I have decided to tell the story of my life as best I can, so that my children can separate the truth from the myths that others have created about me, as myths are created about everyone swept up in the turbulent and distorting maelstrom of celebrity in our culture.

Tell me, do you spend time with your family? Good. Because a man who doesn't spend time with his family can never be a real man.

Acting is an empty and useless profession.

We make up any excuse to preserve myths about people we love, but the reverse is also true; if we dislike an individual we adamantly resist changing our opinion, even when somebody offers proof of his decency, because it's vital to have myths about both the gods and devils in our lives.

The only reason I'm in Hollywood is that I don't have the moral courage to refuse the money.

Ask most kids about details about Auschwitz or about how the American Indians were assassinated as a people and they don't know anything about it. They don't want to know anything. Most people just want their beer or their soap opera or their lullaby.

There's a line in the picture where he snarls, 'Nobody tells me what to do.' That's exactly how I've felt all my life.