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You Learn From The Mistakes You Make And From The Mistakes Other People Make. The Truth Is, You Don't Learn From Success; You Learn From Failure.
-George Clooney
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You Learn From The

George Clooney
...
You Learn From The Mistakes You Make And From The Mistakes Other People Make. The Truth Is, You Don't Learn From Success; You Learn From Failure.

Understanding the Quote: "you learn from the mistakes you make and from the mistakes other..."

This quote by George Clooney reflects deeply on the theme of mistake. It connects to the universal human journey of purpose, motivation, and reflection. Often categorized under Mistake, People, Truth Is, the quote offers insight, emotional clarity, and intellectual inspiration to readers worldwide.

Whether you’re a student exploring new ideas, a leader trying to motivate your team, or someone seeking direction in life — this quote provides value. It resonates because it’s more than words — it’s a bridge between experience and wisdom. It shows how George Clooney interprets life's core challenges and triumphs.

Lessons From the Quote

This quote teaches resilience and focus. It reminds readers that no matter where they stand in life, reflection and self-awareness lead to growth. Each word has meaning, and when studied, it becomes clear how impactful thoughtful language can be.

About George Clooney

George Clooney is celebrated for insightful thoughts on mistake and people. Their legacy lives on through writings that guide, comfort, and inspire. Discover more on their profile page.

Actionable Takeaways

  • Reflect on how this quote applies to your current life path.
  • Share the message with someone who needs inspiration.
  • Write your thoughts on this quote in a journal or blog post.
  • Use it as a daily affirmation or reminder.

Closing Thoughts

Quotes like this endure because they capture universal truths. They comfort us in solitude and empower us in groups. Carry this quote forward — live by its wisdom, share its message, and keep its essence alive.

Views: 51314
Topic
Mistake
People
Truth Is
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I Certainly Direct With Confidence Even If I'm Not Confident. I Learned Early On As An Actor That Confidence Can Be Faked, And It's Not Always A Terrible Thing To Do. A Lot Of Times If People Feel You're Confident, Then They're Confident.
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The Actions Of President Trump Have Caused Alarm And Dismay Amongst Our Allies Abroad And Given Considerable Comfort To Our Enemies, And Whose Fault Is That? Not Really His. He Didn't Create This Situation Of Fear, He Merely Exploited It - And Rather Successfully.
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Directors Are The Captains Of The Ship, And It's Your Job As The Lead Actor To Make Sure That The Rest Of The Cast Understand That By Doing Whatever He Says.
Jobs
Captains
Ships
I Just Found Out About 10 Days Ago That I Must Live 300 Or 400 Yards From Britney Spears... So Now I Have To Move.
Moving
Yards
Found
Even The Idea Of A Fart Makes Me Laugh. Saying The Word 'fart' Makes Me Laugh. I Have Ifart On My Phone. I Have Remote Whoopee Cushions. Farts. To Me, There's Nothing Funnier.
Ideas
Phones
Laughing
I Have A Real Interest In Pushing Some Of The Limits Of Things That Studios Don't Want To Make.
Real
Want
Limits
In The ’60s, When I Was Growing Up, One Of The Great Elements Of American Culture Was The Protest Song. There Were Songs About The Civil Rights Movement, The Women’s Rights Movement, The Antiwar Movement. It Wasn’t Just Bob Dylan, It Was Everybody At The Time.
Song
Growing Up
Rights
There's A Coffin In The Back Of The Church As The Wedding Is Going On ... Look, I'm A Romantic. I Like Marriage...in The Movies.
Marriage
Church
Coffins
I Think There Are A Lot Of Great Journalists Out There. I Don't Find Much Fault In The Journalist In General; I Think Everybody Would Like To Break A Good Story.
Thinking
Stories
Faults
Let's Face It: Bush Is Just Dim.
Faces
Stage Actors Look Down On Movie Actors, Movie Actors Look Down On Tv Actors, And Tv Actors Look Down On... Mass Murderers.
Looks
Stage Actors
Tvs
The Last Real Movie Stars Were Probably Redford And Newman. And Things Were Different Then. There Wasn't This Amazing Amount Of Magazines And Information About Them.
Stars
Real
Different
The People I've Respected Most In The Industry Over The Years - Paul Newman, For Instance. I Just Loved The Way He Handled Growing Old On-screen. It's Understanding That You're Now Basically A Character Actor.
Character
Years
People
My Father Was And Is A Great Journalist. Thirty Years Ago, I Was Studying Broadcasting In College, And The Problem Was I Wasn't Nearly As Good As My Father. I Wasn't As Quick Or As Smart As My Old Man, And I Realized It Would Be A Long Time Before I Was Ever Going To Be, And I Decided To Do Something Else.
Father
Smart
College
If You’re In The Room, You've Grabbed The Brass Ring. You Are All Winners.
Rooms
Winner
Brass
It Is Rather Astonishing That The United States Does Not Play Ball With The Icc, Considering Our Country Was The Beacon Of The Idea Of An International Criminal Court.
Country
Law
Play
I Don't Care. Charlton Heston Is The Head Of The National Rifle Association. He Deserves Whatever Anyone Says About Him.
