If you strive for the moon, maybe you'll get over the fence.
James Woods
My parents loved each other. I was raised in a house of total love and respect. My dad worked very hard and my mother was incredibly devoted to him. I can unequivocally, without any peradventure of doubt, tell you that I was raised with the kind of love that we only dream of.
The silent killer of all great men and women of achievement - particularly men, I don't know why, maybe it's the testosterone - I think it's narcissism. Even more than hubris. And for women, too. Narcissism is the killer.
I think the iPhone was as significant an invention as the Gutenburg press, in terms of the future of humanity.
I look back on my life and have to face the fact that I have been narcissistic and selfish.
No matter what it is, if you get 10 people in the business talking about something, you get 10 different opinions, but you know, they're amazingly well informed.
Without a doubt, if I had it to do all over again, I would do whatever it takes to be a one-person studio. You need to learn how to write so you can control the material. If you own the material, you can do it all.
If someone is not tech savvy, I have no time for them. I've always been a big believer in looking forward.
I'm absolutely gonna win it, because I'm ruthless. I sit at the poker table and my job is to destroy people.
Look, just go sit at the card table with the rest of the kids and let the adults run the country.
The whole world has gone back to something we are genetically engineered to do - communicating through symbols.
I'm famous for being nicer to my fans than anyone on the face of the Earth because I figure a) They pay my salary, and b) It's probably like a big moment in your life to meet somebody so I would say, just come on up.
Sometimes the way you respond to horrific, evil deeds is the measure of one's self as a man, as a nation, as people, as a community.
I think that the economy, and the political system, has literally become such a disaster I don't know if it's possible to save it.
The bottom line is to be in control of your own destiny.
Celebrity - I don't even know what that means. Obviously it's the same basic word as celebration, but I don't know what's being celebrated.
We work in an environment where your options are to do, you know, Batman 10, so when you get to do a movie that's a really great film like this, people really step up to the plate and enjoy it.
I am one of those guys who could do the most emotional scene and crack a joke instantly. I'm lucky. I'm just like an idiot savant. I have one enormously enjoyable, pleasurable - for me - talent, which is being able to act.
The press is like a big bass, you just stick a hook in their mouth and they'll take it.
If I say I'm the best actor for the part, I mean it and I'm not kidding.
Because of who I am, when I sit at a poker table, I meet people who engage me in conversation, not only about poker, but also about the movie business and about the world of celebrities.
If General Motors can't survive and run their business like a business, let them go under.
I always have a rule that acting is acting and truth is truth and you just go out there and you do it. But what happens in each medium is that you have other responsibilities. The acting remains the same, but each medium dictates assuming other halves to make the acting work.
It's a great battle, and it really is a battle, and there are people from all walks of life, you know, never judge anybody at the table: A man can be the greatest poker player and he might know all the numbers, but he might get beaten by a really savvy kid who works in a grocery store; and that's what's so great about this game.
My attitude about Hollywood is that I wouldn't walk across the street to pull one of those executives out of the snow if he was bleeding to death. Not unless I was paid for it. None of them ever did me any favors.
Do you think I want to be the one lone voice against the Hollywood liberal establishment? It's not going to do me any good.
I just love poker players.
I was able to lean on people for favors and things to help out because their budget was so low. It was half of what John Travolta's perk package is on a film. Our whole budget was half of what his staff makes on a film.
The lifeblood of my career has been independent film.
I'm a pretty quiet guy, but if people want to think of me as a lady killer, I guess that's good.
So you can say whatever you want and quote me however you want about politics and make the next payday, and that's fine because I'm making that deal with you, but just mention the movie along the way, OK?
I think it's safe to say people are going to be interested in Kim Kardashian's love choices for the next 30 years. But they can take a minute to think about the new robotic arm that could replace the one they lost to cancer. Then they can keep thinking about Kim Kardashian.
I've had wonderfully lucrative offers to do another network series. I could do that again and have a very luscious retirement.
My biggest problem in live games is that I love the game so much and I don't think I ever met a poker player I didn't fundamentally like - even if they're screaming and they're acting like real jerks.
