Richard Armitage Quotes

I'd have described myself as a Tolkien reader before this, but now I'd describe myself as a Tolkien geek.

I feel like my imagination was crafted by Tolkien. He seemed to tap into that childhood intrigue of secret doors and hidden worlds.

It's hilarious to be considered a sex symbol. In school I was a beanpole with a nose I hadn't grown into. Being thought of as sexy makes one employable, but it's not going to last forever, so I try not to think about it. It's like something that exists outside of me.

I have an accountant, obviously, because I'm self employed, and I use an independent financial adviser. I trust my accountant because we have worked together for a long time now.

I can't bear shopping. I can choose clothes for my characters, but not for myself. I've got no dress sense. Or I've lost it.

I never like to go out of character when filming starts. I fear that if I do, I might not be able to pick it up again.

I think when I close my eyes what I think is 4,500 days or so, 4,250 I guess days, was long enough to give Iraq to come into compliance with the international order. And I think to myself how many Iraqi citizens died under the brutal regime of Saddam Hussein during those 4,200 odd days, and I think to myself how many more citizens of how many nations, the United States, Israel, or any other neighbor would die if Saddam Hussein went unchecked, though I am just grieved by the sacrifice of our brave men and women, but I think ultimately the greater good is served.

Do people really think that about my nose? I spent my whole life hating it, so its amusing that people like it!

The war we are fighting today against terrorism is a multifaceted fight. We have to use every tool in our toolkit to wage this war - diplomacy, finance, intelligence, law enforcement, and of course, military power - and we are developing new tools as we go along.

I have a bit of pride, which is always my downfall.

Unfortunately, my love life is nil. I'm working too much - but I would like to settle down at some point.

I think if I had come out of drama school and been an instant Hollywood superstar, I would be taking long, leisurely holidays.

I'm not interested in building wealth, which is kind of naive and probably frowned on, living in America. It's something that people don't necessarily understand, but if I die poor, I die poor.

Whatever I lack in talent I have in stamina.

I love being grungy and dirty.

The problem with me is I read everything, but it's only the bad stuff that stays with me. It's weird, you only need to be told something once and it stays with you.

I think most conflicts do end with negotiated settlements; some don't, but most do.

Today, Iraq is an immediate danger to our nation. This time, we cannot wait. We cannot wait for Saddam Hussein to take a devastating action or to transfer a weapon of mass destruction to someone else who will. After September 11th, it is simply no longer an option to sit back and contemplate an enemy - one with a stated intent to harm us, a track record and the means, and just wait for him to strike in order to protect ourselves.

Ive never been that cute kid that was forgiven for being naughty.

Since real spies are so good, you never really know what actual spying is. But I do think spying is a lot more dangerous than we are led to believe.

Tolkien was, I believe, writing about his experience in the First and Second World Wars, where he would have spent a lot of time without any female contact. He was part of the fellowship of men who went to war, and I think, really, that's what he's writing about.

It fills me with dismay sometimes when you look at the scripts that do come to you that are primarily focused on violence. There are so many other things to play around with.

I know what Twitter is; I don't use it. I don't use Facebook, so luckily, it does zero to my ego.

I can work hard and be disciplined like a soldier, but I could never reach their level of fitness. I have a whole new appreciation of soldiers. I saw myself on screen and thought, 'That body is so not hard enough to be a soldier.'

I'm probably more of a new man. I'm not particularly alpha. 'Nourish and nurture' are my watchwords as opposed to 'search and destroy'.

What could be better in al-Qaeda's mind than to have India and Pakistan going at each other? What more to further their aims?

I think understanding or comprehension is probably the strongest emotion that you feel, or at least some kind of empathy.

U.S. assistance provides the Jordanian government needed flexibility to pursue policies that are of critical importance to U.S. national security and to foreign policy objectives in the Middle East.

You can have your beliefs, but if you're not devout, you can't quite believe that something which grows out of a story, a book or a piece of literature can rise to dominate and make entire nations go to war with each other. I think that's endlessly fascinating, and it's a human construct. It's something that's constructed to occupy the mind and occupy society, and some people would say to control society.

North Korea is not an insane nation. It is not a crazy nation.

I think there was a pretty smooth hand-off from the administration of President Clinton to the administration of President Bush, particularly in the counterterrorism area. The reason I say that is because there was, for transitions, I think a stunning continuity.

You have to remove your human sentiment when it comes to greed and the accumulation of wealth.

Sometimes I hate the job that I do as an actor. I feel like I'm just of no importance in the world, but sometimes you get a real thrill out of the diversity of the work.

Once you don't smile on film, they say, 'Let's have that bloke who doesn't smile.'

I'm not a massive fan of 3D. I've seen some good 3D, and I've seen quite a lot of bad 3D. I think if a film is created for the shock effect of 3D, then it's a certain type of film that I'm not massively bothered about.

I think insanity is the hardest thing to play.

I'd say that, to be a good deal maker, you have to have three basic characteristics - timing, timing, and timing.

I think, as a general matter, clearly, the United States globally supports the development of democracy and the democratic yearnings of all people.

I would not suggest the U.S. should sit down with the North Koreans bilaterally immediately after they've fired missiles - because the appearance is that you reward bad behavior. But if North Korea behaves for some period of time, I would pretty much favor direct talks.

Iran has interest in seeing that the Shia population of Iraq basically adhere to a line that comes from Iran.

I come from very conservative parents, and we weren't particularly wealthy, but we were comfortable.

The bad guys have all the fun!

I'm the only honest person in Washington.

The inspectors also found Iraq had developed effective means for dispersing these materials: unmanned aerial vehicles, spray devices, special munitions. We don't know where any of it is. And the last 60 days of new inspections have turned up no additional information that could allay any concerns about this military capability.

According to the United Nations Special Commission [UNSCOM], which carried out inspections in Iraq for the better part of a decade, Iraq possesses some 25,000 liters of anthrax. This is, for the record, more than 5 million teaspoons of anthrax. And we have no idea where any of it is. Saddam Hussein has never accounted for one grain of it.

There is no sign, not one sign, that the Iraqi regime has any intent to comply fully with the terms of Resolution 1441, just as it has failed to comply with previous U.N. Security Council resolutions. The international community gave Iraq one final opportunity to disarm peacefully, and that opportunity has run its course. Dr. Blix [Chief U.N. Weapons Inspector] told us on Monday that there has been no progress toward credible, verifiable disarmament.

A terrorist is one who kills innocents for the pursuit of a political aim.

The development of weapons of mass destruction and the missiles to carry them would be a very destabilizing effect, should Iran be able to accomplish that.

I think what Osama bin Laden does is to take the fact that some peoples lack hope and lack opportunity, and twist it to his own ends.

Well, I think finding the weapons of mass destruction is going to be quite time consuming. I know we've uncovered some documents, we'll have to exploit them, and we're going to have to blanket a country the size of California and search, I think, quite rigorously, but we'll come up with them.