Care
Association
Rifles
Peace Is Not Just A Colored Ribbon. It's More Than A Wristband Or A T-shirt. It's Not Just A Donation Or A 5 K Race. It's Not Just A Folk Song, Or A White Dove. And Peace Is Certainly More Than A Celebrity Endorsement. Peace Is A Fulltime Job. It's Protecting Civilians, Overseeing Elections, And Disarming Ex-combatants. The Un Has Over 100,000 Peacekeepers On The Ground, In Places Others Can't Or Won't Go, Doing Things Others Can't Or Won't Do. Peace, Like War, Must Be Waged.
Song
Peace
Jobs
I Don't Go On That Many Dates, Because The Truth Is, Anytime You Go Out In Public With A Girl When You're Well-known, There Are Pictures Of You Everywhere, And It's Like You're A Thing.
Girl
Goes On
Like You
My Parents Were Disappointed I Didn't Finish College, And They Were Really Upset When I Went To Hollywood To Become An Actor. I Was A Big Disappointment To Them.
Disappointment
College
Parent
On Christmas Morning, Before We Could Open Our Christmas Presents, We Would Go To This Stranger's Home And Bring Them Presents. I Remember Helping Clean The House Up And Putting Up A Tree. My Father Believed That You Have A Responsibility To Look After Everyone Else.
Morning
Father
Responsibility
My Biggest Fear Is Doing The Same Things 10 Years From Now. That Would Be A Failure. It's Something You Have To Constantly Reassess, And Asking Yourself What You Are Going To Do Next Makes It A Good, Long Full Journey.
Journey
Years
Long
At The Core Of Every Religion Is The Belief That We Care For Everyone....it's Not Too Late To Help A Neighbor In Need And To Do It With The Swiftness, Expertise, Generosity And Love That Resides In The Best Of Who We Are.
Positive
Generosity
And Love
The Hardest Thing Is Trying Not To Correct Everything On The Internet. It'd Be Night And Day - Wrong, Wrong, Wrong, Wrong. So You Just Have To Say, All Right, I'll Take It, Bring It On.
Night
Trying
Internet
I Had My Aunt Rosie, Who Was Famous And Then Not, So I Got A Lesson In Fame Early On. And I Understood How Little It Has To Do With You. And Also How You Could Use It.
Aunt
Use
Lessons
Whatever You Do, Don’t Wake Up At 65 Years Old And Think About What You Should Have Done With Your Life.
Thinking
Should Have
Years
Things Hurt Me Now. My Knees Hurt, My Back Hurts. But Your Head Still Thinks It's Twenty-three.
Cute
Hurt
Thinking
I'm Always Sort Of Optimistic About How Good We Are, As A Country, At Fixing Ourselves.
Country
Optimistic
Fixing
Look, It's Very Easy To Sit Here Right Now With Some Films In The Bank That I Like And Think I Have A Shot And Feel Pretty Cocky. But, You Know, Three Years From Now, I Could Very Easily Be Saying, 'paper Or Plastic?'
Cocky
Thinking
Years
I Think The Reason Why A Lot Of Young People Are Such Screw Ups... Is Oftentimes They Didn't Have The Luxury I Had Of Forming Important Relationships And Opinions And Life Experiences Before Having Success.
Thinking
Luxury
Important Relationships
I Played A Father A Few Times. You Don't Have To Shoot Heroin To Play A Heroin Addict ... I'm Not Running For President But I Could Play A Candidate. Most Of The Time, You Don't Really Have To Have Those Things In Your Life To Understand What They're Like.
Running
Father
Play
I Rarely Tell Anybody What They Should Be Doing With Their Life.
Should
I'm Certainly The Last Person To Give Advice On, Well, Anything.
Giving
Advice
Lasts
I'm The Flavor Of The Month.
Flavor Of The Month
Flavor
Months
All I Will Say Is We Get Wiser As We Get Older. And That What I Am Looking For In Life Is The Same As I Always Have; Happiness, Peacefulness And Joy. And That's All I'm Going To Say About That Because Otherwise I'd Get Into Trouble
Joy
Life Is
Trouble
The Simple Truth Is That Everyone Has An Opinion, Everyone Has The Right To Voice It, And They Should If They Want To.
Simple
Voice
Want
I Didn't Have Time. I Was Too Busy Breaking Up Tom Cruise And Nicole Kidman's Marriage. (on Rumours He Was Responsible For Julia Roberts And Benjamin Bratt's Break-up)
Gossip
Busy
Cruise
It's Not That Your Back Hurts, .. You Get These Horrible, Ice Cream Brain-freeze Headaches. So I Would Go In On The Weekends And Get These Things Called Blood Patches, Where They'd Shoot Blood Into Your Spine. It Was Like Running A Marathon To Get It Done.
Running
Hurt
Weekend
I've Walked With Very Famous People Down Red Carpets Over To The Crowd Of Thousands Of People, And You'll Reach Out To Shake Their Hand And They've Got A Camera In Their Hand. And They Don't Even Get Their Hand Out, Because They're Recording The Whole Time.
Hands
People
Cameras
Growing Old On Screen Is Not For The Faint Of Heart.
Heart
Growing
Screens
I Get Asked A Lot About Getting Into Politics. I Say, 'take A Look At Politics. You Tell Me What Seems Appealing About That.'
