Robert Redford Quotes

Curiously, directing my own films have made me more tolerant and patient. I've always been an extremely impatient actor. Waiting around drove me nuts. But now I'm much more sympathetic to a director's struggle. ~ Robert Redford

Water is the sleeping giant issue of the 21st century and we all need to wake up about it. ~ Robert Redford

In fact you've got your hands tied behind your back when somebody chooses to take a low road in to you, there is nothing you can do about it, and so you just live with it and move on. ~ Robert Redford

Robert Redford ... has turned almost alarmingly blond-he's gone past platinum, he must be into plutonium; his hair is coordinated with his teeth. ~ Pauline Kael

I remember once when I was young, and I was coming back from some place, a movie or something.
I was on the subway and there was a girl sitting across from me and she was wearing this dress that was bottoned queer up right to here, she was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.
And I was shy then, so when she would look at me I would look away, then afterwards when I would look back she would look away.
Then I got to where I was gonna get off, and got off, the doors closed, and as the train was pulling away she looked right at me and gave me the most incredible smile. It was awful, I wanted to tear the doors open.
And I went back every night, same time, for two weeks, but she never showed up.
That was 30 years ago and I don't think that theres a day that goes by that I don't think about her, I don't want that to happen again.
Just one dance ?. ~ Jack Engelhard

Golf has become so manicured, so perfect. The greens, the fairways. I don't like golf carts. I like walking. Some clubs won't let you in unless you have a caddy and a cart. ~ Robert Redford

There is nothing I can do about this stuff and I am pretty well ok with the fact that I think Sundance is not going to be stopped by it, because he Festival is itself now, and doesn't need me out there to talk about it like I did years ago. ~ Robert Redford

Times change; Hollywood is not the same as it was when I first entered the business. It felt to me like it was starting to narrow down and centralize itself around what would ... make money. ~ Robert Redford

I guess the optimistic thing is that those people in Congress who are climate deniers, I think their time has run out. ~ Robert Redford

It's all about greed and money and it's the driving force in Hollywood. ~ Robert Redford

Let's get something straight - I don't see myself as beautiful. ~ Robert Redford

I don't know what your childhood was like, but we didn't have much money. We'd go to a movie on a Saturday night, then on Wednesday night my parents would walk us over to the library. It was such a big deal, to go in and get my own book. ~ Robert Redford

Robert Redford was an absolute blast to work with - a very smart, very charismatic man. ~ Christopher McDonald

A lot of what acting is is paying attention. ~ Robert Redford

When I became successful, I put up a caution. I didn't think it was fair to have the shadow of that kind of success thrown on my family. And I was cautious about being taken by things that could destroy you. ~ Robert Redford

Storytelling is important. Part of human continuity. ~ Robert Redford

Why is it that when Robert Redford-cum-Denys Finch Hatton flies away in the golden glow out of Africa, he is pursuing his destiny? And when I walk away I'm just a chick who's scared of commitment and on the run, who's weird for ignoring Glamour magazine's predictions of my eggs drying up? Learning is an underrated form of liberation. ~ Holly Morris

I am a cynical optimist. Big opening weekends are like cotton candy. The films you will remember over time are the films that stick in the consciousness of the audience in a good way. ~ Robert Redford

He's meant to be that classic Homer, Ulysses, Hercules - a character who goes out or has some gift of some kind. He goes on a journey of discovery and part of that is falling into darkness - the temptations of life. ~ Robert Redford

When you get older, you learn certain life lessons. You apply that wisdom, and suddenly you say, 'Hey, I've got a new lease on this thing. So let's go.' ~ Robert Redford

Generally speaking, I went through that. I came to a place where I realised what true value was. It wasn't money. Money is a means to achieving an end, but it's not the end. ~ Robert Redford

I look at going to Hollywood as going behind enemy lines. You parachute in, set up the explosion, then fly out before it goes off. ~ Robert Redford

I have the freedom to take chances, to say no. I have the freedom to be who I really want to be, rather than have to conform to this or that just to stay alive. ~ Robert Redford

I got to act with my childhood film idol, Robert Redford, and that's a gift in itself. ~ Chin Han

When things become insurmountable, some people quit, some keep going
for no other reason than to continue. Because that's all there is to do. ~ Robert Redford

I learned early that you'd better know what you're talking about. You'd better realize that certain issues are going to be so hot - no matter what reason, what logic you apply to it - you're going to be met with an opposition just because their viewpoint is different, and there's no way they're going to accept your reasoning. Furthermore, they're going to attack you because you will be portrayed as not being credible: "You're an actor. What do you know?" ~ Robert Redford

I,believe, as do so many of my fellow Americans, that the wild horse is an irreplaceable national treasure. It would be a tragic mistake to allow this noble creature to disappear from our western landscape."
– Robert Redford ~ Robert Redford

I don't see myself as beautiful. I was a kid who was freckle-faced, and they used to call me 'hay head.' ~ Robert Redford

I'm thinking, this is Robert Redford. You know, he's won an Academy Award, he's talking to me about directing a movie he's in. So you just think that it's Hollywood stuff or whatever. ~ Barry Levinson

