The 75 Best Kirk Douglas Quotes

Issur Danielovitch Demsky, better known as Kirk Douglas He was a famous American actor and producer, born in the famous city of New York during the year 1916.

Some of the films that this famous actor starred in throughout his career have become true classics in the world of cinema. Who has not ever seen the famous movie "Paths of Glory" or the well-known "Spartacus"? Some great films without which cinema would never have been what it is today.

• It may interest you: "The 70 best phrases of Paul Newman"

Phrases and reflections of Kirk Douglas, a unique actor

Many of us are already widely familiar with his filmography, but below you can discover the 75 best phrases of Kirk Douglas, some phrases with which you will discover many more nuances about his fantastic personality.

1. I guess he was a bad boy... Yes, yes, I have had many women in my life.

This actor has always felt extremely attracted to the female gender, an attraction that has led him to meet a large number of women.

2. Why can't a woman be more like a dog, huh? So sweet, caring, attentive.

Dogs They are extremely noble animals, even so, the comparison that this actor makes in this quote can be considered by some as something unfortunate.

3. He was a very, very great talent and we have lost someone important.

During the more than 100 years that Douglas lived, he had to lose many friends and family, losses that must have been really hard for him.

4. I thought he was brilliant. Every time I see that picture, I don't see my son. I see that pathetic character.

His son Michael Douglas is also a highly recognized actor, something that couldn't be any other way considering his close relationship.

5. Since I love them, I will watch them... You have honored me and I thank you all.

The people we love the most are always the ones who make us suffer the most, we should all ensure the good of our relatives at all times.

6. A father. A son. Once upon a time in Hollywood.

The memory of this actor will always be with us and we hope that his son Michael Douglas will be with us in his memory for a long time.

7. I have great respect for actors like Clint Eastwood, who is a wonderful director.

Not everyone is good at directing and this actor knew how to understand that this facet was perhaps not the most suitable for him.

8. I was going to play “First Blood”, but I suggested changing it and I backed out. I told Stallone: ​​You know, I almost stopped you from making millions of dollars, because at my suggestion, I killed off his character at the end of the scene.

Many actors will forever be indebted to this celebrated actor, as they undoubtedly learned a host of tricks in their collaborations with him.

9. If you want to see a star, don't go to Hollywood. Come to Palm Springs.

Many of the Hollywood actors stay in Palm Springs, a truly privileged area where you can live.

10. When you get old, the worst thing is that you lose so many friends. Burt Lancaster, Frank Sinatra, John Wayne. People I loved working with.

The bad thing about living a long time is that you lose all your loved ones, a hard life lesson that only the longest-lived men have had to live.

11. When I did "Spartacus" during the McCarthy Era, we were losing our freedom. It was a horrible, horrible way. McCarthy saw communists everywhere, at all levels of government and they zeroed in on Hollywood and especially Hollywood writers.

Hollywood experienced a real witch hunt at that time, really troubled times that this actor always remembered in a very intense way.

12. I directed two movies, without much success, and after that, I went back to being an actor and a producer.

As an established actor, Douglas saw that directing was not really his thing, so he kept working on what had brought him the most success.

13. I bought the book, “One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest”. I paid for it to be made into a play and performed for six months. I went back and tried to make it into a movie, to no avail.

Other sectors were not equally benevolent with him, just as the cinema had once been. Success is much harder to find than many of us think.

14. Michael Douglas had just come off the television series “The Streets of San Francisco” and said, “Dad, let me try it.” I thought, 'Well, if I couldn't do it…' So, I gave it to him and he got the money, the director and the cast. The biggest disappointment for me, I always wanted to play McMurphy. They have a young actor, Jack Nicholson. I thought, 'Oh God. It will be terrible. Then I saw the photo and of course it was great! That was my biggest disappointment that turned out to be one of the things I'm most proud of because my son Michael did it. I couldn't do it, but Michael did.

His daughter was always someone he could be proud of, as he demonstrated with his own talent that he was actually as good an actor as his father.

15. I've played some good ones, too, in "Spartacus," "Paths of Glory" and my favorite movie, "Lonely Are the Brave," so I've had mixed parts in my life.

You can't always choose the role you'd like to play the most, but when Douglas got that long-awaited role, he was undoubtedly the happiest man in the world.