Looks
Seems
Acting Is One Element In A Film. Directing Is Sort Of The Painter Using All Of Those Elements - Sound And Music And Camera And Putting It All Together. And That Can Be Fun And Exciting. If You Fail, It's Incredibly Upsetting - Much More Upsetting Than When You're An Actor. But When You Succeed It's Incredibly, Incredibly Exciting, So I Like The Risk Of It All.
Fun
Sound And Music
Film Directing
Hosting Is Work. It Means You Don't Get To Go Up To Your Room And Disappear And Take A Nap. Like Everybody Else Does After Lunch. I'm Talking About Hosting, Not Hosting A Dinner Party, But Hosting People Staying In Your Home.
Party
Home
Mean
I Have A Picture Of A Rainy Paris Street Scene Which I Bought When I Was 33 And On My First Trip To Paris. I Go Past It When I Go Upstairs Every Night And It Reminds Me Of That Trip And Makes Me Happy
Past
Night
Paris
I'm Not Going To Let Anyone Make It Seem Like Being Gay Is A Bad Thing.
Gay
Being Gay
Seems
Failures Are Infinitely More Instructive Than Successes.
Getting Older Is Not Something That You're Not Much Concerned With.
Getting Older
Concerned
Getting Old
I'm Really White Trash.
White
White Trash
Trash
What I Learned Is That I Should Probably Read A Screenplay Every Once In A While Before I Said 'yes'. You Could Make Bad Film Out Of A Good Script, But You're Never Going To Make A Good Film Out Of A Bad Script.
Scripts
Film
Should
Peace Is A Fulltime Job. It's Protecting Civilians, Overseeing Elections, And Disarming Ex-combatants. Peace, Like War, Must Be Waged.
Jobs
War
Election
Anyone Would Be Lying If They Said They Didn't Get Lonely At Times.
Lonely
Lying
Would Be
Art Takes Different Forms... But It Represents Something That Is Basic In All Of Us-our History.
Art
Different
Form
I Resolve Not To Drink Liquids Before Donning The Bat-suit.
Suits
Liquid
Bats
I Don't Believe In Happy Endings, But I Do Believe In Happy Travels, Because Ultimately, You Die At A Very Young Age, Or You Live Long Enough To Watch Your Friends Die. It's A Mean Thing, Life.
Inspirational
Birthday
Travel
I Enjoy Going On Motorcycle Trips And Stopping In Small Towns And Enjoying Drinks With The Locals.
Motorcycle
Towns
Stopping
I Grew Up In The World Of Bad Television, On My Dad's Sets And Then As A Young Schmuck On Dating Shows And So On.
Dad
Dating
Television
It's Possible For Me To Make A Bad Movie Out Of A Good Script, But I Can't Make A Good Movie From A Bad Script.
Good Movie
Directors
Scripts
I Know Love At First Sight Can Work. It Happened To My Parents.
Inspirational
Sight
Parent
Actors Tend To Get In Their Own Way, A Lot. A Lot Of Times You Will Do Things That Will Screw Up Your Audition Process. I Was Very Bad At Auditioning, And I Always Went In To It Saying ‘god I Hope I Don’t Screw This Up.’ But At The Same Time, The Directors Are Saying, ‘god, I Hope This Person Is The Savior.’ You Have To Remember Is That The Worst Thing That Could Happen Is You Don’t Get The Job You Don’t Already Have.
Jobs
Actors
Way
I Was Watching 'up In The Air' And I Thought, 'jesus, Who's The Old Gray-haired Guy?' And It Was Me. I Never Wear Makeup For Movies And Now It's Starting To Show.
Jesus
Makeup
Air
I Had To Stop Going To Auditions Thinking, 'oh, I Hope They Like Me.' I Had To Go In Thinking I Was The Answer To Their Problem.
Thinking
Answers
Auditions
You Have Only A Short Period Of Time In Your Life To Make Your Mark, And I'm There Now.
Life Is Short
Reality
Periods
I've Been Working With Pat Robertson On Africa Debt-relief, And We Disagree On Virtually Everything Except Certain Very Specific, Inalienable Rights, And The Truth Is That Morality And Patriotism Come In All Shapes And Sizes.
Rights
Relief
Debt
I've Always Been An Optimist.
Optimist
Politicians Have A Tremendous Amount Of Ego To Be Able To Do It. It's Very Hard When The Product Your Selling To An Entire Country Is Yourself And You're Just Selling The Hell Out Of It All The Time.
Country
Ego
Able
In The United States 95% Of The People Who Win Elections Have The Most Money. That's It. So, Money Is A Big Part Of Elections. But That Happens All The Time.
Winning
People
United States
If People See Me Having Dinner With A Beautiful Woman, They Immediately Believe That I'm Having A Love Affair With Her. Of Course That's Rubbish. I'm Not A Playboy!
Beautiful
Believe
People
If We Dig Deep In Our History And Remember That We Are Not Descendants From Fearful People, We Proclaim Ourselves Indeed As We Are The Defenders Of Freedom Wherever It Continues To Exist In The World.
People
World
Remember
Republicans Are Good At Standing By Their Candidate.
Republican
Standing
Candidates
I Grew Up At A Time Where I Think Most People Had A Social And Political Conscience. Some Of The Biggest Changes In Our Country's Political History Happened At The Time I Was Growing Up, So I Was Raised To Be A Part Of Those Things And To Participate And I Will Continue To Do That As Much As I Can.
