R. Lee Ermey Quotes

Drill instructors worked seven days a week, fifteen to seventeen hours a day in many cases, with no time off in between platoons.

- R. Lee Ermey

Playing the good guy is tough because you know as well as I do, in real life, you have to watch your P's and Q's and conduct yourself in a respectable manner if you expect to have friends.

- R. Lee Ermey

I always love to come to Austin.

- R. Lee Ermey

Back in the old Corp, we weren't training those privates to infiltrate into the peacetime Marine Corp. We were training those privates to go to Vietnam.

- R. Lee Ermey

I got space from Travis Air Force Base, went back to the Philippine Islands and made it a point to meet the only American casting director in the Philippines. I was off and running.

- R. Lee Ermey

The drill instructor must have total and complete control. Mindless obedience is what he's after.

- R. Lee Ermey

I was stationed at a marine recruit depot in San Diego from 1965 to 1967.

- R. Lee Ermey

There have been a lot of changes in recruit training in the past twenty years.

- R. Lee Ermey

I disagree with a lot of those changes, however at the end of the day - I go down to recruit graduation at least once or twice a year.

- R. Lee Ermey

The best part about the movie, and everybody seems to rave about it, is the boot camp part.

- R. Lee Ermey

Without discipline, there is no Marine Corps.

- R. Lee Ermey

I go the VA Hospital when I have a problem and the doctor jumps on me.

- R. Lee Ermey

I've never had to spend any time in the VA hospital, so I really can't speak for those guys.

- R. Lee Ermey

Even though I disagree with many of the changes, when I see the privates graduate at the end of the day, when they walk off that drill field at the end of the ceremony, they are still fine privates; outstanding, well motivated privates.

- R. Lee Ermey

Back in those days intimidation was the greatest tool the drill instructor had. Without that tool, he would not have had control.

- R. Lee Ermey

In order to be a good actor, I'm a firm believer that you need to bring something to the table.

- R. Lee Ermey

Everybody respects the Vietnam Veterans of America.

- R. Lee Ermey

You'd be surprised how many kids and young people come to the website and send me email that they are actually going into the Marine Corp because of something that I said or did.

- R. Lee Ermey

When you try to find funding for a VVA function, it doesn't seem like it's any trouble at all. People come out of the woodwork with their money to help out because we went over and fought a war.

- R. Lee Ermey

I don't have any respect at all for the scum-bags who went to Canada to avoid the draft or to avoid doing their fair share.

- R. Lee Ermey

There was a huge, tremendous amount of disabled veterans and the Veteran's Administration just wasn't geared up for it. I know for a fact that it's getting better and better.

- R. Lee Ermey

We had times in '66 and '67 when we would pick up a platoon of privates out of the receiving barracks the week before we even graduated the platoon that we were on!

- R. Lee Ermey

I hate to hear 'Less is more.' It's a crock of crap.

- R. Lee Ermey

The bad news motivated the drill instructors that much more.

- R. Lee Ermey

Communications are better now than in my Vietnam days.

- R. Lee Ermey

It's been a pretty fun ride, to tell you the truth.

- R. Lee Ermey

That's all I cared about too, was getting it right.

- R. Lee Ermey

I firmly believe that you live and learn, and if you don't learn from past mistakes, then you need to be drug out and shot.

- R. Lee Ermey

Kubrick ate it up. He loved it. He just let me go crazy.

- R. Lee Ermey

It's my firm conviction that when Uncle Sam calls, by God we go, and we do the best that we can.

- R. Lee Ermey

Kubrick's films have life - they just never die.

- R. Lee Ermey

The biggest problem was the politicians knew nothing about fighting a war.

- R. Lee Ermey

I honestly do feel that I am a role model for young people.

- R. Lee Ermey

Every character I've ever played, I always try to take him right to the edge and not allow him to fall over, but directors have a tendency to pull me back a little bit.

- R. Lee Ermey

I got to write most of everything I said.

- R. Lee Ermey

For me, it's an honor for the military to ask me to go to Iraq, Afghanistan, or GITMO. I'm happy to go.

- R. Lee Ermey

I try to get over to Iraq and Afghanistan as much as I can.

- R. Lee Ermey

I'm never, like I say, I'm never happy, I'm never satisfied, it's never good enough.

- R. Lee Ermey

I spend a lot of time with my characters.

- R. Lee Ermey

There's a lot of whiners in every crowd.

- R. Lee Ermey

America's trying to do the best for its veterans.

- R. Lee Ermey

I don't have to be concerned about everybody else's character.

- R. Lee Ermey