People wonder if I'll always be a part of this family and the answer is yes. My family has a lot of good energy going in one direction and because of it, we get a lot of things done. That's why I'll always spend a lot of time at Camp Phoenix.
River PhoenixAfter Stand By Me came out, people were telling me, 'You're so good,' 'You're going to be a star,' and things like that. You can't think about it. If you take it the wrong way, you can really get high on yourself. People get so lost when that happens to them. They may think they have everything under control, but everything is really out of control. Their lives are totally in pieces.
River PhoenixWe take these animals and completely violate who they are. We use them, abuse them, and deprive them all their lives…then we cut their throats, shred them and eat them! Morally, I’m against it, ethically, I can’t justify it, and ecologically, it’s just insane. The thought of meat-eating makes me shudder. As far as wearing fur is concerned, it is the rudest, most inconsiderate, selfish and sick façade I can imagine.
River PhoenixMusic is my main goal, but I'm not going to rush a record out. There are so many actors who have come out with albums these days. I don't want to do it because it's the thing to do. I want to wait until the time is right.
River PhoenixI've been wanting to go into music ever since I can remember. I mean even before I became an actor. I just thought it would be a tough field to break into, so I became an actor instead.
River PhoenixAlthough I can't stop all cruelty to living creatures on the planet, I can be kinder to every living creature in my life.
River PhoenixI've been around the movie business, so I can play it cool and all that, but when people are different they have that off thing about them. Their whole presence is just a little innocent, I think.
River PhoenixI've always felt somewhat out of place with other kids my own age", said River. "I was constantly reminded by people's reaction to our names and our diet that we seemed weird to them.
River PhoenixI’ve learned that if you can’t get it all together to accomplish this thing called peace, you do at least your part in your life, because that’s where you can truly make an immediate difference.
River PhoenixI don't want to get so lost in thinking about me and talking about me all the time in interviews. It's so nice to unwind and just look at other things and get out of yourself. It's hard to detach myself from myself without neglecting myself. You know what I mean? I don't want to get in to the habit of thinking about my career because when it comes down to it, it's not really that important. I could die tomorrow and the world would go on.
River PhoenixIt's a great feeling to think that I can be a friend to so many people through my movies.
River PhoenixCommercials were too phony for me. I just didn't like selling products I didn't believe in.
River PhoenixWe are taught to consume. And that's what we do. But if we realized that there really is no reason to consume, that it's just a mind set, that it's just an addiction, then we wouldn't be out there stepping on people's hands climbing the corporate ladder of success.
River PhoenixI can’t on my own change the regime in South Africa or teach the Palestinians to learn to live with the Israelies, but I can start with me.
River PhoenixI sometimes lie, especially about personal things, because what does it matter? I am a kind of minute commodity. My name is no longer my own. I try to lie as much as I can when I’m interviewed. It’s reverse psychology. I figure if you lie, they’ll print the truth.
River PhoenixPeople are constantly trying to make an image for you. They`ll dress you up and tell you to pose a certain way and take all these pictures... they want a certain image, so they create that. And unless you`re spending a lot of time to create another image to counteract that image, theirs will win. So right now, I`m kind of dealing with a lot of false ideas of what I`m about.
River PhoenixAnimals can't really voice their opinion. We feel as though we can be on of the spokespeople on their behalf.
River PhoenixVegetarianism is a link to perfection and peace. But it's a small link. There are lots of other issues: apartheid , vivisection, political prisoners, the arms race. There's so much going on in this world today, so much ignorance among people. That's not to say I'm not standing amongst everybody. But the point is, what can we do now? That's the thing about vegetarianism; it's an individual's decision and it's something you have control over. How many things do we really have control over?
River PhoenixWhen I was old enough to realize all meat was killed, I saw it as an irrational way of using our power, to take a weaker thing and mutilate it. It was like the way bullies would take control of younger kids in the schoolyard.
River PhoenixI feel that there are great minds up there who would like to see what I can do with an Oscar nomination. I guess many people would change after a nomination in the way they see things. In my case it's really irrelevant in terms of what I do. Still, it was an incredible experience which I will put in my memories, like everything else.
River PhoenixI'm really normal. I play football, go to the beach, drive. We have dogs. I can imagine people calling me a character, but I'm Joe Straight.
River PhoenixWe need an extreme movement because what is happening to animals is so extreme. Some misinformed people claim that animal rights activists are terrorists, but these people are simply ignorant of who the real terrorists are - the companies and industries that torture literally billions of animals each year.
River PhoenixI did my best work in The Mosquito Coast. I know it wasn't such a big hit, but for me it was more meaningful than anything else I'd ever done.
River PhoenixWhat I have got from my childhood aren't toys, but memories. And happy memories are better than any toy.
River PhoenixI don't want to die in a car accident. When I die it'll be a glorious day. It'll probably be a waterfall.
River PhoenixLife is multi-layered and there's no way I could do my life justice in one pat answer.
River PhoenixWe're all worth it, man. We're all worth millions of planets and stars and galaxies and universes.
River PhoenixMusic is a hobby, because I'm not making any money out of it, but I put just as much conviction into that as I do into my acting.
River PhoenixI would get songs sung to me, like 'Old Man River, 'or kids would call me Mississippi and things like that. At the time, I wished I had a name that blended in more with my surroundings. Now, though, I've really learned to love it. From fifteen, I really liked it. It felt appropriate. Before that, I don't think it quite fitted me. I had to grow into it.
River PhoenixIt still strikes me as strange that anyone could have any moral objection to someone else's sexuality. It's like telling someone else how to clean their house.
River PhoenixEverything is ironic to me. There are moments I find hysterical, but I'm probably the only one who would find that, except for a few people.
River PhoenixRich kids gave us their old clothes. They were the best clothes we ever had. We were these very pure, naive, poor children. The rich kids called us a lot of names but it never bothered us because we didn't know what the words meant.
River Phoenix