Country
Growing Up
Thinking
You Learn From The Mistakes You Make And From The Mistakes Other People Make. The Truth Is, You Don't Learn From Success; You Learn From Failure.
Mistake
People
Truth Is
I Love My Grey Hair And Wrinkles. I Love The Fact That My Face Has More Of An Edge And More Character Than It Did When I Was In My 20s And 30s. No Botox For Me.
Character
Wrinkles
Hair
I've Met My Bride-to-be In Italy And I Will Be Married In Italy Soon, In A Couple Of Weeks. In Venice Of All Places! In Closing, I Guess What I Would Like To Say Is To My Bride-to-be, Amal, That I Love You Very Much And I Can't Wait To Be Your Husband.
Couple
Husband
Love You
I Enjoy Directing. I Don't Know Whether It's Improving Or Not, But It's Certainly Evolving In Different Directions.
Different
Enjoy
Evolve
There's Ten Of Us, We've Been Best Friends For Thirty Years. Ten Guys. And Their Wives, And Their Kids, Are All Family Now. I'm Not Big On Keeping Up On The Phone, None Of Us Are. Some Guys I Won't Talk To For Two Months And Then You Pick Up The Phone And Hear, "so, Anyway." There's No Guilt Or Where Have You Been? Or What's Been Going On? Or Why Haven't We Talked? There's An Ease To It.
Kids
Phones
Years
I'm The Son Of A Newsman, I Grew Up Around News, So I Can Understand The Issue, Which Is That Papers Are Losing Subscribers And They're Getting Less And Less Outlets... It's A Tricky Thing. You're Going To Have To Sell Papers. The Problem Is, There's So Little Reporting Anymore.
Son
Issues
News
I'm The Old-fashioned Type Who Prefers To Meet A Woman In A More Normal Setting. I Don't Like To Feel That I'm Being Hunted Down. I've Always Liked To Do My Own Hunting When It Comes To Meeting Women.
Hunting
Normal
Type
The Directors Are Always Sharp. It's True.
Directors
Most Of The Films I've Done Haven't Done Particularly Well. I'm Surprised I'm Continuing To Work.
Done
Film
Continuing
Do You Want The Truth Or The Politically Correct Version? The Truth Is That I Go Plastic, It's So Much Easier. And I Like To Put The Bags Over My Head At Night When I Sleep, Which I Think All The Kids At Home Should Try. Kidding!!
Sleep
Kids
Home
Who Would Name Their Kid Jack With The Last Words 'off' At The End Of The Last Name? No Wonder That Guy Is Screwed Up.
Kids
Names
Guy
What I Try To Do Is Make Sure That The Directors I'm Working With Are On The Same Page And Want To Do The Same Kind Of Films. You Can Really Protect Yourself As An Actor If You Work With Really Good People. It Can Hide A Lot Of Flaws Along The Way.
People
Trying
Directors
People Know Everything About Everybody Now.
People
Knows
In The Time That We're Here Today, More Women And Children Will Die Violently In The Darfur Region Than In Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, Israel Or Lebanon. So, After September 30, You Won't Need The Un - You Will Simply Need Men With Shovels And Bleached White Linen And Headstones.
Children
Men
Israel
An Acting Career Usually Has About A Shelf Life Of Ten Years Before People Get Sick Of Seeing You. It's A Good Thing To Have A Job To Fall Back On And I Really Do Enjoy Directing.
Jobs
Fall
Years
My Grandparents Back In Kentucky Owned A Tobacco Farm. So To Make Money In The Summer We Could Cut And Chop And Top And House And Strip The Tobacco.
Summer
Cutting
Kentucky
I'd Think,'in A Relationship, We Should Never Have His Kind Of Fight.' Then, Instead Of Figuring Out How To Make It Work, I Looked For A Way To Get Out Of It. The Truth Is, You Shouldn't Be Married If Your That Kind Of Person.
Fighting
Thinking
Way
When You're Young, You Tend To Believe What People Tell You, And That's Dangerous. As You Get Older, You Learn That You're Never As Good Or As Bad As They Say You Are. If You Understand This, You Win.
Confidence
Believe
Winning
I've Had Some Success At Writing And Directing, And I Like It. It's Infinitely More Creative Than Just Acting, And I Have Things I Want To Say And Do.
Writing
Creative
Acting
Any Topical Subject, If It's Hollywood, Will Be A Couple Of Years Later Because You've Got To Write It, Produce It And Distribute It, So Automatically You're Never Going To Be Right On The Cutting Edge Of Stories.
Couple
Writing
Cutting
I Love Children And I Get Along With Them Great. It's Just That I Believe If You're Going To Be A Parent, There Has To Be Something Inside You That Says, 'i Want A Family.' I Don't Feel That Sense Of Urgency.
Family
Children
Believe
You Get Better As An Actor Over Time If You're Growing. Like Singers.
Get Better
Growing
Singers
I Enjoy Living In A Nice House And Having A Nice Life. So I Do Two Or Three Commercials Overseas A Year To Sort Of Fill In, Because They Pay Pretty Well.
Nice
Years
Two
But I'm Kind Of Comfortable With Getting Older Because It's Better Than The Other Option, Which Is Being Dead. So I'll Take Getting Older.
