Richard Gere

Maybe the Dalai Lama is the only person who is totally honest, and even with him, he's skillful not to hurt anybody. He's skillful.

Sometimes I'm kind of spacey. I'm like Ferdinand the bull, sniffing the daisy, not aware of time, of what's going on in the real world.

I've stayed good friends with most of my girlfriends.

I would rather be loved than have money and all that other stuff.

If the work is going well and it's something that has value with some meaning to it, it gives back a lot.

Western Buddhists in many ways are much serious Buddhists than Tibetans are.

I'm younger than I once was. Internally. Less self-conscious. Less insecure.

I meet human beings who are flawed, who are mentally ill and have enormous problems, but I don't think I've ever met someone who was a totally dark energy that had no humanity or sense of love or affection for anything in their life. That's very rare.

I have no sense of time, and I'm a dreamer.

I have a lot of beautiful friends.

I'm less needy about needing to express myself through acting. I have many different lives outside of this that are extremely fulfilling.

My first encounter with Buddhist dharma would be in my early 20s. Like most young men, I was not particularly happy.

I think life is self-examination. Certainly the voyage that one takes.

The Dalai Lama said that he thinks mother's love is the best symbol for love and compassion, because it is totally disinterested.

I've got a lot of opportunities, a lot of love in my life, a lot of things going for me. Still, it's not complete. I know this is not the whole thing. There's much more.

I don't think that bravery is about skin. Bravery is about a willingness to show emotional need.

Well I think on a simple ecological level that the diversity of this planet is important for our survival, that all of our different cultures, people are important to the health of the whole the same way that a species of animal should be saved and at a simple ecology level.

All of our energy should be in sacrifice and services. Suffering, at least.

Billions of people don't practice a religion at all.

Even in comedies youve got to feel safe for things to just happen in a way that is natural and free and recognizable as human.

What we all have in common is an appreciation of kindness and compassion; all the religions have this. We all lean towards love.

When you work as an actor, you've got to feel safe even in what appears to be the simplest things.

Everyone seems to think they know what acting techniques are. Techniques just help you get to a certain place, but if the thing is happening just by itself, you don't need those techniques.

In the process of developing a character, you do, in fact, start to take him on as a personality.

I would say that the West is very young, it's very corrupt. We're not very wise. And I think we're hopeful that there is a place that is ancient and wise and open and filled with light.

The secret of my success is my hairspray.

Tibetan Buddhism had an enormous impact on me.

People don't understand what happiness is, so they have an idea of what will make them happy, but it never does.

Certainly there have been better actors than me who have had no careers. Why? I don't know.

People have a different idea of how movies are made than they really are.

When His Holiness won the Nobel Peace Prize, there was a quantum leap. He is not seen as solely a Tibetan anymore; he belongs to the world.

Meditation is such a more substantial reality than what we normally take to be reality.

In saving Tibet, you save the possibility that we are all brothers, sisters.

I'm a 50 year-old guy and I'm not in shape like I was when I was 30.

People get offended by animal rights campaigns. It's ludicrous. It's not as bad as mass animal death in a factory.

There's really one character for every actor. The voyage is to find that one character.

I'm not that tough; I'm not that smart. I need life telling me who I am, showing me my mind constantly. I wouldn't see it in a cave.

I've had an interesting life.

In a way, one gets stability from being able to order the rational mind.

I think most of our religious institutions are pretty corrupt, so they're not reliable. I think the Christian religion that I was brought up with has very little to do with Christ, really, and more an institutions that have built up around the church.

Even in comedies, you've got to feel safe for things to just happen in a way that is natural and free, and recognizable as human.

I don't know any of us who are in relationships that are totally honest - it doesn't exist.

There is nothing real about film. Nothing. Even the light particles that project the film can't be proven to exist. Nothing is there.

The drive for happiness is vital; it's what keeps us in motion

The drive for happiness is vital; it's what keeps us in motion.

Everyone responds to kindness.

I cry every chance I get.

From a Buddhist point of view, emotions are not real. As an actor, I manufacture emotions. They're a sense of play. But real life is the same. We're just not aware of it.

I do think that good actors can do any part. It doesn't mean that they are the best ones to do it.

It's nice to have money, but the first thing I did with money was buy my father a snow-blower, because my job was to shovel snow, and I wasn't there to do it any more, so I was able to buy him a blower.

I can't say I have control over my emotions; I don't know my mind. I'm lost like everyone else. I'm certainly not a leader.

When someone has a strong intuitive connection, Buddhism suggests that it's because of karma, some past connection.

Mindfulness is a quality that's always there. It's an illusion that there's a meditation and post-meditation period, which I always find amusing, because you're either mindful or you're not.

I'm voting for Gore because the other is unthinkable. Which most of us will probably do. I hope all of us. I've always liked Ralph Nader and would like to see a real third party, but the thought of George Bush as president is unthinkable.

All of our energy should be in sacrifice and services. Suffering at least.

When I started acting, it was really the way for me to be able to communicate.