Robert De Niro Quotes

The hardest thing about being famous is that ... in a conversation everybody's agreeing with what you're saying. ... You need people who can tell you what you don't want to hear.

I think Hollywood has a class system. The actors are like the inmates, but the truth is they're running the asylum.

I don't like to watch my own movies - I fall asleep in my own movies.

I guess the only thing to do now is meet his parents. I'm sure they're decent people. I mean they gotta be if they named their son Gaylord Focker.

Everyone's always interested in a dark theme, especially when there's humor connected to it. It seems like that helps, if that's an integral and organic part of the whole story.

You do what you do best, try to stop guys like me

Movies are hard work. The public doesn't see that. The critics don't see it. But they're a lot of work. A lot of work.

Somebody steals from me, I'm gonna say you stole. Not talk to him for spitting on the sidewalk. Understand?

As an actor who's starting out, you can't say, "Hey, I'm too good for this." You gotta do it, because people see you, your name gets around, and it has a cumulative effect.

As an actor, you use the things from yourself that you can apply to the character.

I think that's what we love about the vodka, is that it's consistent. It's consistent in its pureness and that's how I tie it to restaurants.

You talking to me? You talking to me? Then who the hell else are you talking to - you talking to me? Well, I'm the only one here.

I got some bad ideas in my head.

Everybody's in New York and, hopefully, my younger kids will go to college in New York and find something they want to do so they'll stay in the city

I mean, the actors that I admired were Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift, an actress named Barbara Harris. And Greta Garbo. They were great actors.

I hurt someone's feelings once.

The older you get, the more you know about certain things.

You always learn something about movies. Directing or acting, there's always something new. It's the technological thing; there's always something to learn.

I have either a cucumber martini, gin martini, or a vodka martini. That's it. Simple.

Running a casino is like robbing a bank with no cops around. For guys like me, Las Vegas washes away your sins. It's like a morality car wash.

I don't remember what made me want to be an actor. In fact, I'm always curious.

I've never been one of those actors who has touted myself as a fascinating human being. I had to decide early on whether I was to be an actor or a personality.

You draw on whatever’s relevant to the part you’re playing; it makes it more personal.

One regret I have: I didn't get as much of the family history as I could have for the kids.

Reputation, you know – a lifetime to build, seconds to destroy.

Certain writers have it very precise and there's not much room to add something.

I think it's important to have had at least a few years of obscurity, where people treat you like everybody else.

In the casino, the cardinal rule is to keep them playing and to keep them coming back. The longer they play, the more they lose, and in the end, we get it all.

My definition of a good hotel is a place I'd stay at.

Thank God for the rain to wash the trash off the sidewalk.

Things rarely turn out the way we want them to.

Every set up that you do, everything is precisely modulated and raised and lowered.”

I don’t get into these long-winded heavy discussions about character - do we do this or that or what. At the end of the day, what you gotta do is just go out there and do it.

If De Niro wants to spend the twilight of his career as the McDonald's of master thespians, we can't stop him.

I always say people can call me anything they want as long as they don't call me late for supper.

It's a very stressful thing, directing a movie. You have the budget, you have the schedule, you are in certain confines, and you have everybody giving you advice about what to do.

The director respects what they've hired you for and chosen you for: to do the part and respect what you're doing.

I always wanted to direct. Directing is a lot more of a commitment though, a lot more time. I like directors who do very few takes, they know what they want.

I can get around pretty easily. People don't expect to see me walking around.

When I think of a good restaurant, it's where the food has been consistent; there's always a consistency.