[on Humphrey Bogart] It took a little while to realize that he had perfected an elaborate camouflage to cover up one of the kindest and most generous of hearts. Even so, he was no soft touch and before you were allowed to peek beneath the surface and catch a glimpse of the real man, you had to prove yourself. Above all, you had to demonstrate conclusively to his satisfaction that you were no phony.

I see my purpose in life as making the world a happier place to be in .

Can you imagine being wonderfully overpaid for dressing up and playing games?

[on Jack L. Warner] He was a generous host, a big gambler at work and at play, and with superb confidence he put his money where his mouth was.

The hardest thing in the world to do, for a director, is a comedy. If you do a drama, that doesn`t quite come off, you may still have a fairly good drama, but if a comedy does not come off, you`ve got a disaster. Blake [Blake Edwards] takes a big chance every time he does a comedy. There`s no covering up with a comedy. They`re frightfully hard to write, very difficult to direct, and they`re not at all easy to act, as a matter of fact.

[on Marlene Dietrich] Marlene, the most glamorous of all, she was also one of the kindest.

[on Separate Tables (1958)] They gave me very good lines and then cut to Deborah Kerr while I was saying them.

I suppose everybody becomes an actor because they want to be liked. I do enjoy being liked, but I don`t work hard at it. I try to do the best I can for my age.

You can count on Errol Flynn, he`ll always let you down.

[on Lauren Bacall] `Betty` Bacall was the perfect mate for Bogey [Humphrey Bogart] -- beautiful, fair, warm, talented and highly intelligent. She gave as good as she got in the strong personality department. Women and men love her with equal devotion.

The only laugh that man will ever get in his life is by stripping and showing off his shortcomings.

I make two movies a year to take care of the butcher and the baker and the school fees. Then I try to write, but it`s not that easy. Acting is what`s easy.

[on acting] This isn`t work. It`s fun. The whole thing is fun. I hear actors say, "I have to go to work tomorrow". Nonsense. Work is eight hours in a coal mine or a government office. Getting up in the morning and putting on a funny mustache, and dressing up and showing off in front of the grown-ups, that`s play, and for which we`re beautifully overpaid. I`ve always felt that way. After all, how many people in the world are doing things that they like to do?.

[on Cary Grant] Cary`s enthusiasm made him search for perfection in all things, particularly the three that meant most to him -- filmmaking, physical fitness and women.

I have a face that is a cross between two pounds of halibut and an explosion in an old clothes closet.

Going to war was the only unselfish thing I have ever done for humanity.

I have a face that is a cross between two pounds of halibut and an explosion in an old clothes closet.

I wonder why it is, that young men are always cautioned against bad girls. Anyone can handle a bad girl. It`s the good girls men should be warned against.

Malta is a sod of a place.

I wonder why it is, that young men are always cautioned against bad girls. Anyone can handle a bad girl. It`s the good girls men should be warned against.

In 40 years I`ve never been late. They pay me enough - so the least I can do is arrive sober, be on time and know all the jokes.

[on Errol Flynn] Flynn was a magnificent specimen of the rampant male. Outrageously good looking, he was a great natural athlete who played tennis with Donald Budge and boxed with "Mushy" Calahan. The extras, among whom I had many friends, disliked him intensely.

[on Frank Sinatra] So much has been written about Sinatra, of his talent, his generosity, his ruthlessness, his kindness, his gregariousness, his loneliness and his rumored links with the Mob that I can contribute nothing except to say that he is one of the few people in the world I would instinctively think of if I needed help of any sort. I thought of him once when I was in a bad spot; help was provided instantly.

You can count on Errol Flynn, he`ll always let you down.

I`ve been lucky enough to win an Oscar, write a best-seller - my other dream would be to have a painting in the Louvre. The only way that`s going to happen is if I paint a dirty one on the wall of the gentlemen`s lavatory.

Keep the circus going inside you, keep it going, don`t take anything too seriously, it`ll all work out in the end.

I make two movies a year to take care of the butcher and the baker and the school fees. Then I try to write, but it`s not that easy. Acting is what`s easy.

[on Audrey Hepburn] A great lady. It`s quite an achievement to spend that long in Hollywood and not become a Hollywood product. She always maneuvered around that -- and that takes intelligence. She was always her own person.

Old age has got to start creeping up on me one day soon, and frankly I`m very scared. I don`t want to be old. I`ve always felt so young. And I want to stay that way.

[during an Academy Award presentation. responding to the unexpected entrance of a streaker] Isn`t it fascinating to think that probably the only laugh that man will ever get in his life is by stripping off and showing his shortcomings?