Joseph Gordon-Levitt Quotes

The spiral in a snail's shell is the same mathematically as the spiral in the Milky Way galaxy, and it's also the same mathematically as the spirals in our DNA. It's the same ratio that you'll find in very basic music that transcends cultures all over the world.

- Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Snail, Very, Our, Ratio

Even today, in our progressive times, in most movies that come out, the men have to have biceps and the women have to be thin or something.

- Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Something, Come, Our, Progressive

As soon as you are trying to be funny or dramatic, that's when things start feeling fake and boring.

- Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Start, Feeling, Dramatic, Fake

I didn't want to just work within Hollywood when I started a production company. I wanted to be able to collaborate with great artists from all over the world.

- Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Hollywood, Over, Within, Collaborate

There's an absolute prejudice that good movies are dramas and comedies are more dismissable. But I couldn't disagree more.

- Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Good, More, Good Movies, Dramas

My dad never blew anything up, but he probably had friends who did. He and my mom have always preached that the pen is mightier than a Molotov cocktail.

- Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Always, Had, Dad, Blew

Storytelling in general is a communal act. Throughout human history, people would gather around, whether by the fire or at a tavern, and tell stories. One person would chime in, then another, maybe someone would repeat a story they heard already but with a different spin. It's a collective process.

- Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Storytelling, Tell, Maybe, Communal

The Internet is allowing us to get back to what's really more natural, which is that storytelling is a shared thing. It's our natural way to be communal.

- Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Storytelling, Which, Shared, Communal

Actors didn't use to be celebrities. A hundred years ago, they put the theaters next to the brothels.

- Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Next, Use, Hundred, Theaters

I was a sort of serious little dude - snobby.

- Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Serious, Sort, Snobby, Dude

I like making little videos and little records. I've always loved video cameras and four-track cassette recorders, still cameras, anything.

- Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Always, Making, Still, Cassette

There's something really appealing about the simplicity of black-and-white images.

- Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Simplicity, About, Images, Black-And-White

I was just watching baby videos of me and I was obviously an exhibitionist.

- Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Baby, Me, Videos, Exhibitionist

That is very different from how it used to be in the 20th century. Media was very one way. There's a small little industry. It broadcasted its message and everyone else in the world just had to listen. Now the internet is allowing what used to be a monologue to become a dialogue. I think that's healthy and actually restoring a more natural way.

- Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Small, I Think, Very, Restoring

Most scripts are bad. I read a lot of them.

- Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Most, Lot, Read, Scripts

Normally you read a screenplay - and I read a lot of them - and the characters don't feel like people. They feel like plot devices or cliches or stereotypes.

- Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Stereotypes, Like, Read, Cliches

Normally, it's difficult for me to watch a movie that I'm in.

- Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Me, Watch, Movie, Normally

The career stuff is for business people.

- Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Business, People, Career, Business People

When I was a teenager, if anyone recognized me for anything I did, it would ruin my day. I couldn't handle it. It was some sort of neurotic phobia. I guess I was paranoid that people would treat me differently, or in an unfair way, because of my job.

- Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Treat, Some, Recognized, Ruin

When I was a teenager I loved acting, but I really just loved it for myself. I didn't like the fact that anyone else saw the work I was doing. When I moved to New York, I started to realize that I wanted people to see the stuff that I was doing, and I wanted it to mean something to them.

- Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Doing, Fact, Moved, Teenager

A lot of the motivation for doing the 'Make 'Em Laugh' on SNL was because I had just finished shooting 'Inception,' where there were zero-gravity scenes and I got into really good shape and was training and did all these stunts. Coming off of that, that instilled me with the confidence to do 'Make 'Em Laugh.'

- Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Motivation, Doing, Shooting, Instilled

I think the dual existence thing is a regular pastime for all human beings, and for that matter anything in this universe.

- Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Think, Pastime, I Think, Regular

Supermarket tabloids and celebrity gossip shows are not just innocently shallow entertainment, but a fundamental part of a much larger movement that involves apathy, greed and hierarchy.

- Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Celebrity, Larger, Tabloids, Supermarket

To be honest, I sort of feel like 'movie actor' isn't of this time. I love it. But it's a 20th-century art form.

- Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Love, Art, Movie, 20th-Century

I stopped getting nervous a long time ago, so any time I do get nervous, which is rare - about work, anyway - I always take that as a really good sign.

- Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Always, Which, Stopped, Good Sign

When I arrived at Columbia, I gave up acting and became interested in all things French. French poetry, French history, French literature.

- Joseph Gordon-Levitt

French Literature, Became, French

When I was 20, I went to Paris and tried to meet French women. It didn't work.

- Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Paris, Tried, French Women, French

I just like to do work that inspires me, and I don't pay any attention to whether it's a high- or low-budget movie.

- Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Work, Movie, Like, Low-Budget

The thing about Occupy is that the sentiment the movement embodies is timeless: Don't be greedy, share.

