[On rumors he was dull in bed] I can`t emote worth a damn.

The things a man has to have are hope and confidence in himself against odds, and sometimes he needs somebody, his pal or his mother or his wife or God, to give him that confidence. He`s got to have some inner standards worth fighting for or there won`t be any way to bring him into conflict. And he must be ready to choose death before dishonor without making too much song and dance about it. That`s all there is to it.

[on playing Rhett Butler] I discovered that Rhett was even harder to play than I had anticipated. With so much of Scarlett preceding his entrance, Rhett`s scenes were all climaxes. There was a chance to build up to Scarlett, but Rhett represented drama and action every time he appeared. He didn`t figure in any of the battle scenes, being a guy who hated war, amid he wasn`t in the toughest of the siege of Atlanta shots. What I was fighting for was to hold my own in the first half of the picture - which is all Vivien`s - because I felt that after the scene with the baby, Bonnie, Rhett could control the end of the film. That scene where Bonnie dies, and the scene where I strike Scarlett and she accidentally tumbles down stairs, thus losing her unborn child, were the two that worried me most.

[about The Misfits (1961) This is the best picture I have made, and it`s the only time I`ve been able to act.

Every picture I make, every experience of my private life, every lesson I learn are the keys to my future. And I have faith in it.

Hell, if I`d jumped on all the dames I`m supposed to have jumped on, I`d have had no time to go fishing.

I`m no actor and I never have been. What people see on the screen is me.

[about Gary Cooper] "Coop is a right guy, the kind you like to hunt and fish with and not talk about making movies. I laid it on him one time about his romance with Carole [Carole Lombard, Gable`s wife] and he got pale as hell. She told me about it during a drunken argument we had. After that, Coop and I didn`t hunt together so much and when we did, we kept an eye on each other. She used to throw him up to me in my face and that was hard to take, especially since I didn`t know the whole truth until years later. I got to admit I was jealous.

Types really don`t matter. I have been accused of preferring blondes. But I have known some mighty attractive redheads, brunettes, and yes, women with grey hair. Age, height, weight haven`t anything to do with glamour.

Everything Marilyn [Marilyn Monroe] does is different from any other woman, strange and exciting, from the way she talks to the way she uses that magnificent torso.

I am intrigued by glamorous women....A vain woman is continually taking out a compact to repair her makeup. A glamorous woman knows she doesn`t need to.

I bring to a role everything I am, was and hope to be.

[on Jean Harlow] She didn`t want to be famous. She wanted to be happy.

[on Spencer Tracy] The guy`s good. There`s nobody in the business who can touch him, and you`re a fool to try. And the bastard knows it, so don`t fall for that humble stuff!

I hate a liar. Maybe because I`m such a good one myself, heh? Anyway, to find someone has told an out-and-out lie puts him on the other side of the fence from me for all time.

It is an extra dividend when you like the girl you`ve fallen in love with.

Working with Marilyn Monroe on The Misfits (1961) nearly gave me a heart attack. I have never been happier when a film ended.

All this `King` stuff is pure bullshit. I eat and sleep and go to the bathroom just like anyone else. I`m just a lucky slob from Ohio who happened to be in the right place at the right time.

[On his acting ability] I worked like a son of a bitch to learn a few tricks and I fight like a steer to avoid getting stuck with parts I can`t play.

The only reason they come to see me is that I know that life is great - and they know I know it.