I'd like to know why well-educated idiots keep apologizing for lazy and complaining people who think the world owes them a living.

A friend of mine told me to shoot first and ask questions later. I was going to ask him why, but I had to shoot him.

I play John Wayne in every part regardless of the character, and I've been doing okay, haven't I?

Healthy, lusty sex is wonderful.

Every country in the world loved the folklore of the West--the music, the dress, the excitement, everything that was associated with the opening of a new territory. It took everybody out of their own little world. The cowboy lasted a hundred years, created more songs and prose and poetry than any other folk figure. The closest thing was the Japanese samurai. Now, I wonder who'll continue it.

Contrary to what people think, I'm no politician, and when I have something to say I say it through my movies.

There's right and there's wrong. You got to do one or the other. You do the one and you're living. You do the other and you may be walking around, but you're dead as a beaver hat.