John Wayne Quotes

COWBOYS, just like the word says.

The worst part of it has been, I think, the adverse effect on family life. It kills off family conversation. And it's harder to get your children to read books. I became a confirmed reader when I was growing up in Glendale. I've loved reading all my life. Now I've got this daughter, Aissa, a very bright young lady
but it is a hard job to get her to read. Television's just too easy.

I'm not the sort to back away from a fight. I don't believe in shrinking from anything. It's not my speed; I'm a guy who meets adversities head on.

Communism is quite obviously still a threat. Yes, they are human beings, with a right to their point of view ...

You don't have to fight to be brave. Millions of good, fine, decent folks show more bravery than heavyweight champs just by getting out of bed every morning, going out to do a good day's work and living the best life they know how against the law of odds.

All the screen cowboys behaved like real gentlemen. They didn't drink, they didn't smoke. When they knocked the bad guy down, they always stood with their fists up, waiting for the heavy to get back on his feet. I decided I was going to drag the bad guy to his feet and keep hitting him.

You have to be a man before you can be a gentleman.

Real art is basic emotion. If a scene is handled with simplicity - and I don't mean simple - it'll be good, and the public will know it.

I don't have to assert my virility. I think my career has shown that I'm not exactly a pantywaist. But I do take pride in my work, even to the point of being the first one on the set in the morning. I'm a professional.

Did I ever tell you my father's last words to me?
'Careful son, I don't think the safety is on'.
Before that.

As we live in an insane world major, maybe it's time we gave insane solutions a chance.

Just one more question, Pilgrim. How far up your ass do you want my boot?

Out here a man settles his own problems.

I've made over 250 pictures and have never shot a guy in the back. Change it.

I want to play a real man in all my films, and I define manhood simply:
men should be tough, fair, and courageous, never petty,
never looking for a fight, but never backing down from one either.

Life's hard. It's even harder when you're stupid.

I'm an American actor. I work with my clothes on. I have to. Riding a horse can be pretty tough on your legs and elsewheres.

Oscar and I have something in common. Oscar first came to Hollywood scene in 1928. So did I. We're both a little weather-beaten, but we're still here and plan to be around for a whole lot longer.

When I was a sophomore at USC, I was a socialist, pretty much to the left. But not when I left the university. I quickly got wise. I'd read about what had happened to Russia in 1917 when the Communists took over.

Seen better fights than this at a prayer meeting.

I suppose my best attribute, if you want to call it that, is sincerity. I can sell sincerity because that's the way I am.

Courage is being scared to death - and saddling up anyway"
"A goal, A love and A dream give you total control over your body and your life

True grit is making a decision and standing by it, doing what must be done.

I won't be wronged. I won't be insulted. I won't be laid a-hand on. I don't do these things to other people, and I require the same from them.

One look that works is better than twenty lines of dialogue.

TRUE Courage is when you are scared to death and STILL saddle up and ride in!

I haven't had a fight since I was eleven. I only won that because she had an asthma attack.

I'd read up on the history of our country and I'd become fascinated with the story of the Alamo. To me it represented the fight for freedom, not just in America, but in all countries.

Talk low, Talk slow, and Don't say too much.

But you know, I'm very conscious that people criticize Hollywood. Yet we've created a form, the Western, that can be understood in every country. The good guys against the bad guys. No nuances. And the horse is the best vehicle of action in our medium. You take action, a scene, and scenery, and cut them together, and you never miss.

All battles are fought by scared men who'd rather be some place else.

I would like to be remembered, well ... the Mexicans have a phrase, "Feo fuerte y formal". Which means he was ugly, strong and had dignity.

All I'm for is the liberty of the individual.

I drink for comradeship, and when I drink for comradeship, I don't bother to keep count.

I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted, and I won't be laid a hand on. I don't do these things to other people, and I require the same from them."

- J.B Books in The Shootist 1976, directed by Don Siegel

Watergate is a sad and tragic incident in our history. They were wrong, dead wrong, those men at Watergate. Men abused power, but the system still works. Men abused money, but the system still works. Men lied and perjured themselves, but the system still .

Government has no wealth, and when a politician promises to give you something for nothing, he must first confiscate that wealth from you
either by direct taxes, or by the cruelly indirect tax of inflation.

I was ashamed to admit I was hipped to the idea of acting. That's why I started in with the props.

Life is tough, but if you are stupid, it's a lot tougher.

Don't ever for a minute make the mistake of looking down your nose at westerns. They're art - the good ones, I mean. They deal in life and sudden death and primitive struggle, and with the basic emotions - love, hate, and anger - thrown in. We'll have westerns films as long as the cameras keep turning. The fascination that the Old West has will never die. And as long as people want to pay money to see me act, I'll keep on making westerns until the day I die.

And so he plays his part; the sixth age shifts'... I usually have trouble with that phrase.

In my acting, I have to identify with something in the character. The big tough boy on the side of right - that's me. Simple themes. Same me from the nuances. All I do is sell sincerity and I've been selling the hell out of that ever since I started.

Sure I wave the American flag. Do you know a better flag to wave? Sure I love my country with all her faults. I'm not ashamed of that, never have been, never will be.