16. Really a bad boy is more interesting, dramatically, than the good boy.

The bad guys are usually men with a highly magnetic personality, to be able to interpret them the most charismatic actors of the entire cast are chosen.

17. I've been trying to create a campaign for our country to apologize for slavery, for the way black people were treated before the Civil War and after the Civil War.

Unfortunately, racism in the United States has always been very present, a very unfortunate phobia that we have not yet managed to eradicate.

18. I worry that the world is a mess. That's why when I wrote my last book, “Let's Face It”, I dedicated it to the younger generation because, let's face it, the world is in a mess. At this time, the young will inherit that mess. I think we have to do everything we can.

If humanity does not change the way it manages the planet, in the future we will undoubtedly live in something very similar to a dunghill.

19. I think the election of Obama went a long way in showing the world that we believe that all men are created equal. I think he will show that we have humility.

Obama demonstrated that anyone can become president of the United States, regardless of their race, religion, or gender.

20. I went to Hollywood to audition for Martha Ivers and I thought she was going to play the part that she played. She Van Heflin, but they wanted me to play Barbara Stanwyck's husband, so I played that. Then when I finished the movie, I went back to Broadway and did another flop.

In the world of theater he did not have the luck that one would expect from an actor of his stature, even so Douglas always felt very comfortable doing it.

21. If I can get enough signatures to make an apology for slavery, I will present it to the President. The House of Representatives has already passed the resolution for the apology, but it has to pass the Senate. I think, despite all our problems, I think we're headed in the right direction.

As we can see, this actor considered that people of color deserved at least an apology for what he had done to them in the past. A gesture that would never change the past but perhaps would help us face the future in a much more dignified way.

22. I think Obama was elected because young people are starting to take an interest in his country and I think that's a very healthy thing to do.

Sooner or later, racism will be something that will remain in the past and it will be at that precise moment, when the dream of Martin Luther King finally comes true.

23. The first time I got an offer to come to Hollywood, I turned it down. I told him: No, I am a theater actor.

The theater was his natural environment, but if he wanted to achieve success he had to make the leap to the big screen. A logical evolution that, as Douglas later discovered, would soon bear fruit.

24. When you get to my age, you find that most of your dear friends are gone.

When many of our loved ones are no longer with us, we begin to think that perhaps our time is coming. At that moment, we most likely stopped seeing death as goodbye and began to idealize it as a possible reunion with our loved ones.

25. He never wanted to be in movies. In a sense, I'm still a failure because I wanted to be a star on stage.

The theater always resisted him, a painful thorn that this actor would always carry until the end of his days.

26. I have always been grateful that my Russian mother and father came to this country to give me a better opportunity, and I have had a better opportunity.

Growing up in the United States provided this celebrated actor with opportunities that he otherwise would never have had. The land of opportunities gave him the future he had always wanted.

27. With John Wayne, we argued all the time and we did four movies together.

As we can see, Douglas collaborated with the greatest of his time, fantastic memories that he would always remember when he was old.

28. You know, you have to have an internal philosophy to deal with adversity.

We all experience problems throughout our lives, but how we fight them is what sets us apart from each other.

29. Life is like a B-series script.

Reality is often stranger than fiction, you never know what life will bring you in the future.

30. Streets full of people strolling or sitting in outdoor cafes. And always, talking, gesturing, singing, laughing. I liked Rome right away. They were all artists.

Europe has nothing to do with the United States, life next to the Mediterranean is lived in a totally different way. Being able to visit these countries was something that changed his perspective of the world forever.

31. All children are natural actors, and I am still a child. If you fully grow up, you can never be an actor.

Children undoubtedly have a great facility for acting, a gift that later as adults, many of us lose.

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

Some extremely difficult moments for all those who were immersed in the world of cinema, luckily life went on and later everything returned to normal.

33. The best wine comes from home, wherever it is.

You will never feel as comfortable anywhere as you do at home. Well, our home will always be that place where we want to be, especially in those most difficult moments for us.

34. You have not learned to live until you have learned to give.

Life is not always about receiving, if we want to be happier we must share our luck with all those around us.

35. A stroke is a very difficult thing. You get depressed… What I found was this: the cure for depression is to think of others, to do for others. You can always find something to be grateful for.

There will always be people in a worse situation than ours, which is why we must put ourselves in their shoes from time to time and try to help them, even if it is only with a small contribution.

