Charlton Heston quotes

Charlton Heston was an American actor renowned for his roles in epic films such as "Ben-Hur" and "The Ten Commandments." His commanding screen presence and powerful performances made him a Hollywood icon. He also served as president of the National Rifle Association and became a prominent political activist. Here are 46 of his quotes:

I simply cannot stand by and watch a right guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States come under attack from those who either can't understand it, don't like the sound of it, or find themselves too philosophically squeamish to see why it remains the first among equals: Because it is the right we turn to when all else fails. That's why the Second Amendment is America's first freedom.

Charlton Heston

Moses is the keystone to every man's ethical code. He was the first man of record in history to conceive of the law as separate from the will of a ruler, to choose whether a man should live by grace of law, or law by grace of man. In a literal sense Moses lives at every council table today.

Charlton Heston

Political correctness is tyranny with manners.

Charlton Heston

I have played some of the great men in history and I believe in the great man who does heroic deeds, even in these egalitarian times.

Charlton Heston

To be an actor you need four things: energy, concentration, a lot of luck and, of course, good roles.

Charlton Heston

"You simply disobey. Peaceably, yes. Respectfully, of course. Nonviolently, absolutely. But when told how to think or what to say or how to behave, we don't. We disobey the social protocol that stifles and stigmatizes personal freedom.” 16 February 1999.

Charlton Heston

You do not define the First Amendment. It defines you. And it is bigger than you. That's how freedom works. It also demands you do your homework. Again and again, I hear gun owners say, how can we believe anything the anti-gun media says when they can't even get the facts right? For too long, you have swallowed manufactured statistics and fabricated technical support from anti-gun organizations that wouldn't know a semi-auto from a sharp stick. And it shows. You fall for it every time.

Charlton Heston

NRA members are in city hall, Fort Carson, NORAD, the Air Force Academy and the Olympic Training Center. And yes, NRA members are surely among the police and fire and SWAT team heroes who risked their lives to rescue the students at Columbine. "Don't come here"? We're already here. This community is our home. Every community in America is our home.

Charlton Heston

As an actor, I'm thankful I have lived not one life, but many.

Charlton Heston

My dear friends, colleagues, and fans, my physicians have recently told me I may have a neurological disorder whose symptoms are consistent with Alzheimer's disease. So I wanted to prepare a few words for you now because when the time comes, I may not be able to.

Charlton Heston

You can spend a lifetime, and, if you're honest with yourself, never once was your work perfect.

Charlton Heston

The trouble with movies as a business is that it's an art, and the trouble with movies as art is that it's a business.

Charlton Heston

Celebrity is a corrosive condition for the soul.

Charlton Heston

The Internet is for lonely people. People should live.

Charlton Heston

I always work on the theory that the audience will believe you best if you believe yourself.

Charlton Heston

In recent years, anyone in the government, certainly anyone in the FBI or the CIA, or recently, in again, Clint's film, In the Line of Fire, the main bad guy is the chief advisor to the president.

Charlton Heston

To me Moses is all men grown to gigantic proportions.

Charlton Heston

I have lived my whole life on the stage and screen before you. I found purpose and meaning in your response.

Charlton Heston

Telling us what to think has evolved into telling us what to say, so telling us what to do can't be far behind.

Charlton Heston

Sam is the only person I've ever physically threatened on a set.

Charlton Heston

Now, I doubt any of you would prefer a rolled up newspaper as a weapon against a dictator or a criminal intruder. Yet in essence, that is what you have asked our loved ones to do, through an ill-contrived and totally naive campaign against the Second Amendment.

Charlton Heston

Tragedy has been and will always be with us. Somewhere right now, evil people are planning evil things. All of us will do everything meaningful, everything we can do to prevent it, but each horrible act can't become an axe for opportunists to cleave the very Bill of Rights that binds us. America must stop this predictable pattern of reaction. When an isolated terrible event occurs, our phones ring demanding that the NRA explain the inexplicable. Why us? Because their story needs a villain. ... That is not our role in American society and we will not be forced to play it. ... Now, if you disagree that's your right, I respect that, but we will not relinquish it, or be silenced about it, or be told ‘do not come here, you are unwelcome in your own land.'

Charlton Heston