John Malkovich Quotes

Failure's a natural part of life.

I've permitted myself to learn and to fail with some regularity. And that is probably the one thing I was given, and that I'm still grateful for.

And may the best of you - for it will only be the best of you, and even then only in the rarest and briefest moments - succeed in framing that most basic of questions, 'how do we live?'

Nothing you do particularly matters. But I'm not sure that's a great excuse for doing it poorly.

I don't have a saviour or a royal family.

It's not a gift of mine, but one given to me, to be able to criticise myself and not be crushed, by myself or by others.

I think 1973 was the nadir of fashion. When you watch the coverage from that era, you're struck by the astonishing ugliness of the clothes.

I'd hate to see any film I'm involved in fail, especially artistically but also business-wise.

Imagine how asleep or utterly unperceptive and clueless you would have to be not to see yourself as absurd for the most part.

Art is not disposable. If you want it, you have to hold it and smell it and touch it and read the credits and enjoy it and put it on your wall.

I'm more boring and more conservative.

I was never a fanatical movie person.

Scary monsters are like Hula Hoops. They come in and out of fashion.

I don't understand how somebody wouldn't have a sense of humor about themselves.

I'm not a control maniac.

I'm a little bit of a fabric lunatic.

The one natural gift I have is easy access. That's the only natural I gift I have at all. You have to have that, the third eye.

I don't really have a comprehension of being a public figure.

I haven't physically attacked anyone in a couple of years.

It's funny - people think analysis or psychiatry is mad, and THEY go to CHURCH.

I am inspired by the appearance of a bohemian of the new millennium.

A dog that has rabies probably will do things it wouldn't do if it didn't have rabies. But that doesn't change the fact that it has rabies.

I don't wake up drenched in sweat because I haven't been on stage in years.

People always say life is short. I've never been convinced of that - mine seems to have a tendency to go on and on.

You have to play your characters, not like them.

Theater is so ephemeral, and I love that.

I wouldn't describe myself as lacking in confidence, but I would just say that - the ghosts you chase you never catch.

Some directors expect you to do everything; write, be producer, psychiatrist. Some just want you to die in a tragic accident during the shooting so they can get the insurance.

I mean, anything that money can be made off will never be a problem to make, no matter what it is.

Every country has their problems.

I can have incredible self-discipline. But see, I think it's obviously a form of stupidity.

The ghosts you chase you never catch.

The world is ruled by violence, or at least the imminent threat of violence. It always has been.

Unlike my grandfather or my brother, I've actually been able to make some money at a racetrack.

I don't want to be boring. But that's not always easy.

I don't lose my temper very often now, and if I do, it's well deserved.

Where women are concerned, the rule is never to go out with anyone better dressed than you.

Even if you do succeed most people wouldn't notice anyway.

I like design, I like details, to me it is just another form of self-expression.

If you don't interfere with me, I'll always do something really good.

I'm more comfortable with whatever's wrong with me than my father was whenever he felt he failed or didn't measure up to the standard he set.

Most of the women that I like have a haunted quality - they're sort of like women who live in a haunted house by themselves.

If you're too smart it can limit you because you spend so much time thinking that you don't do anything.

I can see how, given a certain degree of sensitivities, proclivities and rage, I could have ended up differently.

I don't need to be liked.

Quite often - a lot of the work I had done had been extensively with women. Most especially in the theater, but also quite often in the movies. That has its own delights, and maybe pitfalls too.

I don't care what other people think. I don't think it matters.

Most films, it doesn't matter if you see them or not.

I wouldn't say anything I ever did in film would be something I'd use the word proud about. I've done better work in the theater.

Some people die before their time so that others can live. It's a cornerstone of civilization.