Sundance was started as a mechanism for the discovery of new voices and new talent. ~ Robert Redford

The country is so wounded, bleeding, and hurt right now. The country needs to be healed-it's not going to be healed from the top, politically. How are we going to heal? Art is the healing force. ~ Robert Redford

I have a very low regard for cynics. I think it's the beginning of dying. ~ Robert Redford

The way you really find out about the performer's seriousness about the cause is how long they stay with it when the spotlight gets turned off. You see a lot of celebrities switch gears. They go from the environment to animal rights to obesity or whatever. That I don't have a lot of respect for. ~ Robert Redford

What I would do is when I was younger I would draw in a sketch book something that happened in my life and then write a little something on the side about what happened or what the story. ~ Robert Redford

I can't think of anything outside of having the gift yourself and creating yourself. I can't think of the next better thing to do than being able to put it back. Creative expression, I think, is vital to the success of any society ... A society without art will die. ~ Robert Redford

I never had a problem with my face on screen. I thought it is what it is, and I was turned off by actors and actresses that tried to keep themselves young. ~ Robert Redford

Journalism has changed tremendously because of the democratization of information. Anybody can put something up on the Internet. It's harder and harder to find what the truth is. ~ Robert Redford

People are becoming more and more aware of how the dominance of development and business is altering their lives and, in particular, their own heritage. ~ Robert Redford

I started as an actor in the theater playing a lot of character parts, and suddenly, I found myself in this place where it felt like I was getting locked into a kind of a stereotype, and it did bother me. ~ Robert Redford

There's a lot of money to be made by strip-mining and drilling the dirtiest oil on the planet. But why should the rest of us pay the price? ~ Robert Redford

If you stay in Beverly Hills too long, you become a Mercedes. ~ Robert Redford

Lastly get emotionally connected to your story so you can deliver it, you know, if you can't deliver the emotions to your script there's no point to your story. Story is the key. ~ Robert Redford

Health food may be good for the conscience but Oreos taste a hell of a lot better. ~ Robert Redford

It felt to me like America was always wanting to resolve things too quickly, without thinking through what the costs and consequences would be and how that affects an individual living in that world. Then as I grew up and went about my life, I think I just got more and more interested in that gray area where things are not so easily quantified. ~ Robert Redford

Robert Redford is like cheese: he ages well and I want to put him in my mouth. ~ T.J. Klune

I think the environment should be put in the category of our national security. Defense of our resources is just as important as defense abroad. Otherwise what is there to defend? ~ Robert Redford

I did that film just so I could kiss Robert Redford. ~ Charlotte Rampling

People have been so busy relating to how I look, it's a miracle I didn't become a self-conscious blob of protoplasm. ~ Robert Redford

I began to long for the benign indifference of Robert Redford flossing his molars. ~ Michael J. Fox

I'm fascinated by journalism. I put a keen eye, not a negative eye, on its role, particularly how it is changed by the times we're living in. ~ Robert Redford

Now is not the time to repudiate environmental balance, but rather it is the time for all of us to work together - politician, advocate, rancher, scientist, and citizen. Only by doing this will the United States move forward and be a leader in environmental issues and ensure sustainability to our delicate ecosystem. ~ Robert Redford

What we are living with is the result of human choices and it can be changed by making better, wiser choices. ~ Robert Redford

I'm not interested in a film about golf but I am interested in golf as a metaphor. ~ Robert Redford

The focus of entertainment is taking away from what the public needs as news. I think investigative journalism will always be important and always find its way, be it on the Internet or wherever. ~ Robert Redford

You're never going to be the same person you are right now. ~ Robert Redford

I have no regrets, because I've done everything I could to the best of my ability. ~ Robert Redford

I auditioned for Robert Redford once and I was so starstruck I couldn't even speak. I had a mic wire at a screen test clipped to me and then I got kind of nervous and I paced in a circle and then took a step and tripped and fell on my face. You just have to forgive yourself and keep going on. ~ Ethan Hawke

The big stars I felt a kinship with were never the romantic leads. It wasn't Steve McQueen or Robert Redford - it was people like Walter Matthau and Anthony Quinn. My big hero was Tommy Cooper. ~ Alfred Molina

[Making Ordinary People] was a wonderful experience. Tremendous. I haven't seen it since. It belongs to the public now; it no longer really belongs to me. ~ Robert Redford

The meter is ticking [particularly in the face of climate change], so you've got to get to as much as you can as fast as you can. I grew up with 'This Land Is Our Land,' and public land doesn't belong to that administration or this one. We want our kids to grow up with real natural places, not just photos of them. ~ Robert Redford

He has the attention span of a lightning bolt. ~ Robert Redford

It's an honor putting art above politics. Politics can be seductive in terms of things reductive to the soul. ~ Robert Redford

Working with Robert Redford would be an unbelievable dream come true. ~ Jonathan Keltz