36. Now, what does an actor who can't speak do? Wait for silent movies to come back?

When he reached his old age, Kirk Douglas was forced to leave the stage, a goodbye that was undoubtedly very hard for him and for all his spectators.

37. If I have to speak in public, I am terrified.

As we can see, speeches were never his forte, stage fright was something that affected him greatly in these cases.

38. Fame is as much about luck as it is about talent, perhaps more.

Luck is very important in life, if we are not lucky enough, life will never offer us all the successes that we perhaps deserve.

39. I know Italians and I like them. Many of my father's best friends were Italian.

Italians are very intelligent and passionate people, attributes that this actor always knew how to value in all those with whom he associated.

40. I never had any desire to be a film actor. I never thought it was the typical attractive type of movie, which I assumed they wanted.

Life taught him that our fortune does not have to be where we think, perhaps tomorrow we will get to work on something that we would never have imagined.

41. Since my stroke, I have started to see so many miracles around me. I look out my bedroom window: green grass, silver-tipped oak leaves, tall palm trees swaying gently as they reach for the sky, masses and masses of roses. All the colors, so many shapes, exquisite fragrances.

The world is a wonderful place and we only have one life to enjoy it, we must take advantage of every minute of our existence as if it were perhaps the last.

42. Acting is a youthful profession.

Being young can help us a lot in the world of acting, since most of the roles that are offered are usually for this specific sector of the population.

43. Listen: pacemaker, shock, stroke. What does that mean? God doesn't want me now. That's all.

With the passage of time the body deteriorates, eventually there will come a day when it simply stops working.

44. I remember little things that break my heart. We were leaving Michael's house one day, and he noticed that my shoelaces were undone. He leaned down and tied them up. Almost cry. For me, it was a gesture of love.

The love between him and his son is really strong, it was an extremely close relationship that nothing and no one can ever change.

45. "Hail to the Boss" was played, and the Chairman stood up and made a funny opening comment. "I've been in this office for six years, and yet every time I hear that music, I turn around wondering who they're playing it for."

A great anecdote that this actor was able to live with the president of the United States, as we see some people are capable of always being honest regardless of the trait they possess.

46. Obey the inner voice: it commands us to give of ourselves and help others. As long as we have the ability to give, we are alive.

Helping others will allow us to be a better version of ourselves and also help us to be much happier.

47. When you get to 95, after you get over your surprise, you start to look back.

The memories that we create throughout our lives will stay with us forever, we may even come to think that perhaps these are actually the most valuable asset that we all possess.

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

The United States has changed a lot over time. Currently, the great abundance that these seemed to possess, from the outside is no longer perceived in the same way.

49. The first thing I look for in a woman is warmth-femininity. He has nothing to do with a pretty face.

Beauty for him did not reside only in the external appearance, because how they show his femininity was always something that seduced him.

50. I'm glad they gave women the right to vote, but sometimes I'm sorry they have the right to smoke. Most women are messy about it, particularly about their lipstick. I don't mind wiping my lipstick off, but I hate seeing it on cigarettes, napkins, and coffee cups! I don't like women with all their beauty machinery showing off curling irons, cold cream, mascara brushes. I'd even rather not see a woman touch up her lipstick, but I guess that's hoping too much.

Over time, women have adopted different ways of dressing and grooming themselves, customs that Douglas never really saw as necessary.

51. Fear is a terrible thing. It makes you do horrible things.

When we fall prey to fear we can do anything to survive, on some occasions some people have even gone as far as murder.

52. When you become a star, you don't change, everyone else does.

Interested people tend to try to grab the attention of those who are successful, a course of action that Douglas was no doubt well acquainted with.

53. My mother, he was from a very poor family. When I was a kid, we were in our little room, and there was a knock on the door almost every night by a homeless man asking for food. Even though we didn't even have enough to eat, my mother always found something to give them.

Although his family was of humble origin, it certainly had the right values, a way of life that Douglas later adopted as he grew older.

54. Love gets deeper as you get older.

When we get older we can realize the true value of things and we will learn that love is, without a doubt, one of the most valuable goods we can ever possess.

55. My children did not have my advantages; I was born in extreme poverty.

The story of this famous actor shows us that even if we are poor today, we do not have to be so in the future. If we work hard we will achieve our goals.

