Viggo Mortensen Quotes

There's no excuse to be bored. Sad, yes. Angry, yes. Depressed, yes. Crazy, yes. But there's no excuse for boredom, ever.

I have never been in a natural place and felt that it was a waste of time. I never have. And it's a relief. If I'm walking around a desert or whatever, every second is worthwhile.

It's hard not to get depressed when you pay attention to the world and how strangely and corrupt the people in it sometimes behave.

When I have a day off, I won't spend it at a Hollywood party. I'd rather be at home with paints and a blank canvas.

You should always do the things in life that are both interesting and make you afraid.

Be kind. It's worthwhile to make an effort to learn about other people and figure out what you might have in common with them.

You don't have to make something that people call art. Living is an artistic activity, there is an art to getting through the day.

Any nominations a movie gets helps to raise the level of curiosity in the public, so in that sense awards and nominations are important.

I like stories that leave you wanting more, leave you wondering, but don't tell you everything.

I think that every person has many, many people inside of them. We change our personality depending on who we are talking to or what situation we are in.

I think every family is dysfunctional, and some manage to control it better than others.

My job as an artist, as I see it, is to understand and in some cases to take on various ways of thinking about people and the world that are different from my own, sometimes radically different.

As Martin Luther King said, "Passively to participate in an unjust system is to accept that system and to participate in its evil."

My goal is just to make movies, whether they're big or small, that I'd like to see 10 years from now.

Perceval Press a publishing house I founded in 2002 and it's still going strong. Strong for us means not so many books per year, but each one we very carefully design and print.

You know, real life doesn't just suddenly resolve itself. You have to keep working at it. Democracy, marriage, friendship. You can't just say she's my best friend. That's not a given, it's a process.

Photography, painting or poetry - those are just extensions of me, how I perceive things; they are my way of communicating.

You do need to get lucky, no matter how talented you are.

In other words, I’m against cheating, greed, cruelty, racism, imperialism, religious fundamentalism, treason, and the seemingly limitless capacity for hypocrisy shown by Bush and his administration.

In a movie, you're raw material, just a hue of some color and the director makes the painting.

You know, 'Viggo' is a pretty dorky name in Denmark. It's like 'Oswald' or something. It's a very old Scandinavian name, at least 1,000 years old.

People like to pigeonhole you. It's easier.

Here's where we are, this is what's happening. So do something, or get out of the kitchen.

When people say that entertainers should "know your place," they might as well say the same thing about plumbers and teachers and cab drivers. We all should be able to express our views.

You have a moral obligation to finish the job you said you would do.

I try to research or make up for myself what happened in any character's life. From when he was born until the first page of the script. I fill in the blanks.

When there is conflict, it's good to step away, even for five minutes, because you could say terrible things that you can't take back, so it's best to walk away.

I prefer the smaller acting than big histrionics. It's about reacting and looks, which is often underestimated.

The money I earn from films means I can help the people I want to help - you can do a lot of good if you want to.

You know, real life doesn't just suddenly resolve itself. You have to keep working at it.

I know I said I wanted to live forever and I would never be bored, but the reality is, it's probably kind of sad to live forever if you're the only one sticking around.

You know, Freud accepted his lot very stoically and very well and with a sense of humor. He aged and died gracefully, and there's a lot to be said for that.

I don't think Adam Sandler or Will Ferrell fear competition from me in their arena.

I'm not afraid of death, but I resent it. I think it's unfair and irritating.

I have a work ethic. If I say I'm going to do something, I do it.

I don't speak up about something unless I feel strongly about it and until I've researched a subject extensively and have an informed decision about it.

As a kid I read Jules Verne, H. G. Wells, and a few others. As an adult have admired Leonardo da Vinci's drawings and notebooks.

If I can get a day to myself, I won't answer the phone, I'll read or go for a walk. Simple, basic things. People think there's always time to do that but there isn't. Life is short.

The Road was a movie that has a good reputation, even though it wasn't released very well, but that's a movie I'm very proud of.

I'm optimistic about people and about the planet and about nature. I think it's resilient, like people are.

I have a roof over my head. I had a breakfast, and a lot of people in the world can't say that. I'm not going to complain about being interviewed.

Jung viewed Freud as a mentor, but he never wanted to be anybody's disciple.

It doesn't take that many years for a kid to realise that they're going to die. It's always there in the back of their mind the rest of their lives.

If you're trying to please everyone, then you're not going to make anything that is honestly yours, I don't think, in the long run.

We often live in the past a lot more than we probably realize.

It's just like with people. You're going to get along better working with them - human or equine - if you ask politely rather than demand that they do things.

I think that people who get to a certain position, and then try to ferociously defend it or build on it, it's kind of a dead-end street. You see people becoming miserable that way.

We all have secrets, some secrets bigger than others, is a normal human thing.

If you're not optimistic on some level, then you've given up.

There might be people out there who wouldn't hire me because they thought I should keep my mouth shut, but I'm not aware of that. Even if I saw evidence of that, it wouldn't really concern me.