Kevin Costner Quotes

Some people come to you because if you're in their movie, it'll help them raise money. And some people come to you because they think you're the person to play the part.

Audiences trust Westerns when you hit the right tone. I think they're not in vogue, but they will always be in vogue when you hit the right note.

Real heroes are men who fall and fail and are flawed, but win out in the end because they've stayed true to their ideals and beliefs and commitments.

Conventional wisdom is so scary because what if everybody's wrong?

My whole life has been instinctual for me. I wouldn't do well in the computer world. My children look at me for a question and then they quickly look away because they know that I'm not going to know how to make Super Mario or do anything.

Field of Dreams is probably our generation's It's A Wonderful Life.

I think one of the first things to go as people's lives start to go down is their dreams. Dreams should be the last thing to go - dreams are the things you go down with. If you're left clinging to a piece of driftwood in the middle of the ocean, I'd put on it the word dreams.

You're just as good, and if you work harder, you can be better and you can be more than you think you can.

I'm in a position where whatever I do, I can get my head handed to me. I'm in a position to fail because there is a whole group of people out there who want me to fail. It's a weird vibe.

You have to try to dismiss the loudness of cynicism. It's certainly going to come.

If you think of 'Liberty Valance' or 'The Searchers,' there are moments in there that you'll never, ever forget... And it does not matter what century you are from.

I believe in the soul ... the small of a woman's back, the hanging curveball, high fiber, good scotch, that the novels of Susan Sontag are self-indulgent, overrated crap. I believe Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. I believe there ought to be a constitutional amendment outlawing Astroturf and the designated hitter. I believe in the sweet spot, soft-core pornography, opening your presents Christmas morning rather than Christmas Eve, and I believe in long, slow, deep, soft, wet kisses that last three days.

I like when my face tingles, when the hair on the back of my neck stands up.

I'm a coach's coaching player. I like to be on the floor. So, if the coach tells me what to do out on the floor, I can get it done. I'm really comfortable being directed.

In America, politicians do whatever to get re-elected, and a lot of decisions that were being made at that time by Kennedy were certain not to get him re-elected.

If you want to make a great sports movie, don't put too much sports in it. It's the backdrop. It's the environment.

I was always listening to my father more than anyone. I was always afraid of my father more than anyone. But there's a moment in time where other men in your life can have a huge impact.

Being a celebrity is probably the closest to being a beautiful woman as you can get.

I've been evolving in my stunt career Stunts have always had their place, and I have to measure them now. I've done things where, if I make a mistake, I could die. You really need to look at each thing. That usually is a mechanical failure. So, I have gone from doing everything, to listening and saying, "Maybe I shouldn't do this."

I have instinctually thought I could do things in my life, and I followed that up by sometimes putting everything I have at risk - my money, my house - to make a movie.

When I read a story that I think has value and I want to be in it, that doesn't change for me. It doesn't fall out of favor for me. I might have to move on because the universe is saying you can't make this right now. But I'm going to circle back and make it.

If somebody said my wife's not beautiful, I'd go, she is. I wouldn't say, really? No, she is. I know she is. In my mind, you know.

I like being around people that mean what they say.

I don't like definitions. I like four-hour movies.

I stand up for what I believe. I don't know if it's always paid off for me, because I've been ridiculed and humiliated.

When you try to portray people's lives, you try to make sure you don't portray them as clowns and that you give them a level of dignity. You don't try to change their persona, but you try to understand that they had unique problems, set in a century that you don't live.

If you're going to tear down a hero, you should never forget that you're tearing down someone else's hero. You're tearing down somebody else's son. You might have to face her one day.

I've never had that fear of going against the grain.

I actually play sports better when I'm mad. Some players don't play better when they're mad. They lose their sense of where they're at. I have a tendency to do better when I'm under pressure.

I like American history, so I was aware of the participants and a lot of it.

I haven't lived a perfect life. I have regrets. But that's from a lifetime of taking chances, making decisions, and trying not to be frozen. The only thing that I can do with my regrets is understand them.

I've always known that I'm a little out of vogue.

I'm glad movies aren't going to please everybody, they can't. But what they have to be is recognisable. I don't equate myself with a master painter, but I think you can recognise my films.

I had a difficult time hearing my own inner voice about what I wanted to be in this life, because there were all these perfect examples of what a man actually does. The notion is that he goes to college, gets married and provides. That's what a man does.

I split my time between Santa Barbara and Aspen. I live on a pretty fast horse.

I work for the public, for the people who are paying to go to the cinema, rather than for the critics.

I don't give up. I'm a plodder. People come and go, but I stay the course.

I wouldn't do the movie unless I thought it had a chance to be good.

There are a lot of things that come to bear on movies now that I don't think are good for movies. They're trying to appeal to the biggest demographic and, when they do that, you sometimes flatten out.

If you don't understand your limitations you won't achieve much in your life.

I want to live forever, and I know I won't. I'm not afraid of dying. I'm only afraid of one thing: not being able to raise my kids.

What is it you want? That's a question that we all get posed sometimes internally and sometimes externally.

There's real drama in performing live. You never know how it's going to be.

You're this rat in the American maze, working your way towards the cheese, which is a job.

There's actually a big difference between story and character. A great story doesn't make a great movie. A great script, which defines its moments and characters can become a great movie. You can make a movie that makes a lot of money and it may or may not have great story or great characters.

There's a moment in time where kids really don't want to hear anything from their parents.

I believe in long, slow, deep, soft, wet kisses that last three days.

I'm a big fan of dreams. Unfortunately, dreams are our first casualty in life - people seem to give them up, quicker than anything, for a 'reality.'