Quotes from Jack Nicholson

In other words, I wouldn't like to be an actor if I could only be real. I like to get wild, behaviorally wild, and it's crazy to think of any form where it's just one way.

Played tennis for years. But you can't improve at tennis after you're 50. You get to be in your 40s, and suddenly you're a doubles player.

The average celebrity meets, in one year, ten times the amount of people that the average person meets in his entire life.

I never had a policy about marriage. I got married very young in life and I always think in all relationships, I've always thought that it's counterproductive to have a theory on that.

I'm not a power person. I like everyone to be on an equal footing.

Everybody said I was good, but being known and not having a big film success is almost tougher than being completely new. It just kind of turned my life around and was definitely a highlight.

Always try in interviews to avoid the cliches about the problems of public life.

I would never complain about my life, even though I really would like to have a mate.

My only emotion is gratitude, literally, for my life.

I have mainly been interested in acting. I think it's a great job, a fine way to live your life.

I'm a good friend.

With my sunglasses on, I'm Jack Nicholson. Without them, I'm fat and 60.

I learned a long time ago in Hollywood that the only person I should vote for is myself.

A star on a movie set is like a time bomb. That bomb has got to be defused so people can approach it without fear.

I've never been able to say I've been influenced by a list of artists I like because I like thousands and thousands and I've been influenced in some way by all of them.

I don't have any fear of intimacy, but rather thrive on it, which is rare in a public person.

If I were an Arab-American, I would insist on being profiled. This is not the time for civil rights. There are larger issues for Americans.

Through all permutations and youthful poetry, I came to believe that the film actor was the great "literateur" of his time.

I've spent more time playing golf than anything else the last 18 years. Just wanted to be an 80s-shooter. Got there, too.

Children give your life a resonance that it can't have without them.

If you're going to write, write one poem all your life, let nobody read it, and then burn it. This is very young thinking, I confess, but it is the seminal part of my life.

I hate giving advice, because people won't take it.

When I am cast in a movie where I feel that the woman's part is more interesting, I usually start thinking about Spencer Tracy and Fred Astaire. They seem to be the most clear actors when working with women.

Beer, it's the best damn drink in the world.