I've always liked speed. I own a car that I shouldn't be talking about because I'm an environmentalist, but the 1955 Porsche Spyder 550 RS is the finest sports car ever made. ~ Robert Redford

I don't think about when it's going to stop and what you do before it stops. You just keep moving. ~ Robert Redford

With 'The Host,' I think the actors could be really big names. That would be cool. I'd love to see Robert Redford put on a beard and be Jeb; he would be amazing ... Matt Damon has some very Jared-esque qualities, and then Casey Affleck as Ian and Ben Affleck as Kyle. Imagine the interplay. ~ Stephenie Meyer

The art of making a film and its content are far more interesting to me than the result or impact. ~ Robert Redford

Whenever there's chaos, there's ambiguity, and where there's ambiguity, there's fear. And fear gets manipulated. ~ Robert Redford

Well there's these things called books.... They are like TV for smart people. ~ Robert Redford

It's hard to pay attention these days because of multiple affects of the information technology nowadays. You tend to develop a faster, speedier mind, but I don't think it's necessarily broader or smarter. ~ Robert Redford

Because, you know, you're in Utah. And because of its political conservatism, if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere. ~ Robert Redford

When I was younger I saw a movie called 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid' with Paul Newman and Robert Redford. Those two actors and that movie was my inspiration to want to be an actor. ~ Peter Facinelli

Sometimes the failures can be exciting and fun. It's just a step on the road, it's not the end of something. ~ Robert Redford

I had just arrived in New York from California. I was nineteen years old and excited beyond belief. I was an art student and an acting student and behaved as most young actors did - meaning that there was no such thing as a good actor, 'cause you yourself hadn't shown up yet. ~ Robert Redford

I'm always drawn to stories that people don't know about, particularly when they're inside of a story that everyone knows about. ~ Robert Redford

When I started, I was an artist; I wanted to be an artist. I became an actor almost by accident. I acted for fifteen years and tried to produce. I looked for stories that were the story beneath the story that you thought you knew, like 'The Candidate'. ~ Robert Redford

Ideas aren't real estate, they grow collectively and that knocks out the egotistical loneliness that generally infects art. ~ Robert Redford

From my experience in my country, America over and over again takes itself right to the brink, it puts one foot over but it never goes over. It wakes up at the last minute and says woah, and then pulls back. ~ Robert Redford

It seems everyone in Hollywood is getting pinched, lifted and pulled. I'm looking weird because I'm not. ~ Robert Redford

I work because I want to work. Work keeps me going. ~ Robert Redford

Is this going to be like 'Indecent Proposal?'" she asks. "Because Robert Redford loses at the end. ~ Karina Halle

I did not, like my children and people today, grow up with television as part of my life. ~ Robert Redford

Well first of all it's a business and it's a tough business, and you have to have the strength to survive all the set backs all the failures that make this a mean business, that's getting meaner and meaner every year in my opinion. ~ Robert Redford

As an artist I just can't think of a better life than the one I've been blessed with. It's just a great ride. ~ Robert Redford

It never ceases to surprise me, the people I get to work with. I'm in a French film with Sandrine Bonnaire? I adore Sandrine Bonnaire. I'm doing a picture for Robert Redford? The Sundance Kid? I have to pinch myself sometimes. ~ Kevin Kline

I am passionate. I am political about my country, about what it is, how strong it is, how strong it remains. ~ Robert Redford

The measure of our success will be the condition on which we leave the world for the next generation. ~ Robert Redford

What is it with you people? You think not getting caught in a lie is the same thing as telling the truth? ~ Robert Redford

If our humanity - our soul as a society - is overtaken by the materiel and cosmetic, there will be no hope of peace. ~ Robert Redford

I'm not a lawyer, but I do know this: we need to protect our ability to tell controversial stories. ~ Robert Redford

Be careful of success; it has a dark side. ~ Robert Redford

I believe the American people care a lot about the environment. ~ Robert Redford

I was blessed to look well and retain a youthful look but that was just genes. I was disappointed when critics started pointing out my wrinkles. I thought, you mean this is what it's gonna be about now? I'm not going to be permitted to be human? ~ Robert Redford

I believe in mythology. I guess I share Joseph Campbell's notion that a culture or society without mythology would die, and we're close to that. ~ Robert Redford

Once you leave Sundance suddenly you run into bulldozers and concrete and cranes, and all that heritage that the Mormon culture used to be so proud of is turned into out of control develpoment. ~ Robert Redford

All of the films that I've made are about the country I live in and grew up in ... And I think if you're going to put an artist's eye to it, you're going to put a critical eye to it. I've always been interested in the gray area that exists between the black and white, or the red and blue, and that's where complexity lies. ~ Robert Redford

We program the festival, after 20 years, exactly the way we did on the first day. ~ Robert Redford

I love making films more than anything, but it's tough. ~ Robert Redford

We've poisoned the air, the water, and the land. In our passion to control nature, things have gone out of control. Progress from now on has to mean something different. We're running out of resources and we are running out of time. ~ Robert Redford

Have a strong vision about the story you want to tell and how you want to tell it. ~ Robert Redford