Getting Older
Kind
Comfortable
"is Art Worth Dying For?" Well I Don't Know A Single Inanimate Object That's Worth Dying For.
Art
Dying
Inanimate Objects
If We Turn Our Heads And Look Away And Hope That It Will All Disappear Then They Will - All Of Them, An Entire Generation Of People. And We Will Have Only History Left To Judge Us.
People
Judging
Generations
I've Worked With Woody Allen Twice And He Was Like, "whatever You Want To Change, It's Up To You. If You Want To Change The Words, Make Them Your Own."
Up To You
Want
Woody
I Am The Least Qualified Person To Comment On Anyone Playing The Role Of Batman Since I So Terribly Destroyed The Part.
Roles
Comment
Qualified
'ides Of March' I Did For Scale - Scale As A Director, Scale As An Actor, Scale As A Writer.
Directors
Actors
March
Directing Is Really Exciting. In The End, It's More Fun To Be The Painter Than The Paint.
Fun
Paint
Ends
Having 'oscar Winner' On Your Tombstone Is A Great Thing.
Tombstone
Oscars
Winner
Over The Years, Over The History Of Our Country, Liberals Have Stood On Many Of The Right Sides Of The Issues.
Country
Years
Issues
If I Had Been With All The Women That I Was Said To Have Been With, I Wouldn't Have Had The Time To Shoot A Single Movie!
Said
Has Beens
Ifs
When You Go To Detroit You See A Town That Is Resilient, That's Just Fighting To Win Again, And There's An Energy To That. Just Watching A City Really Fighting To Get Back On Its Feet And Watching The Inner Strength Of A City Is Tremendous.
Fighting
Winning
Cities
Bush, Sharon, Blair And Rice Are Names That History Will Damn.
Names
Blair
Damn
Both Of My Grandparents Died Of Lung Cancer. So I Got Quite A Lesson In The Payback Later In Life Of Smoking, And If You Keep It Up How Bad It Can Be.
Cancer
Later In Life
Grandparent
I Don't Sleep Much. Five To Six, I'd Say. You Could Argue That People, As They Get Older, Sleep Less - Probably Because They're Afraid Of Dying At Some Point. I Know My Parents Don't Sleep Much. I Know That I Used To Be Able To Sleep Until Noon When I Was Younger. I Couldn't Fathom Staying In Bed Until Ten Now. I Wouldn't Know What To Do Unless There's A Football Game On.
Football
Sleep
Games
I Had A Tesla. I Was One Of The First Cats With A Tesla. But I'm Telling You, I've Been On The Side Of The Road A While In That Thing.
Cat
Tesla
Firsts
The Best Advice I Got From My Aunt, The Great Singer Rosemary Clooney, And From My Dad, Who Was A Game Show Host And News Anchor, Was: Don't Wake Up At Seventy Years Old Sighing Over What You Should Have Tried. Just Do It, Be Willing To Fail, And At Least You Gave It A Shot. That's Echoed For Me All Through The Last Few Years.
Motivational
Dad
Aunt
The Owner Of A Local Cannabis Café Told Reporters George Clooney Was No Stranger There.
Weed
Stranger
Cannabis
I Don't Believe In Happy Endings But I Believe In Happy Journeys.
Believe
Journey
Happy Endings
I Know What My Limitations Are As An Actor, But My Strength Is Putting Myself Into A Well-written Part. When I Get In Trouble Is When I Have To Fix It, Or When I Have To Carry It On Personality.
Personality
Actors
Trouble
We're In A Strange State In Our World Where We Sort Of Have That Belief - And I Have It Too - That If It's Written Down There's Got To Be Some Truth In It. We Haven't Quite Got To The Spot Where You Go: "well, It Doesn't Necessarily Mean It's True." It Could Actually Be Completely Made Up And Made To Look Very Nice. So, We Have To Get To The Point Where Scandal And Those Kinds Of Things Are Less And Less Important Because Otherwise We Won't Have Anyone Willing To Run As Politicians.
Running
Nice
Mean
See, The First Thing About Actors Is, You're Just Trying To Get A Job; And You Audition And Audition And You Finally Get Them. And You Still Consider Yourself An Auditioning Actor. I Auditioned For One Fine Day, I Wasn't Offered That. So You're Still In That 'hey, I'm Just Trying To Get A Job' Thing. Then, You Get To The Point Where, If You Decide To Do It, Then They'll Make The Film. That's A Different Kind Of Responsibility, And It Usually Takes A Couple Of Films To Catch Up. And Then You Have To Actually Pay Attention To The Kind Of Films That You're Making.
Jobs
Couple
Responsibility
I Don't Know If Winning At Any Cost Is Wrong Or Not. There Are Times I've Thought That The End Justified The Means.
Mean
Winning
Cost
For Me The Definition Of A Patriot Is Someone Who Is Willing To Constantly Question The Government; That’s What Separates Us From Other Countries.
Country
Government
Definitions
I Want To Be The George Clooney Of Music.
Want
It Is Not Lost On Me That I'm Spending My Honeymoon At Comic Con.
Comic
Lost
Honeymoon
Everyone Makes Moral Choices That Better Themselves And Hurt Someone Else Along The Way - And Whether Or Not The Means Justify The Ends. And That, To Me, Is Universal.
