I would rather wake up in the middle of nowhere than in any city on earth.

You only say what`s important and you own the scene.

I worked hard, and if you work hard you get the goodies.

Sometimes kids ask me what a pro is. I just point to the Duke [John Wayne]

An actor is a puppet, manipulated by a dozen other people. Auto racing has dignity. But you need the same absolute concentration. You have to reach inside yourself and bring forth a lot of broken glass.

I really don`t like to act. At the beginning, back in `51, I had to force myself to stick with it. I was real uncomfortable, real uncomfortable.

Stardom equals financial success, and financial success equals security. I`ve spent too much of my life feeling insecure.

The main thing I was shooting for was not to make bucks but to have something I could believe in. - On An Enemy of the People (1978)

When a kid didn`t have any love when he was small, he begins to wonder if he`s good enough. You know if my mother didn`t love me, and I didn`t have a father, I mean, well, I guess I`m not very good.

I am a limited actor. My range isn`t that great and I don`t have that much scope. I`m pretty much myself most of the time in my movies and I have accepted that.

I`m not sure whether I`m an actor who races or a racer who acts.

I just want the pine trees and my kids and the green grass. I want to get rich and fat and watch my children grow.

Stardom equals freedom. It`s the only equation that matters.

I live for myself and I answer to nobody.

When I believe in something, I fight like hell for it.

There`s something about my shaggy-dog eyes that makes people think I`m good.

If I hadn`t made it as an actor, I might have wound up a hood.

I don`t believe in that phony hero stuff.

[From TV Guide]: When a horse learns to buy martinis, I`ll learn to like horses.

In my own mind, I`m not sure that acting is something for a grown man to be doing.