I loved Jack Ford. I got him in his later days, and he was a total tyrant and a total autocrat and an Irish drunk. But I had a great time.

Ford used to come to work in a big car with two Admiral's flags, on each side of the car. His assistant would be there with his accordion, playing, Hail to the Chief.

Gary Cooper was a good friend. He was a great nature lover. He was like an American Indian, he knew every leaf that was turned over. It was an education to go for a walk with him.

Hoods are good parts because they're always flashy and attract attention. If you've got any ability, you can use that as a stepping stone.

Cheyenne Autumn was received not too successfully. I still think it was a very good movie. It was kinda Ford's apology for the way he had treated Indians in his past pictures.

I think a performer should do his work and then shut up.

I felt pretty comfortable with Westerns, apart from the fact I couldn't ride.

Marilyn was terrible to work with. I was fond of her, she was a nice girl, but she was a damaged girl. She was very difficult. You couldn't get her on the set; she didn't know the words.

There was something about Marilyn. She couldn't act her way out of a bag, but she became an icon because something happened between her and the lens, and no one knows what it is.

Death's a path we're all on, son

You have to compromise all the way. The only thing that counts is the result.

Labor saving devices have destroyed many jobs but have given rise to many new ones. It simply is up to us if we are going to resist or embrace the future.

Nothing is often a good thing to do and always a good thing to say.

The reward of one duty is the power to fulfill another.

Pressed caviar has the consistency of chilled tar.

To assume that wealth or sexuality or the usage of power, any of these things are not void in nature, gives them a reality they don't actually have.

When I started performing I was like, "Holy hell, how am I going to survive this?" I was giving it my all in 15 minutes but now I had to do it for two hours.

When I paint a woman in an armchair, the armchair is there to show illness and death-or as a protection.

You look like a protagonist.

God is Man's greatest invention

Start a painting with fresh ideas, and then let the painting replace your ideas with its ideas.