Hurt
Mean
Choices
When You First Start Out As An Actor, You're Just Looking For A Good Part. As Time Goes On, If You're Being Held Responsible For The Movies Themselves, You're Looking For A Good Script All Around.
Actors
Goes On
Scripts
I Would Vote For Johnny Depp. We Could Use A President That Could Swashbuckle.
President
Use
Vote
I'm Interested In Making Films That Ask Questions And Don't Particularly Provide Answers.
Answers
Film
Asks
It's Not That I Lead This Oblivious Life Where I Think I've Got Such A Great Personality That People Want To Spend Time With Me. If Someone Has A Poster Of You Or Asks For Your Autograph, Clearly You Can't Take Them Out On A Date. It's Not That Interesting If Someone Is Just Interested In You.
Thinking
People
Interesting
So Far I've Done Two Films That Have Basically Been About Television Because I Know That World.
Two
Done
Television
If You're Going To Do A Romantic Comedy It Was About Housing It In Something That We Haven't Seen Before.
Comedy
Housing
Havens
It Is A Question In That Case Of Breaking Up One Piece Of Art, And Whether That Piece Of Art Can Be As Best As Possible Put Back Together. So It's An Argument To Say, Maybe That's One Of Those Instances, Like The Bust Of Nefertiti, I Think That Should Be Given Back [egyptian Piece Currently In Neues Museum In Berlin]. It's One Of Those Pieces You Look At And Think That Would Probably Be The Right Thing To Do.
Art
Thinking
Museums
The First Thing That I Learned - And I Understood It At A Really Young Age - Was That I Could Get A Laugh. Really Early. Because My Mother And Father Are Funny.
Mother
Father
Laughing
I'm Only Two Years Older Than Brad Pitt, But I Look A Lot Older, Which Used To Greatly Frustrate Me. It Doesn't Anymore. I Don't Have To Fit Into That Category And Get Trounced By Tom Cruise And Brad.
Years
Two
Looks
Never Get Behind Old People. Their Bodies Are Littered With Hidden Metal And They Never Seem To Appreciate How Little Time They Have Left
Up In The Air
People
Appreciate
My Father Ran For Congress In 2004, And I Got A Sense That There Is No Way To Achieve Much Success Without A Certain Amount Of Compromise.
Father
Way
Compromise
There Are Some Scenes That You Have To Lose In Order To Win Something At The End. A Good Director Will Keep Pointing You That Way, But It Is Also Your Job As An Actor To Understand That There Are Scenes That You Do, Particularly When You Are The Lead, Where Other People Get To Come In And Steal And You Have To Let Them. I Understand That But A Good Director Always Reminds You Where Those Moments Are.
Jobs
Winning
Order
The Problem Is, We Elected A Manager And We Need A Leader. Let's Face It: Bush Is Just Dim.
Leader
Needs
Faces
As Time Goes On And You Become More Comfortable In Your Career Path, And Things Are Starting To Make Sense, And It's Not Just About Work, You Find That You're Able To Focus On Other Things And Other People.
Careers
People
Focus
People Forget That I Was Married. I Love That, Will He Get Married? I Don't Talk About It Because I Don't Think About It. I Don't Ever Question Other Peoples' Versions Of How They Live Their Lives Or What They Do.
Thinking
People
Married
Newsman Are The Ones Who - Without Them We Don't Have A Civil Rights Movement, We Don't Have A Women's Movement, We Don't Have A Vietnam Movement.
Rights
Vietnam
Movement
My Little Animal Secrets Must Remain My Little Animal Secrets. How I Do My Nails, That Is Really My Business.
Animal
Secret
Nails
I Don't Like To Share My Personal Life... It Wouldn't Be Personal If I Shared It.
Share
Ifs
Personal Life
It's Not About An Opening Weekend. It's About A Career, Building A Set Of Films You're Proud Of. Period.
Weekend
Careers
Proud
The Idea That Every Time You Do A Film You're Supposed To Be Tortured Confuses Me. I Mean, Guys Who Say "oh, It's Really Tough, My Character Is Really Suffering" - Come On. For Us, Even In The Rotten Ones, We've Had A Good Time. I Don't Think You Have To Suffer.
Character
Mean
Thinking
When You See Hitler Burning Paintings By Salvador Dali And Picasso He's Telling You That This Time Period And These Men And This Culture Didn't Exist, And I've Seen That Happen In Other Countries, Sudan For Instance, It's Not Enough To Kill Them You Have To Destroy All Of Their Markings That They Left That Was Their History.
Country
Men
Culture
I Was Very Lucky To Get Well Known Much Later In Life. You Need To Have Flopped Quite A Few Times To Get A Sense Of How Little Any Of It Has To Do With You.
Get Well
Later In Life
Lucky
I Don't Remember Who Wins Awards [oscars]. I've Won A Few But What I Really Remember Are Movies. I Love Films, So I'm Not Concerned About Speculation About Winning Things Because I Really Enjoy Being In Films That Last Longer Than An Opening Weekend. That's My Goal In Life.
Weekend
Winning
Awards
Yes, I Slouch. My Mother Tells Me That.
Mother
The Loneliest You Will Get Is In The Most Public Of Arenas: You Will Go To A Place And End Up In The Smallest Compartment Possible, Because It's A Distraction To Everybody, And You End Up Not Getting To Enjoy It Like Everyone Else.
