Ed Harris Quotes

One of the first things I learned about acting was, the only person you compete against is yourself.

I made career decisions that came from the part of me who wanted to shun the limelight.

I think most people that are looked upon as doing something daring don't necessarily think of it that way-they do what they have to do.

You have to be willing to expose yourself, at least to yourself, to get to some kind of truth about a character.

I havent even been drinking, but, at all, but, you know, being a man, Ive got to say that weve got this guy in the White House who thinks he is a man, you know, who projects himself as a man because he has a certain masculinity, and he's a good old boy, and he used to drink, and he knows how to shoot a gun and how to drive a pickup truck, etcetera like that. Thats not the definition of a man, God Dammit!

We accept the reality of the world with which we are presented.

You look at a guy like Lance Armstrong, and you have to be inspired. I sat next to Kirk Douglas the other day, and he's inspiring for fighting through his stroke

When Bush first got elected, the very first time there was talk of going to war with Iraq, the mainstream media gave his position total credibility. I didn't get it then, and I don't get it now

You can't betray yourself too often, or you become somebody else.

Seeing what happens when you rip yourself open is what your job is all about

If I started worrying about how my constituents are going to react to every move I make, I wouldn't be able to do my job here. I'll do what I think is right and explain it later.

I was concerned about filling my life up with something important to me. To me, it was just necessary

You can mostly forget ethnic or religious differences. The competition for a bigger share of the oil proceeds is behind much of the fighting

I'm not an activist per se, but I have strong feelings about things. People can jump on celebrities for being ill-informed or naive, but I've got a right to say what I believe

I had some really dear friends who died from AIDS-one in particular. His family wasn't around and he didn't have many friends. I spent a lot of time with him in his later days.

I've always wanted to work with Paul Newman. I had a couple opportunities in the past, and I didn't take advantage of it, so it was really fun to be working with him

There's always a reaction based on fear. People assume if you're criticizing a decision to go to war, then you're saying something against the soldiers-which is not the case

Hippy, you think everything is a conspiracy. Everything is!

A lot of films come out before they're finished.

I chose films made by people I wanted to work with, about subject matter I thought was intriguing.

I can make a damn pork chop. My best dish is actually lasagna, which I do a couple times a year. My wife wishes I cooked a little bit more often, but I can put a frozen pizza in the oven and I make a good salad.

For The Truman Show, I worked for a few weeks, do my gig, then I was done.

I listen to National Public Radio, which, to me at least, presents the most rounded view of things.

It's hard to see a film that's been made from a book that you really loved because it's such a different experience

When I decided to direct, never having done that before, is something I'm very proud of

I like to act with people that know what they're doing.

I have a tight family group that's really important to me. I don't want to work all the time.

You get three hours' sleep and then you start all over again. Relentless. Pre-production was almost harder than filming. I was all over the city every day. It was really exhausting.

I hope to direct a few more films before I leave the planet, so I hope I can find the material.

I'm an actor who loves to direct film, if I find something that I'm compelled to do and want to spend three or four years doing. I really love the process, though. I might have to just say, "Yeah, I want to direct that," because I want to direct something, but that's just not the way my being is. It's got to be a necessity for me, otherwise I'll just keep acting.

I am not one of these guys who works job after job after job.

I feel like my place in this industry is still progressing.