Jeff bridges quotes

It's not enough just to treat women well. We have to work to make sure all men treat women well.

My m.o. as far as choosing projects is I really try not to work. I try to not do the scripts that are offered me. I'm in this wonderful position to be able to do that. The reason I do that is because I know what it takes once I engage, what that means for me personally and for my wife.

I had a great '70s. I survived it, and that's always good news.

When I was really young, my mom enrolled me in dance classes.

If you open your heart, then the object of your love becomes so precious because you are so open. And that philosophy, that caring, spreads.

My wife, whenever I'd go off to work and I'd be kind of anxious, she'll say, 'Remember, have fun.' Oh, I forgot, thanks for the reminder. Because sometimes we do forget. We take it all too seriously and there's a lot of joy to be had wherever you are.

If you change partners every time it gets tough or you get a little dissatisfied, then I don't think you get the richness that's available in a long-term relationship.

Public charities, foodbanks and church pantries are doing more than ever before, but they can't keep up with the need. We can never end hunger only through the wonderful work of local charities. Like other Western democracies, we must end our national problem of hunger through national and political leadership. Charity is nice for some things, but not as a way to feed a nation. We don't protect our national security through charity, and we shouldn't protect our families and children that way either.

Once, during an interview in front of my wife, I was asked, "Are you one of those actors who brings your character home? Do you stay in character?" I said, "No, not really. I don't do that," and she started laughing. I asked her why. She said, "Well, you might think you don't bring characters home, but you do." So, while I don't feel like a character is lingering, it probably is.

My wife holds the kite strings that let me go 'weeeeeee', then she reels me back in.

There's a bit of the kid in me.

I don't have one movie that is my favorite, I have about 25-30 favorites.

Working with my dad was such a gas. We approached the work in a similar way. We only made two films together when I was an adult, Tucker, and Blown Away, but it was so much fun to play with your parent like that.

To go into therapy is an adventure, not really to iron anything out.

Thoughts will change and shift just like the wind and the water when you're on the boat; thoughts are no different than anything else.

I hate it when there's a good movie, someone overhypes it and I'm disappointed that I don't like it more.

Work takes me away from my wife, Sue, and my life in Santa Barbara.

What I learned most from my father wasn't anything he said; it was just the way he behaved. He loved his work so much that, whenever he came on set, he brought that with him, and other people rose to it.

I do my best to hold the director's opinion above my own.

One in four kids in the U.S. faces hunger.

Yeah I loved, as a kid growing up, I loved science-fiction.

Sure, I get the blues. But what I try to do, is apply joy to the blues, you know? I don't know if it's a technique, or just being bent that way, being raised by the folks I was raised by.

One of the tough things about being an actor, probably the hardest thing, is getting your foot in the door, and my father handled that for me at a very early age.

I kept dreaming of a world I thought I'd never see, and then....one day....I got in!

There's lots of good movies where you feel that the dialogue could be improvised, but very little was. The "Big Lebowski" was like that where people say "oh, you know, that sounds so..." and we'd always go back and get every man, every ellipses in there the way these guys write it. Because not only is it saying what Michael wants the character to say but the way they all speak kind of creates this tone because it's not exactly real.

I did [Michael Cimino] first movie, "Thunderbolt and Lightfoot," and I remember I was still in my twenties and very nervous, we're shooting up in Montana, and I'm thinking, "What the hell am I doing here? I don't feel anything like this part.

Nowadays, in the contract that actors sign, you have to agree that you're going to do a certain amount of publicity-the hard part they don't pay you for.

So I have this word for much of what I do in life: 'plorking.' I'm not playing and I'm not working, I'm plorking.

35 million people in the U.S. are hungry or don't know where their next meal is coming from, and 13 million of them are children. If another country were doing this to our children, we'd be at war.

One of my favorite artists is Tom Waits, whom most people think of as a wonderful singer-songwriter and a great poet. I certainly think of him that way, but I also know him as a terrific actor. You know, that persona that he puts on when he's doing his music comes from being an actor, figuring out a persona.

A large part of acting is just pretending. You get to work with these other great make-believers, all making believe as hard as they can.

I like to think of myself as a character actor, though there's some redundancy in that...

You can relate to somebody's pain and you have compassion, which can lead to intimacy.

I have my prized possession in my wallet. That's a photograph of the first words I ever uttered to my wife, and her answer to my question when I asked her, "Will you go out with me?"

Often when I finish a film I'll have that feeling inside me: 'I never want to do this ever again. I don't want to pretend anymore. I want to be myself and do that.' And then, thank God, that feeling goes away after a month or so and I'm raring to go again.

Sticking with a marriage. That's true grit, man.

I've done several commercials and I've done voiceovers for documentaries.

I love westerns, I'd love to make more of them.

Yeah, I loved Ray Bradbury.

