I don't believe in pessimism. If something doesn't come up the way you want, forge ahead. If you think it's going to rain, it will.

If you think it's going to rain, it will.

I tried being reasonable, I didn't like it.

If you want a guarantee, buy a toaster.

This film cost $31 million. With that kind of money I could have invaded some country.

It takes tremendous discipline to control the influence, the power you have over other people's lives.

My old drama coach used to say, 'Don't just do something, stand there.' Gary Cooper wasn't afraid to do nothing.

We boil at different degrees.

They say marriages are made in Heaven. But so is thunder and lightning.

Respect your efforts, respect yourself. Self-respect leads to self-discipline. When you have both firmly under your belt, that's real power.

There's only one way to have a happy marriage and as soon as I learn what it is I'll get married again.

I don't believe in pessimism. If something doesn't come up the way you want, forge ahead. If you think it's going to rain, it will.

In school, I could hear the leaves rustle and go on a journey.

Men must know their limitations.

There's a lot of great movies that have won the Academy Award, and a lot of great movies that haven't. You just do the best you can.

Sometimes if you want to see a change for the better, you have to take things into your own hands.

The less secure a man is, the more likely he is to have extreme prejudice.

We are like boxers, one never knows how much longer one has.

I have a very strict gun control policy: if there's a gun around, I want to be in control of it.

I'm interested in the fact that the less secure a man is, the more likely he is to have extreme prejudice.

I've never met a genius. A genius to me is someone who does well at something he hates. Anybody can do well at something he loves - it's just a question of finding the subject.

'Mystic River' just smelled interesting to me. So I read it and liked it right away. Even the dialogue in it was great.

'Unforgiven' is probably an example of a script that I liked right away but thought, 'This is great, but I'd like to do this when I'm older.' So I stuck it in the drawer for ten years and then took it out.

A lot of dumb pictures have made a lot of money, but that doesn't mean they're going to be anything cinema students will revel over in the future.

A lot of people are bored of all the political correctness.

A lot of people are realizing they had the wool pulled over their eyes by Obama.

A war is a horrible thing, but it's also a unifier of countries.

Actors know what actors are insecure about - and they're all insecure.

Actors know, with me they aren't going to be allowed to rehearse a scene for a couple of hours and then get away with doing 25 takes before we get it right. So they come with their full bag of tricks.

Aging can be fun if you lay back and enjoy it.

Alfred Hitchcock once told me, when I was analyzing a lot of things about his pictures, 'Clint, you must remember, it's only a movie.'

And I think it's that time. And I think if you just step aside and Mr. Romney can kind of take over. You can maybe still use a plane. Though maybe a smaller one. Not that big gas guzzler you are going around to colleges and talking about student loans and stuff like that.

As I get older, I tend to put more into family than I used to.

As long as somebody finances you, can make a film and get it seen any place and in any language; then, hopefully, it's a success.

As you get older, you're not afraid of doubt. Doubt isn't running the show. You take out all the self-agonizing.

At the major studios, you see people wanting to remake a TV series, wanting to make a sequel.

Comedy isn't necessarily all dialogue. Think of Buster Keaton: the poker face and all this chaos going on all around him. Sometimes it's a question of timing, of the proper rhythm.

Crimes against children are the most heinous crime. That, for me, would be a reason for capital punishment because children are innocent and need the guidance of an adult society.

Drama usually has some sort of intense conflict.

Even people on the liberal side are starting to worry about going off a fiscal cliff.

Every movie I make teaches me something. That's why I keep making them.

Every picture has its own demands, and every picture stimulates something within you to tell it a certain way. I don't know what that is; I don't think too much about that.

Every story has its demands.

Everybody accuses me of moving fast when I direct a picture. I don't move fast, but I just keep moving.

Everybody is idealistic when you're a kid.

Everybody thinks making films back to back is a big deal but they did it all the time in the old days.

Fate pulls you in different directions.

God gave you a brain. Do the best you can with it. And you don't have to be Einstein, but Einstein was mentally tough. He believed what he believed. And he worked out things. And he argued with people who disagreed with him. But I'm sure he didn't call everybody jerks.

Hoover was a patriot in his heart, but he definitely exceeded his power.