56. Now, why is it that most of us can openly talk about the diseases of our bodies, but when it comes to our brains and mental illnesses we keep quiet and because we keep quiet, people with emotional disorders feel ashamed, stigmatized and do not seek help that can mark the difference.

Mental disorders are generally not accepted by society, a tragic fact that should certainly change in the future.

57. Being seventy has its advantages. Before I was frank, but now why do I have to shut up?

When you get older, you realize that certain social clichés are largely useless and as a consequence, we most likely stop using them.

58. The older you are, the more prizes you will get. So if you live long enough, you eventually get all the prizes.

If we work hard, eventually our recognition will come. Something that shows us that we should never lose hope.

59. Michael [Douglas] is, I think, a great actor. He has made some very interesting movies. When he was in college, he was very proud of him, but when he said, "Dad, I want to be in a play," he had a small role. I went to see him and Michael said, 'Dad, how was he?' I told him, 'You were terrible.' I thought he would become a lawyer and within three months he was on another job and I went and I have to admit he was great. I think he's been good at everything he's done.

His son also demonstrated a great capacity for interpretation, something that undoubtedly filled him with pride.

60. I don't need a critic to tell me that I'm an actor. I make my own way. Nobody is my boss. No one has ever been my boss.

This quote encourages us to look for our own future, no one should ever tell us what we should do with our lives.

61. Maybe there is no peace in this world. Don't know... But I know that as long as we live we must be true to ourselves.

Human beings must take care of each other. In order for society to move towards a better future, we must also do our part.

62. The biggest lie is the lie we tell ourselves in the distorted visions we have of ourselves, blocking some sections, improving others. What remains are not the cold facts of life, but how we perceive them. That is really who we are.

Many of us have a very distorted vision of the person we really are, so that this does not happen to us, we must accept ourselves as we are.

63. There was nowhere to go, he had to go up.

Success was a matter of life and death for him, if he didn't achieve it he could never give his children a better life than his.

64. When I produced "Spartacus," the writer was Dalton Trumbo, who spent a year in jail because he wouldn't answer McCarthy's questions about other people. He submitted the image under the assumed name of Sam Jackson.

The world of cinema suffered extremely tragic moments at that time, the government seemed to look for possible communists even under stones.

65. It's that cheesy. If they offered me the story of my life to film, I would turn it down.

In the end, his life was as normal as that of any other individual, his family always represented the greatest of his pillars for him.

66. I felt it was a picture that, after I'm gone, my family would like to see. He was a wonderful mix of people in my family.

His entire family will undoubtedly remember him until the last of his days, since a person as charismatic as he was cannot be easily forgotten.

67. Sometimes what binds you frees you.

Vices can help us forget our problems, but we can be sure that in the future they will cause us bigger ones.

68. I have a computer that my wife gave me. All I know how to do, and I do it every day, is play Spider Solitaire. And I don't have a cell phone.

As we can see, during the last stage of his life, the computer was always something he used on a daily basis. A tool that today is totally essential for the proper functioning of any home.

69. If you want to know about a man, you can find out a lot by looking at who he married.

A man's tastes say a lot about him and among those tastes are also, of course, the women he chooses for himself.

70. Virtue is not photogenic.

The most positive aspects that a person can possess cannot be observed in a photograph.

71. If I thought that a man had never committed a sin in his life, I don't think I would want to talk to him. A flawed man is more interesting.

The defects that we have are what make us human, all of us without exception have defects, although sometimes these are not perceived with the naked eye.

72. Unfortunately, once I learned to smoke, I couldn't stop. I scaled to two packs a day very quickly, and stayed that way for about ten years. When I decided to quit, I adopted the method my father had used when he quit smoking. He carried a cigarette in his shirt pocket, and every time he felt like smoking, he would take out the cigarette and confront him: "Who stronger? You? Me?" The answer was always the same: "Me stronger". I would return the cigarette would go, until the next craving. It worked for him, and it worked for me.

As we can see, this actor had to deal with smoking, a severe addiction that claims millions of victims every year.

73. 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 well.

How we deal with our problems reveals to others what kind of person we really are.

74. The learning process continues until the day you die.

Every day we can learn something new, regardless of how old we are.

75. The only advantage I have found in being a Jew is that I can be openly anti-Semitic.

His sense of humor, without a doubt, was always something that differentiated him from the rest of the people, Douglas had a really charming way of being.