I have tried to live my life so that my family would love me and my friends respect me. The others can do whatever the hell they please.

The guy you see on the screen isn't really me. I'm Duke Morrison, and I never was and never will be a film personality like JOHN WAYNE . I know him well. I'm one of his closest students. I have to be. I made a living out of him.

Republic. I like the sound of the word.

Life is tough, but it's tougher if you're stupid.

We're burnin' daylight.

Slap some bacon on a biscuit and let's go! We're burnin' daylight!

I eat as much as I ever did, I drink more than I should, and my sex life is none of your goddamned business.

I believe humor nullifies violence.

It's kind of a sad thing when a normal love of country makes you a super patriot. I do think we have a pretty wonderful country, and I thank God that He chose me to live here.

I never trust a man that doesn't drink.

Nothing is so discouraging to an actor than to have to work for long hours upon hours in brightly lighted interior sets.

I have found a certain type calls himself a Liberal ... Now I always thought I was a Liberal. I came up terribly surprised one time when I found out that I was a Right-Wing Conservative Extremist, when I listened to everybody's point of view that I ever met, and then decided how I should feel. But this so-called new Liberal group, Jesus, they never listen to your point of view ...

America is the land of freedom and that's the way I enjoy living.

My name is John Wayne. When I was a kid I had ring worm. Hell, I was more worm than boy for a couple of years.

I am a demonstrative man, a baby picker-upper, a hugger and a kisser
that's my nature.

We built your fort. We will not have it used against us.

Thanking people is dangerous business. A name always slips your mind.

I never shot nobody I didnt have to.

A man deserves a second chance, but keep an eye on him.

Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday.

Courage is being afraid and going on the journey anyhow.

Cause even grown men need understanding.

Very few of the so-called liberals are open-minded ... They shout you down and won't let you speak if you disagree with them.

A man ought to do what he thinks is right

Fear is just one of the many words I don't know the meaning of.

I never have really become accustomed to the 'John.' Nobody ever really calls me John ... I've always been Duke or Marion or John Wayne. It's a name that goes well together, and it's like one word - John Wayne.

The fire is not discriminating. It burns anything in its path for whatever reason.

Life is tough pilgrim, it is even tougher if you're stupid

Jesus Christ! I would crawl over the mountains of Beverly Hills on my hands and knees if I could do a movie with Doris Day!

The reason there are so many stupid people is because it's illegal to kill them.

My folks always let me go to the movies every Saturday. We were really motion-picture goers.

If a man says, "I'll call you," and he doesn't, he didn't forget ... he didn't lose your number ... he didn't die. He just didn't want to call you.

But don't get me wrong. As far as a man and a woman is concerned, I'm awfully happy there's a thing called sex. It's an extra something God gave us. I see no reason why it shouldn't be in pictures. Healthy, lusty sex is wonderful.

A man oughta do what he thinks is best.

Don't hit your posset with a stick mister, it tends to make you cough.

A man's got to do what a man's got to do.

If everything isn't black and white, I say, 'Why the hell not?'

Courage is being completely paralyzed with fear and taking the first step anyway. Courage is being scared to death... and saddling up anyway.

I would think somebody like Jane Fonda and her idiot husband would be terribly ashamed and saddened that they were a part of causing us to stop helping the South Vietnamese. Now look what's happening. They're getting killed by the millions. Murdered by the millions. How the hell can she and her husband sleep at night?

I've loved reading all my life.

A friend of mine told me to shoot first and ask questions later. I was going to ask him why, but I had to shoot him.

A man's got to have a code, a creed to live by, no matter his job.

My main object in making a motion picture is entertainment. If at the same time I can strike a blow for liberty, then I'll stick one in.

Life is tough, but it's tougher when you're stupid.

When you come to see a picture of mine, I want you to know that I'm not going to do anything that will make you uncomfortable. I want you to know that you won't be disappointed in me.

When you come slam bang up against trouble, it never looks half as bad if you face up to it.

It rankles me when somebody tries to force somebody to do something.

Ahh, women! I never met one yet that was half as reliable as a horse!

I didn't vote for him, but he's my President, and I hope he does a good job.

I never killed a man I didn't have to.

Male menopause is a lot more fun than female menopause. With female menopause you gain weight and get hot flashes. Male menopause ? you get to date young girls and drive motorcycles.

A man is no better than he has to be.

Wayne: I don't feel we did wrong in taking this great country away from them ... the Indians were selfishly trying to keep it for themselves ... I'm quite sure that the concept of a Government-run reservation ... seems to be what the socialists are working for now
to have everyone cared for from cradle to grave ... But you can't whine and bellyache 'cause somebody else got a break and you didn't, like those Indians are. We'll all be on a reservation soon if the socialists keep subsidizing groups like them with our tax money.

Nobody should come to the movies unless he believes in heroes.

Fire can be our friend. Whether it's toasting marshmallows of raining down on Charlie.

I was sure I'd set the world on fire, and it was hard for a young feller like me to realize the truth - that I hadn't set the world on fire, and I was totally unprepared to handle the consequences if 'The Big Trail' had been a success and launched me as a star.

I'm a greedy old man. Life's been good to me, and I want some more of it.