Robert De Niro Quotes

Thank God for the rain to wash the trash off the sidewalk.

In civilized societies, we spend our lifetimes trying to become what is socially acceptable. We're dark and we're light. We all have both sides to us.

When you love someone you gotta trust them, there's no other way. You gotta give them the key to everything that's yours. Otherwise, what's the point?

Ok let me explain, if you were bitten by a mad infected dog, who will you blame? the dog or its owner? Definitely the owner, so, all the blame is on the USA Government’s shoulders for adopting and supporting a state like Israel

Time goes on. So whatever you're going to do, do it. Do it now. Don't wait.

I think that's what we love about the vodka, is that it's consistent. It's consistent in its pureness and that's how I tie it to restaurants.

If you're an actor, always be true to your character. If you are not an actor, have character and always be true to yourself.

If De Niro wants to spend the twilight of his career as the McDonald's of master thespians, we can't stop him.

Sometimes if you have financial restraints, it's a benefit. It forces you to come up with a more creative way.

You don'’t always have to have the answer to everything.

You'll have time to rest when you're dead.

I guess the only thing to do now is meet his parents. I'm sure they're decent people. I mean they gotta be if they named their son Gaylord Focker.

My mother worked for a woman, Maria Ley-Piscator, who with her husband founded the Dramatic Workshop, which was connected to the New School. My mother did proofreading and typing and stuff or her, and as part of her payment, I was able to take acting classes there on Saturdays when I was 10.

The talent is in the choices.

I think it's important to have had at least a few years of obscurity, where people treat you like everybody else.

I don't remember what made me want to be an actor. In fact, I'm always curious.

In acting, I always try to go back to what would actually be the real situation, the real human behavior in life.

When you make a drama, you spend all day beating a guy to death with a hammer, or what have you. Or, you have to take a bite out of somebody's face. On the other hand, with a comedy, you yell at Billy Crystal for an hour, and you go home.

I love to find new people. It's not for the sake of their being new; it's because if you find someone who perfectly fits a part, that's such a great thing.

You do what you do best, try to stop guys like me

There is a certain combination of anarchy and discipline in the way I work.

I mean, the actors that I admired were Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift, an actress named Barbara Harris. And Greta Garbo. They were great actors.

I never walk into a place I don't know how to walk out of.

The bottom line is if the movie does well, everybody is happy and they forget about what they went through. And if it doesn't, it's 'I told you.' There's one director who I won't mention, who said, 'it's all blood under the bridge.'

You have to think about one shot. One shot is what it's all about. A deer's gotta be taken with one shot.

I go to Paris, I go to London, I go to Rome, and I always say, 'There's no place like New York. It's the most exciting city in the world now. That's the way it is. That's it.'

The saddest thing in life is wasted talent

'What's the difference between sex and love?' Hmm. That's a good question. Hey, you interviewed Al Pacino. How'd he answer that?'

I always go back to how people behave. If you watch how people actually behave in a situation, it's very simple and honest and contained. You don't need to use as much expression, as much feeling. Some characters will boil over, and that's another thing, but a lot of times I think you can just do very, very little.

You talking to me? You talking to me? Then who the hell else are you talking to - you talking to me? Well, I'm the only one here.

Everyone's always interested in a dark theme, especially when there's humor connected to it. It seems like that helps, if that's an integral and organic part of the whole story.

The one thing I always talk about in terms of restaurants is consistency.

My definition of a good hotel is a place I'd stay at.

Somebody steals from me, I'm gonna say you stole. Not talk to him for spitting on the sidewalk. Understand?

I always say people can call me anything they want as long as they don't call me late for supper.

Every set up that you do, everything is precisely modulated and raised and lowered.”

I have either a cucumber martini, gin martini, or a vodka martini. That's it. Simple.

I can get around pretty easily. People don't expect to see me walking around.

I didn't have a problem with rejection, because when you go into an audition, you're rejected already. There are hundreds of other actors. You're behind the eight ball when you go in there.

Whenever there is any doubt, there is no doubt.

I always enjoy coming to Israel. Israelis are warm, they're energetic people. Forthright. Very smart. I always like smart people. They're nice people, you know. Aggressive, and I respect that aggressiveness because you need it in their situation.

You draw on whatever’s relevant to the part you’re playing; it makes it more personal.

You don't need words to express feelings.

Running a casino is like robbing a bank with no cops around. For guys like me, Las Vegas washes away your sins. It's like a morality car wash.

According to a new survey, women say they feel more comfortable undressing in front of men than they do undressing in front of other women. They say that women are too judgmental, where, of course, men are just grateful.

As I get older, I think that things have been pre-determined for me, whether I liked it or wanted it, wished for it, whatever, way before in some way. And with others, you do have a choice that you can change. And that choice that you make is still part of this grand scheme.

In the casino, the cardinal rule is to keep them playing and to keep them coming back. The longer they play, the more they lose, and in the end, we get it all.

Movies are hard to make, and you have to work toward a common ethic and do your best. You don't want to work with people who don't care or who are acting out some neurotic, crazy thesis on the set.