Arena
Distraction
Ends
I'm Not Quite Sure What The Santicity Of Marriage Is.
The Government Itself Is Running Exactly Like The Sopranos And They Sit Back And They Make Deals. And They Say Okay, 'i'm Going Do This: France, You're Getting The Pipelines.'
Running
Government
Pipeline
You Can't Beat Your Enemy Anymore Through Wars; Instead You Create An Entire Generation Of People Revenge-seeking. [...] Our Opponents Are Going To Resort To Car Bombs And Suicide Attacks Because They Have No Other Way To Win. I Believe (rumsfeld) Thinks This Is A War That Can Be Won, But There Is No Such Thing Anymore. We Can't Beat Anyone Anymore.
Suicide
Revenge
War
It's Fun To Slap People Around.
Fun
People
Slap
I Don't Believe In Heaven And Hell. I Don't Know If I Believe In God. All I Know Is That As An Individual, I Won't Allow This Life - The Only Thing I Know To Exist - To Be Wasted.
Believe
Heaven
Religion
I Think People In Italy Live Their Lives Better Than We Do. It's An Older Country, And They've Learned To Celebrate Dinner And Lunch, Whereas We Sort Of Eat As Quickly As We Can To Get Through It.
Country
Thinking
Lunch
I'm Not Out Trying To Prove Anything. I'm Sort Of Finished With That, So I Get To Play In Other Sandboxes And Try And Figure Out What I Like And I'm Interested In.
Play
Trying
Figures
I Bought A Painting In Madrid On My First Trip There Too And A Lot Of People Say, 'well It's Not The Greatest Painting' And I Say, 'it Is To Me.' Ok, You Can Look At A Beautiful Painting And Say, 'that's Beautiful' But To Me, It Feels Warmer To Fill My Home With Pictures Of Friends And Family And Paintings Of Places I've Gone. That's What I Want To Come Home To.
Beautiful
Home
People
It's Hard To Find Actors That Don't Feel Contemporary When You Put Them In A Period Piece.
Actors
Pieces
Periods
I Did A Lot Of Terrible Tv Shows And Was Really Terrible In Them, And I've Done Terrible Films I Was Terrible In, But Nobody Really Noticed.
Tv Shows
Tvs
Done
If You Don't Drink Coffee, I Am Suspicious Of Your Character And Will Not Invite You To My Italian Lake Home.
Coffee
Home
Character
If You're Famous, I Don't - For The Life Of Me - I Don't Understand Why Any Famous Person Would Ever Be On Twitter.
Persons
Ifs
The Script For This Film Was Written 52 Years Ago By Edward R. Murrow, Who Taught Us Many Valuable Lessons About Responsibility And Always, Always Questioned Authority, Because Without It Authority Often Goes Unchecked.
Responsibility
Media
Years
Without Question, I Wake Every Night Five Times.
Night
Five
Every Night
I Doubt Anybody Gets Taken Seriously For Very Long. I'll Be On Some Reality Show In About Six Years Going, Hey, I Had A Great Year In 2006.
Taken
Reality
Years
I'm Not Smart Enough And I Don't Know Enough About What's Going On.
Smart
Enough
Knows
It's Incredibly Unfair. You Don't See A Lot Of 60-year-old Women With 20-year-old Men Onscreen.
Men
Years
Unfair
I'm A Liberal. I'm Confused When That Became A Bad Word...
Confused
Progressive
Bad Word
The Secret Of Directing Is Working With Really Good People.
People
Secret
Good People
I Find That As You Get Older, You Start To Simplify Things In General.
Simplify
We're Picking On People We Can Beat.
People
Beats
I Don't Know Of An Actor That The Coen Brothers Would Come To And Say, "hey, I've Got A Movie For You To Be In, If You Want To Do It," That Would Say, "no." That's The Truth.
Brother
Actors
Want
As A Director, I Do Very Few Takes, Because I Feel Like You Hire The Right Actor And They'll Do The Job Right. And The Directors That I've Worked With And Had The Best Luck With - Jason And [ Steven] Soderbergh And The Coen Brothers - All Have Been That Kind Of Director.
Brother
Jobs
Luck
What You Learn After You Are 40 Is That It Is Just About Plugging Up Holes In The Boat. You Just Hope You Have Enough Corks To Plug Enough Of The Holes.
Boat
Enough
Holes
I've Been In Relationships Where I've Felt Terribly Alone. Just Because You're With Someone, It Doesn't Mean You're Happy.
Mean
Felt
If You Want To Protect Yourself As An Actor, Always Work With Good People
People
Actors
Want
In 2003 I Was Saying, Where Are The Ties [between Iraq] And Al-qaida? Where Are The Ties To 9/11? I Knew It; Where The F**k Were These Democrats Who Said, 'we Were Misled'? That's The Kind Of Thing That Drives Me Crazy: 'we Were Misled.' F**k You, You Weren't Misled. You Were Afraid Of Being Called Unpatriotic.
Crazy
Lying
Iraq
I Watch 'batman & Robin' From Time To Time. It's The Worst Movie I Ever Made, So It's A Good Lesson In Humility.
Humility
Robins
Watches
Venice Is The Prettiest City I've Ever Seen. It Looks Like A Disneyland Ride.
Cities
Venice
Looks
My Life Isn't Focused On Results. My Life Is Really Focused On The Process Of Doing All The Things I'm Doing, From Work To Relationships To Friendships To Charitable Work.
