James Dean Quotes

Being a good actor isn't easy. Being a man is even harder. I want to be both before I'm done.

- James Dean

When an actor plays a scene exactly the way a director orders, it isn't acting. It's following instructions. Anyone with the physical qualifications can do that.

- James Dean

To grasp the full significance of life is the actor's duty; to interpret it his problem; and to express it his dedication.

- James Dean

I don't want anything seventy-thirty. Fifty-fifty's always good enough for me. I don't want to have to give anybody seventy; I don't want anybody to give me seventy. I want fifty.

- James Dean

There is no way to be truly great in this world. We are all impaled on the crook of conditioning.

- James Dean

I want to be a Texan 24 hours a day.

- James Dean

Death can't be considered because, if you're afraid to die, there's no room in your life to make discoveries.

- James Dean

I also became close to nature, and am now able to appreciate the beauty with which this world is endowed.

- James Dean

I'm a serious-minded and intense little devil, terribly gauche and so tense I don't see how people stay in the same room with me. I know I wouldn't tolerate myself.

- James Dean

You try to be yourself, do only what you've always done and like to do, and right away, you're tagged as an oddball.

- James Dean

Racing is the only time I feel whole.

- James Dean

I used to fly around quite a bit, you know? I took a lot of unnecessary chances on the highways. And I started racing, and now I drive on the highways, I'm extra cautious because no one knows what they're doing half the time. You don't know what this guy is going to do or that one.

- James Dean

The cinema is a very truthful medium because the camera doesn't let you get away with anything. On stage, you can even loaf a little, if you're so inclined.

- James Dean

An actor must interpret life, and in order to do so must be willing to accept all the experiences life has to offer. In fact, he must seek out more of life than life puts at his feet.

- James Dean

The gratification comes in the doing, not in the results.

- James Dean

But you can't show some far off idyllic conception of behavior if you want the kids to come and see the picture. You've got to show what it's really like, and try to reach them on their own grounds.

- James Dean

If a man can bridge the gap between life and death, if he can live on after he's dead, then maybe he was a great man.

- James Dean

My purpose in life does not include a hankering to charm society.

- James Dean

I think the one thing this picture shows that's new is the psychological disproportion of the kids' demands on the parents. Parents are often at fault, but the kids have some work to do, too.

- James Dean

The only way to make a scene realistic is to do it the way you know it would really happen.

- James Dean

Trust and belief are two prime considerations. You must not allow yourself to be opinionated.

- James Dean

To me, acting is the most logical way for people's neuroses to manifest themselves, in this great need we all have to express ourselves.

- James Dean

Studying cows, pigs and chickens can help an actor develop his character. There are a lot of things I learned from animals. One was that they couldn't hiss or boo me.

- James Dean

An actor should be judged by his performance only.

- James Dean

You can do 'Hamlet' while performing cartwheels... as long as the audience sees your eyes - you can make the performance real.

- James Dean

To my way of thinking, an actor's course is set even before he's out of the cradle.

- James Dean

Being an actor is the loneliest thing in the world. You are all alone with your concentration and imagination, and that's all you have.

- James Dean

Only the gentle are ever really strong.

- James Dean

Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today.

- James Dean

The only greatness for man is immortality.

- James Dean