James Stewart Quotes
-
You must be oh-so smart, or oh-so pleasant. For years I was smart. I recommend pleasant...and you may quote me.
-
I always watch Dean Martin's show... just to see if he falls down.
-
It's much easier, for example, to play a heroin addict and you're withdrawing - you tear the ceiling off - that's much easier than it is to come in and say, 'Hello.' Or, 'I love you'. When you judge it in that way, the heavy isn't as difficult.
-
I'd like to do Harvey again. I did it two years ago with Helen Hayes in New York. It was a joy. I was so glad to do it again because I never thought I did it right the first time.
-
The difference between "trained OK" and "trained perfectly" doesn't really matter all that much to me. I once did a film with Lassie. When that dog got excited he jumped all over Rudd Weatherwax [Lassie's trainer]. Now that's the smartest dog in the world. If the world's best-trained dog can jump around to show he's happy then my dogs should be allowed to do the same. James Stewart
-
I have my own rules and adhere to them. The rule is simple but inflexible. A James Stewart picture must have two vital ingredients. It will be clean and it will involve the triumph of the underdog over the bully.
-
If I had my career over again? Maybe I'd say to myself, speed it up a little.
-
Fear is an insidious and deadly thing. It can warp judgment, freeze reflexes, breed mistakes. Worse, it's contagious.
-
If you can do a part and not have the acting show.
-
I always told Hitch that it would have been better to put seats around the set and sell tickets.
-
Bull markets are great, but they breed complacency. Bear markets can be energizing. Instead of fretting over the decline in your net worth, think opportunistically about all those bargains - and the potential gains when, inevitably, a bull market returns.
-
Hollywood dishes out too much praise for small things I won't let it get me, but too much praise can turn a fellow's head if he doesn't watch his step.
-
Champagne's funny stuff. I'm used to whiskey. Whiskey is a slap on the back, and champagne's a heavy mist before my eyes.
-
It was amazing that a play that seems dated in this world... A man whose best friend is a six-foot white rabbit... But it caught on, especially with young people - they surprised me most of all.
-
I sort of got into Westerns... It was a sort of desperation move, really. I had several pictures that didn't go very well, and I just realised that I would have to try something else.
-
I've always been skeptical of people who say they lose themselves in a part. Someone once came up to Spencer Tracy and asked, 'Aren't you tired of always playing Tracy?' Tracy replied, 'What am I supposed to do, play Bogart?' You have to develop a style that suits you and pursue it, not just develop a bag of tricks.
-
Mr. Hitchcock did not say actors are cattle. He said they should be treated like cattle.
-
One time they traded me for seven horses. Seven stunt horses.
-
I always stayed for the first curtain call and people always said, 'Who's that?' But this got me started in acting.
-
I've sort of gotten into the habit of looking for the vulnerable guy, the guy who makes mistakes, the guy who can't figure things out all the time but keeps at it.
-
When I got back from the war in 1946 people didn't want the Mr. Smith kind of movie any more, and I refused to make war pictures.
-
Having friends around for a pleasant evening is one of life's most cherished joys as far as I am concerned. But when those with me are fellow believers, how much greater that joy is, for we know that it's rekindled, one day in eternity.
-
We had an apartment on west side of Central Park. The rent was very reasonable. We found out later that it belonged to a gangster called Legs Diamond and it was a front to his headquarters. It was fine.
-
I lasted one night. They said my playing spoiled people's appetites.