attacks, getting nasty. I don’t think that belongs in politics.

A cinema villain essentially needs a moustache so he can twiddle with it gleefully as he cooks up his next nasty plan.

I came to The United States to see what would happen in 2000 after working for 20 years in Australia and asked my agent to look out for the nasty roles because I’d become famous for playing the nicest man in Australia.

Act averse to nasty language and partial to fruity tea.

Be as nice as possible and as nasty as necessary.

Theres heaven in the sweet by and by but there is to be victory in the nasty now and now.