You just have to work with your discomfort. ... It’s challenging, but you have to dance the dance that the band’s playing. You can’t say: “I came here to Cha Cha and they’re playing a Waltz, godammit!”

I confessed to Mike [Cimino] a couple of days before we shot. I was like, "What am I doing here, Mike?" And Mike just looked at me, in that very directorial manor, took a long pause, and he said, "You know the game tag?" And I said, "Yeah." And he said, "Well, you're it." That was some of the best direction I think I've ever received.

Poverty is a very complicated issue, but feeding a child isn't.

Everyone I meet is in my sangha. I don't know if that's the proper definition, but that's the way I'm going to hold it in my mind.

We would do improvisation together. And that in a way, had almost a "student-film side" where we'd be sitting there with Robert Downey and Jon Favreau and we're playing around, we're jamming around and we read those pages and in next couple of days that's what we do, so it was a good experience. Kind of frightening at first because you didn't quite know how it was going to work out, but they had some very talented people there so it worked out well.

Movies are like magic tricks.

I'm always busy, but I'm lazy as well.

There's kind of a Zen aspect to bowling. The pins are either staying up or down before you even throw your arm back. It's kind of a mind-set. You want to be in this perfect mind-set before you released the ball.

What are the aspects of yourself that line up with the character? You magnify those, and the ones that don't match up you kind of kick to the curb.

I'm constantly falling deeper in love with my wife.

As filmmakers, we're constantly always looking for something to bring the audience deeper into the reality of the story we're telling.

I've got a closet full of tuxes, and I appreciate that, because one thing I don't like to do is shop.

I'm very manipulative towards directors. My theory is that everyone on the set is directing the film, we're all receiving art messages from the universe on how we should do the film.

This is many, many years ago. It was shortly after "Starman" I think. I don't know how close I was to getting the part. I met with [director] Penny Marshall and that's one that I knew would be a hit. It just felt hit-ish. But it's like you go to a store and you see a jacket and you go "I love that jacket" and you try it on and it's too big or too small for you and it's the only one they have. For some reason that part just didn't fit me.

Well, there are all kinds of gutters. Life will supply you with gutters.

I wish I were more disciplined.

I'm a big fan of country.

Generally speaking I would say I enjoy the smaller films more because there's a less sense of pressure and often the material is more unusual.

Most cynics are really crushed romantics: they've been hurt, they're sensitive, and their cynicism is a shell that's protecting this tiny, dear part in them that's still alive.

You don't want to do what your parents want you to do. You got your own things. And the whole idea of getting a job because of who your father is - that didn't isn't right.

"The Big Lebowski" is a real masterpiece, as far as I'm concerned. I suppose I'm a bit biased because I'm in it.

She was this incredible mom. With each of her kids, she did something called `time,' where she would spend an hour each day doing whatever the kid wanted to do, whether it was play spacemen or `Let's go into your makeup, and I'll make you up like a clown.' And as a teenager you'd be like, `Rub me, Mom. Give me a massage.'

I hadn't talked to him in many, many years. He got a bad rap on "Heaven's Gate." I actually live in the hog ranch from "Heaven's Gate" in Montana. Mike Cimino gave me that set, the whorehouse, that's my house.

The more space and emptiness you can create in yourself, then you can let the rest of the world come in and fill you up.

If some crazy idea stays in my head for long enough, then there's no fighting it. I just say, Okay, let's go.

I don't think I ever went down that movie star path. I always enjoy taking a 90-degree turn from the last thing I did.

When you start to engage with your creative processes, it shakes up all your impulses, and they all kind of inform one another.

One thing I want to do is create something called Ring Around Congress. It would be a state deal and also a national thing, where the kids, as a field trip, will go and join hands around Congress and give the politicians report cards on how they're voting on hunger issues.

I'm drawn to the path of least resistance.

Sobriety and health is the greatest thing.

As a kid, you want to be liked for who you are. You don't want to be liked for who your parents are. You don't want to get a job because of who your parents are. You want to do it on your own, with your own gifts and your own value. So, I decided to spare my kids that and not be as pro-active as my dad was.

You've got to take care of yourself on the path, not just when you cross the goal line, because don't forget, wherever you are, that's the goal line.

I found that photography was a great way of relaxing on the set.

You can change things, you can make things better.

Fame really works against actors, in a way, because our anonymity is a wonderful thing for us.

You know, ballet might be too formal of a title for the type of dance I do, but I love to dance.

Memories are not just about the past. They determine our future.

I remember when I was a kid, with the acting thing, I resented it because, you know, you don't want to do what your parents want you to do. You got your own things. And the whole idea of getting a job because of who your father is - that didn't feel right. But after a while I guess I figured I must be doing something right, because people wouldn't keep hiring me if I didn't have something to give.

