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Kirk Douglas Quotes

Powerful Kirk Douglas for Daily Growth

Love has more depth as you get older.

- Kirk Douglas

Love, More, Get, Depth

No matter how bad things are, they can always be worse. So what if my stroke left me with a speech impediment? Moses had one, and he did all right.

- Kirk Douglas

Bad, Always, Impediment, Moses

Fear is a terrible thing. It makes you do awful things.

- Kirk Douglas

Things, Makes, Awful, Terrible Thing

I didn't think I was so tough until I did 'Champion'; then I was a tough guy.

- Kirk Douglas

Think, Tough Guy, Until, Champion

You know, sometimes an interviewer will look at me and say - you're bright! They're actually surprised I might be bright.

- Kirk Douglas

Sometimes, Will, Might, Interviewer

Sometimes an interviewer will look at me and say, 'You're bright!' They're actually surprised I might be bright.

- Kirk Douglas

Sometimes, Will, Might, Interviewer

Cancer does give you a new rejuvenation. I know what it's like to be down. I lost a couple of good friends - Larry Hagman and Nick Ashford - who had the same type of cancer that I did, and that makes you think.

- Kirk Douglas

Couple, Had, Type, Good Friends

If I thought a man had never committed a sin in his life, I don't think I'd want to talk with him. A man with flaws is more interesting.

- Kirk Douglas

Thought, Think, Committed, Flaws

When you have a stroke, you must talk slowly to be understood, and I've discovered that when I talk slowly, people listen. They think I'm going to say something important!

- Kirk Douglas

Think, Going, Discovered, Understood

Fifteen years ago, I suffered a stroke, which caused me to lose my speech. Now, what does an actor who can't talk do? Wait for silent pictures to come back? I work with a speech therapist twice a week.

- Kirk Douglas

Week, Wait, Back, Twice A Week

I was living in a terrible time when people were being accused of being communists, and they attacked the movie industry, especially the writers. People couldn't work if they were on the blacklist. The studios banned them. It was the most onerous period in movie history. I don't think we have ever had a period so dark as that.

- Kirk Douglas

Movie, Industry, Had, Communists

I came from abject poverty. There was nowhere to go but up.

- Kirk Douglas

Go, Nowhere, Came, Abject

All my life, I have taken inventory at intervals. For example, when I became a movie actor and suddenly I had to deal with fame, money and playing so many roles, I lost myself. I said, 'Who am I?' And I wrote my first book to deal with that, 'The Ragman's Son.'

- Kirk Douglas

My Life, Deal, Became, Who Am I

I love talking to interesting people - people like O.J. Simpson, Andretti... I love champions. A champion has something special about him.

- Kirk Douglas

Love, Champions, Like, Something Special

God bless Dad, he came to every one of my shows. I was bad, and I had horrible stage fright. My dad was so relieved - he'd say, 'You were terrible; this kid is not going to be an actor.' Finally, I did a play and he said, 'Son - you were really good.'

- Kirk Douglas

Play, Bad, Stage Fright, Fright

Too often, I have not been what I wanted to be; I've succumbed to pressures. Yes, I have. The things I've done that I liked, I've always done against advice.

- Kirk Douglas

Always, Been, Succumbed, Pressures

What would my parents think about America if they arrived here today? Would they even want to come? I wonder.

- Kirk Douglas

Think, Want, Here, I Wonder

People are always talking about the old days. They say that the old movies were better, that the old actors were so great. But I don't think so. All I can say about the old days is that they have passed.

- Kirk Douglas

Think, Old, Always, Old Movies

Acting is make-believe. I never believe I'm the character; I want you to believe.

- Kirk Douglas

Character, Never, Want, I Want You

I'm an actor; I have made my living by acting, and I almost think I owe it to the public to express my feelings and not as a character on a screen but as myself.

- Kirk Douglas

Think, Living, Almost, Feelings

Being second generation in Hollywood is complicated: Success is expected, and yet the track record of the second generation is not great. Only a small group of us, like Jane Fonda, have succeeded.

- Kirk Douglas

Generation, Small, Hollywood, Group

Acting is a youthful profession.

- Kirk Douglas

Acting, Profession, Youthful

In order to achieve anything you must be brave enough to fail.

- Kirk Douglas

Achieve, Fail, Must, Order

My mother, we were a very poor family. When I was a kid, we would be in our little room, and there would be a knock on the door almost every night with a hobo begging for food. Even though we didn't even have enough to eat, my mother always found something to give them.

- Kirk Douglas

Door, Knock, Very, Every Night

Virtue is not photogenic, so I liked playing bad guys. But, whenever I played a bad guy, I tried to find something good in him, and that kept my contact with the audience.

- Kirk Douglas

Audience, Bad, Bad Guy, Something Good

Virtue is not photogenic. What is it to be a nice guy? To be nothing, that's what. A big fat zero with a smile for everybody.

- Kirk Douglas

Big, Zero, Everybody, Nice Guy

When I first came to Hollywood, the blacklist was just starting, and they were having hearings in Washington. What most people don't know is the judge of these hearings himself was later convicted of misappropriation. 'Spartacus' helped break the blacklist, because Spartacus was a real character.

- Kirk Douglas

Character, Hollywood, Later, Starting

Listen - pacemaker, crash, stroke. What does it mean? God doesn't want me now. That's all.

- Kirk Douglas

Listen, Want, Pacemaker, Stroke

I didn't start out to be a movie star. I started out to be an actor.

- Kirk Douglas

Star, Actor, Movie, Movie Star

My first job was on Broadway. Then I went into the Navy. When I came out of the Navy, I went back to Broadway and a friend of mine, Lauren Bacall, was in Hollywood filming with Humphrey Bogart. She told one of her producers I was great in my play, and he saw it and cast me in 'The Strange Love of Martha Ivers'.

- Kirk Douglas

Love, Play, Hollywood, First Job

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