Charitable Work
Life Is
Process
I Have Been Directing And Involved In Producing And The Creating Of Films For Quite A While As Well As Acting. I Always Think In Terms Of What The Director Needs, And Not Just For This Scene But For The Film.
Thinking
Creating
Acting
I Think You Should Automatically Donate Your Organs Because That Would Turn The Balance Of Organ Donation In A Huge Way. I Would Donate Whatever Anybody Would Take, And I'd Probably Do The Cremation Bit.
Thinking
Balance
Way
On An Awards-show Day, I Can Play Basketball, Go In, Take A Shower And Put On A Tux - It Takes Me Three Minutes To Put On A Tux - And Be Out The Door In 15 Minutes.
Basketball
Awards
Doors
If You Try Desperately To Hang On To Something That Used To Be A Success For You, It's Going To Go Away. You Have To Change.
Going Away
Trying
Used
It's Not Ideal To Have Three Films Coming Out At Once.
Three
Film
Coming Out
If You’re Famous, I Don’t — For The Life Of Me — I Don’t Understand Why Any Famous Person Would Ever Be On Twitter. Why On God’s Green Earth Would You Be On Twitter? Because First Of All, The Worst Thing You Can Do Is Make Yourself More Available, Right?
Earth
Green
Firsts
I Can't Give You 150 Takes. I Can't Even Give You 30 Different Ways Of Doing It! I Don't Have The Talent Or The Range For It.
Giving
Way
Different
Ninety Percent Of Films Are Pretty Mediocre, But They Have A Built-in Audience And Open On 3,000 Screens.
Film
Ninety
Mediocre
The First Question Is Something Immediate -- And Immediately, We Need Humanitarian Aid To Be Allowed Into The Sudan Before It Becomes The Worst Humanitarian Crisis In The World.
Needs
World
Firsts
When You Start Out As An Actor, You Read A Script Thinking Of It At Its Best. But That's Not Usually The Case In General, And Usually What You Have To Do Is You Have To Read A Script And Think Of It At Its Worst. You Read It Going, "ok, How Bad Could This Be?" First And Foremost. You Cannot Make A Good Film Out Of A Bad Script. You Can Make A Bad Film Out Of A Good Script, But You Can't Make A Good Film Out Of A Bad Script.
Thinking
Actors
Scripts
I've Been Lucky Enough To Do A Few Films That Will Last Longer Than An Opening Weekend And Those Films Are The Ones I'm Proud Of.
Weekend
Lucky
Proud
There's No Connection Between Al-qaeda And Iraq.
Iraq
Als
Connections
Oceans Is About Glamour. I Can't Go Looking Like A Slob Can I?
Ocean
Glamour
I Can
The Best Lesson My Mom Taught Me Was How To Be Scrappy.
Mom
Lessons
Taught
I Was In A Bar And I Said To A Friend, 'you Know, We've Become Those 40-year-old Guys We Used To Look At And Say, 'isn't It Sad?'
Years
Guy
Looks
We Must Not Confuse Dissent With Disloyalty. We Must Not Walk In Fear Of One Another. We Must Not Be Driven By Fear Into An Age Of Unreason.
Age
Driven
Disloyalty
Directing Is Much More Satisfying To Me Than Acting.
Acting
Satisfying
Whatever Anybody Believes As Long As It Doesn't Hurt Anybody Else, It's Fair Enough, And Works, And I Think, Is Real, And Matters. I Don't Happen To Have Those Beliefs, As Much, You Know, I Don't Believe In Those Things.
Hurt
Real
Believe
The Only Failure Is Not To Try.
Inspiring
Perseverance
Failure
Hollywood Still Makes Things. We Still Export A Couple Billion Dollars' Worth Of Product Overseas. Original, New Product. Some People Might Not Agree That It's Original Or New, But Basically It Is.
Couple
People
Hollywood
I'm The Least Metrosexual Cat You've Ever Met. I've Never Had My Fingernails Or Toenails Done, And I've Cut My Own Hair Longer Than Other People Have Cut My Hair.
Cat
Cutting
Hair
There Are People Who Like To Work In Chaos, And Some People Work Better Under That, And Create That Sort Of Chaos, But That Makes A Set Not Necessarily Very Fun. I Like To Work On Sets That Don't Have That.
Fun
People
Chaos
Over The Course Of My Career, I've Had The Great Fortune Of Working With Some Incredible Filmmakers Who Have Protected Me And Inspired Me And Taught Me What An Honor It Is To Work In Film.
Careers
Honor
Taught
George Clooney Likes To Talk About Himself In The Third Person Mostly. He's Always Enjoyed It. Listen, I Don't Like To Think In Those Terms, Where You Just Have To Completely Separate Yourself One From The Other.
Thinking
Likes
Third Person
I Think It's The Most Responsible Thing You Can Do, To Have Kids. It's Not Something To Be Taken Lightly. I Don't Have That Gene That People Have To Replicate.
Taken
Kids
Thinking
I'm So Lucky To Have Been Raised The Way I Have, Because My Parents Believed That Everyone Had The Right To Their Own Feelings, Opinions, And Existence; As Long As They Weren't Harming Others, You Had To Defend Those Rights.
Rights
Long
Parent
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