Whenever I work on a part, I look at the world through the filter of the character and I pick things they might use through my observations of real life.

When you truly commit in your life, you start receiving more than you could imagine.

I'm also working closely with a group called the Amazon Conservation Team, helping with the rainforest in South America.

Movies are very subjective.

I have no lucky charm. I am 100 percent superstition-free, and I take nothing for granted.

We love things that are convenient.

I've had really great experiences working with first-time directors. They come at filmmaking with fresh ideas. I've been very lucky that way.

I had years of partying, and I was kind of surprised and happy I survived it all. Now, being a parent, I look back on it thinking, Oh God, the things you did!

That's one of the cool things about fame. You have an affect on society and where it goes.

It's like that perfection thing, trying to be that thing you're not. You have to feel that discomfort and not try to get rid of it. Accept that aspect and get into it. Acknowledge those feelings and let them be. You are who you are.

During my early years, I thought I might be a musician. Like most kids, I didn't do what my parents wanted me to do. They were gung-ho that all their kids become actors. They loved showbiz so much. I am a product of nepotism, basically.

Myths are wonderful - they really tell the stories that connect all of us and teach us so much.

One of the things that I find so exciting about life is that you're constantly surprised. You never know what's going to happen, and it's certainly like that making movies; every once in a while, one will come along that transcends all of your expectations.

Nowadays it seems more and more like the 'business' in 'show business' is underlined, and there are campaigns, and it's all part of getting people in to see the movies.

I just find my creativity manifesting a bunch of different ways.

This idea of how everything is interconnected, and the impermanence of things.. It sums up the human condition to me, and it helps me on my path.

With a labyrinth, you make a choice to go in - and once you've chosen, around and around you go. But you always find your way to the center.

The problem with the designated driver programme, it's not a desirable job. But if you ever get sucked into doing it, have fun with it. At then end of the night drop them off at the wrong house.

I used to be somebody. Now I’m somebody else.

My website's kind of fun for me. I get to do drawings on that. It's kind of fun.

It's funny. You succeed, but now where are you gonna go from there? I've got to keep proving that I can laugh or cry more real each time.

When you're a professional you gotta do it [your job] when you don't feel like doing it.

Sometimes you feel you're making something really special and when it comes out you might still feel that way but for some reason it doesn't get the audience. So many things have to come together to get a creatively successful and financially successful film.

I have a cycle that is not particularly cool, but it's a cycle: trash myself to reward myself.

The Oscar nomination is great. It's a great pat on the back. And I like that.

I gotta take notes when things occur to me.

You have to find your tone and work within that to make it as real so the audience can really engage in the story you're telling.

In life and in movies, it's a similar challenge, where you have expectations, and you end up in situations that are not meeting your expectations.

When I'm working, I'm very purposeful and everything else gets out of focus. Something I've had to work on together with my wife is how to acknowledge each other in the midst of this and keep the relationship going.

A fool and his money are quickly parted.

You know, it's kind of a shame in a way but the more seasoned directors a lot of times have more difficult getting a job than first time guys. New kid on the block kind of thing.

Making films is sort of like you're pulling off a magic trick. It's sort of like an illusion. It's not real but you want it to appear real, and all kinds of things go into that, from the clothes you're wearing to the make-up, to the light.

Myths are wonderful tools that we've had, oh, for eons now that help us navigate the situations we find ourselves in.

A fella who accepts himself and is relaxed into who he is - that appeals to people.

The wonderful thing about acting is that you can use all of your talents and interests in your work.

Always maintain a joyful mind. Appreciate the struggles as opportunities to wake up.

You prep, you prep, you prep. And on the day that you film, you let all of that go. I try to achieve emptiness as much as possible - the Zen thing - to let the deal come out of that nothing.

Normally, I love to go to the movies and when I see a character portrayed by different actors at different ages, it kind of pops a little bit for me. It brings me out of the movie experience. Now we have the technology to cure that.

Unlike a lot of actors, my father encouraged all his kids to go into show business.

There are some actors that want you to call them by their character's name and they have no relationship with you outside of the character. But I like to get to know who I'm working with so that we can relax together, and it's more fun.

My mom wasn't a movie star.

One of the greatest feelings in the world is knowing that we as individuals can make a difference. Ending hunger in America is a goal that is literally within our grasp.

My father Lloyd Bridges was very versatile in his parts, but he had a hit in the '60s 'Sea Hunt,' where he played a skin diver. And he was so into that role that people actually thought he was a skin-diver.

I'm a chairperson for 'No Kid Hungry', a campaign for poor American children.

I don't really think in career terms.

Live like you're already dead, man. Have a good time. Do your best. Let it all come ripping right through you.

I think my love of journalizing my life comes from my mom.

One of the things I want to do that's outside the realm of acting and the arts - although both have their place in this - is ending childhood hunger here in America.