- Joseph Gordon-Levitt

About, Sentiment, Occupy, Timeless

I think, honestly, that the word 'indie' is a false gimmick. 'Independent' used to mean a movie that was financed outside corporate Hollywood, but a lot of what gets called independent these days is totally produced within that system. And there's nothing wrong with that.

- Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Hollywood, I Think, Indie, Produced

It's a pretty intuitive process, picking the projects that I want to get involved with.

- Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Process, Pretty, Projects, Intuitive

I was studying for the SAT's and learning lines.

- Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Learning, Studying, Sat, Lines

If the goal is to get the best artists, actors, and filmmakers in the world to create the best movies, Hollywood does a decent job. And I think no one would disagree with me that it also makes a ton of bad movies and employs a bunch of hacks.

- Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Bad, Hollywood, I Think, Employs

I would like to do a musical, if I could find a cool one. A song-and-dance role is closer to me personally than other characters I play.

- Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Play, Other, Role, If I Could

When I started editing on my home computer, I said to myself, 'Well, I could be at home studying for a class or I could be at home editing a video.'

- Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Myself, Studying, Could, Class

Sometimes what someone else does is really not what you expected them to do, which to be honest, sometimes doesn't work.

- Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Work, Sometimes, Which, To Be Honest

Press is basically a created story. It's all just stories.

- Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Stories, Created, Basically, Press

To me, a sex scene in a movie generally means a gratuitous scene that doesn't serve the story but gives a kind of excuse - we've got these two actors, we want to see them naked, so let's bring in the music and the soft light.

- Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Movie, Bring, Gratuitous, Soft

Movies are different from real life.

- Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Movies, Real, Different, Real Life

The most valiant thing you can do as an artist is inspire someone else to be creative.

- Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Artist, Someone, Most, Valiant

I don't blame folks for not wanting to put me in their movies or whatever. I understand if their audiences had an association with me.

- Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Understand, Wanting, Had, Folks

I mean, movies in general tend to sort of portray time, space and identity as these very solid things. Time moves forward. Space is what it is. You are you, and you're always you.

- Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Always, Very, Solid, Portray

My personal belief is that everything is always happening all at once.

- Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Personal, Always, Once, Happening

There's no royalty in America, so people deify actors.

- Joseph Gordon-Levitt

People, America, Royalty

If you're going to put yourself above everybody else, you might end up alone.

- Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Alone, Going, Everybody, Everybody Else

Celebrity doesn't have anything to do with art or craft. It's about being rich and thinking that you're better than everybody else.

- Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Art, Celebrity, Everybody, Everybody Else

I didn't really like doing commercials.

- Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Doing, Like, Really, Commercials

I was such a big Dustin Hoffman fan when I was young.

- Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Young, Big, Fan, None

I think some of the best actors ever were little kids.

- Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Think, Some, Ever, Kids

One thing that stays pretty consistent for all my jobs is, I listen to a lot of music while I'm working.

- Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Pretty, Jobs, One Thing, Stays

Ummm... well, the only thing I want to do is stuff with people who care about what they're doing, which sounds obvious, but it's really not.

- Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Doing, The Only Thing, Which, Obvious

While I'm not a celebrity, it's such a weird concept that society has cooked up for us. Astronauts and teachers are much more amazing than actors.

- Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Celebrity, More, Astronauts, Cooked

Every day I've got to be thankful that I am alive, and you never know - the cliche is, I guess, you could get hit by a bus tomorrow, so you'd better be at peace with whatever you got going at the moment.

- Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Thankful, Bus, Alive, Cliche

Hollywood has the idea that movies have to be dumb. But especially movies for or about teenagers have to be really dumb!

- Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Movies, Hollywood, Idea, Teenagers

The movies I watch and the music I listen to and the books I read - those are important to me. It's very important to me, and I don't know what I would do without those things.

- Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Without, Very, Read, Listen

Comedy takes a very specific technique, specific skills.

- Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Comedy, Skills, Very, Specific

Quality isn't about where the money came from or which company gets to put their name on the thing. What matters is who made the movie and why they made it.

- Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Movie, Made, Which, Matters

I think that anybody who says 'This is the one way to go about being an actor' has probably not done a lot of professional work before.

- Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Think, I Think, Before, Professional

I have a really terrible sense of direction.

- Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Terrible, Sense, Really, Direction

A lot of people, most people who are working, they do it for money. And I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that. It so happens that I made a lot of money already, so I don't have to worry that much about it. I wouldn't fault anybody for doing it for the money, but it doesn't interest me right now.

- Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Doing, Anybody, About, Fault

The media's about to become a lot more effective.

- Joseph Gordon-Levitt

More, About, Lot, Effective

I hate cars.

- Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Hate

I never intended to only do dark, serious things.

- Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Dark, Never, Only, Intended

Making checklists of things you're looking for in a person is the numero uno thing you can do to guarantee you'll be alone forever.

- Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Alone, Person, Making, Guarantee

The only thing I want to do is stuff with people who care about what they're doing.

- Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Doing, Want, Only, The Only Thing

On some level, we as human beings can be who we want to be.

- Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Want, Some, Level, Human Beings

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