Kirk Douglas quotes

Kirk Douglas was an American actor and film producer, celebrated as one of the greatest stars of classic Hollywood cinema. Famous for his intense performances, he appeared in numerous iconic films such as "Spartacus" and "Paths of Glory." He also advocated for civil rights and was instrumental in breaking the Hollywood blacklist. Here are 43 of his quotes:

You haven't learned how to live until you've learned how to give.

Kirk Douglas

Maybe there is no peace in this world. I don't know ... But I know as long as we live we must stay true to ourselves.

Kirk Douglas

The learning process continues until the day you die.

Kirk Douglas

The first thing I look for in a woman is warmth-femininity. It's got nothing to do with a pretty face.

Kirk Douglas

Love has more depth as you get older.

Kirk Douglas

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

I studied Judaism a lot. I studied religion in general, and I have never imposed my Judaism on my kids. They are what they want to be. I think... you must care for others. That's the correct religion, I think.

Kirk Douglas

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

Unfortunately, once I did learn to smoke, I couldn't stop. I escalated to two packs a day very quickly, and stayed that way for about ten years. When I decided to stop, I adopted the method that my father had used when he quit. He would carry a cigarette in his shirt pocket, and every time he felt like smoking, he would pull out the cigarette and confront it: «Who stronger? You? Me?» Always the answer was the same: «I stronger.» Back the cigarette would go, until the next craving. It worked for him, and it worked for me.

Kirk Douglas

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

Kirk Douglas

I don't need a critic to tell me I'm an actor. I make my own way. Nobody's my boss. Nobody's ever been my boss.

Kirk Douglas

Compared to Thoreau, Saint Francis of Assisi was peanuts.

Kirk Douglas

I love champions. A champion has something special about him.

Kirk Douglas

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

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

Kirk Douglas

I know Italians and I like them. A lot of my father's best friends were Italians. I responded to that in making the picture. I put a lot of warmth into that character. Those immigrants were tough, more intensive than people are these days.

Kirk Douglas

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. The bad films everybody was high on. The good films, they advised me against.

Kirk Douglas

Don't crucify me because of what your idea of a movie star is. I didn't start out to be a movie star. I started out to be an actor. You people out in the East have no idea what goes on out here. No awareness or knowledge whatsoever. You lose track of the human being behind the image of the movie star.

Kirk Douglas

All children are natural actors, and I'm still a kid. If you grow up completely, you can never be an actor.

Kirk Douglas

You know, you have to have some inner philosophy to deal with adversity.

Kirk Douglas

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

Kirk Douglas

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