Al Pacino Quotes: Wisdom and Inspiration from a Hollywood Legend
Al Pacino is a legendary actor who has been a dominant force in Hollywood for over five decades. He has won numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, two Tony Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards. Pacino is also known for his memorable quotes both on and off-screen. In this article, we will take a look at some of the best Al Pacino quotes and explore their wisdom and inspiration.
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Al Pacino’s Early Life and Career
- Al Pacino on Acting
- Al Pacino on Life and Success
- Al Pacino on Love and Relationships
- Al Pacino on Fear and Failure
- Al Pacino on Creativity and Art
- Al Pacino on Fame and Celebrity
- Al Pacino on Politics and Society
- Al Pacino on Faith and Spirituality
- Al Pacino on Aging and Mortality
- Al Pacino’s Most Famous Movie Quotes
- Conclusion
- FAQs
Introduction
Al Pacino is a Hollywood icon who has made a lasting impact on the world of entertainment. He is known for his intense performances, electrifying energy, and powerful presence. In addition to his acting, Pacino is also known for his inspiring quotes that offer insight into his perspective on life and the world around him.
Al Pacino’s Early Life and Career
Al Pacino was born in East Harlem, New York City, in 1940. He grew up in poverty and struggled to find his place in the world. However, he discovered a love for acting at a young age and pursued it relentlessly. He attended the High School of Performing Arts in New York City and later studied at the Actors Studio with legendary acting teacher Lee Strasberg.
Pacino’s breakthrough role came in 1972 when he starred in “The Godfather” as Michael Corleone. This role launched him into stardom and established him as one of the greatest actors of his generation.
Al Pacino on Acting
“Acting is not about being someone different. It’s finding the similarity in what is apparently different, then finding myself in there.”
“An actor’s job is to give the director options.”
“The best thing about acting is that I get to lose myself in another character and actually get paid for it. It’s a great outlet. As for myself, I’m not sure who I am. It seems that I change every day.”
“Acting is not about being famous, it’s about exploring the human soul.”
Al Pacino on Life and Success
“Vanity is my favorite sin.”
“The only thing that comes to a sleeping man is dreams.”
“I’m always looking for something that’s real and that moves me.”
“The truth is, you can do everything right and still fail. That’s life.”
“Great things are not accomplished by those who yield to trends and fads and popular opinion.”
Al Pacino on Love and Relationships
“Love is a song that never ends.”
“Women have a way of complicating things.”
“Women will never be as successful as men because they have no wives to advise them.”
Al Pacino on Fear and Failure
“Fear can be a good thing when you’re trying to figure out what you’re afraid of. Fear can be a bad thing when you’re afraid of the wrong things.”
“Failure is not the enemy, but rather fear of failure.”
“The way to deal with fear is to face it.”
“The one thing you can’t do when you’re highly ranked is relax.”
Al Pacino on Creativity and Art
“Art is a way of expanding and seeing the world in a way that is new and different.”
“Anytime I approach a new role, I always look for something that scares me a little bit.”
“Creativity takes courage.”
“Film is a collaborative medium, and it’s the director’s medium. You’re there to serve the director’s vision.”
“Artists can color the sky red because they know it’s blue. Those of us who aren’t artists must color things the way they really are or people might think we’re stupid.”
Al Pacino on Fame and Celebrity
“Fame is not the glory it’s cracked up to be. It’s just a job like anything else. The only difference is that it’s hard to get fired from.”
“I think fame is a burden. It’s not a gift.”
“I don’t like to watch my own movies. I fall asleep in my own movies.”
“Success has a way of reinforcing itself.”
Al Pacino on Politics and Society
“Corruption is everywhere. Politics, the church, the police. And it’s getting worse.”
“I think the movies that are the most successful are those that connect with people’s experiences.”
“There’s nothing wrong with being afraid. It’s not the absence of fear, it’s overcoming it.”
Al Pacino on Faith and Spirituality
“I believe in God. I’m not a religious person, but I’m a spiritual person.”
“God doesn’t make the world this way. We do.”
“I think religion is a good thing, but I think it can be a dangerous thing.”
Al Pacino on Aging and Mortality
“As you get older, the roles get smaller.”
“Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.”
“You have to continue to grow, or you’re just like last night’s cornbread – stale and dry.”
“Life is short, but it’s wide.”
Al Pacino’s Most Famous Movie Quotes
“Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.” – “The Godfather: Part III”
“Say hello to my little friend!” – “Scarface”
“Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.” – “The Godfather: Part II”
“Attica! Attica!” – “Dog Day Afternoon”
“Hoo-ah!” – “Scent of a Woman”
Conclusion
Al Pacino is a Hollywood icon whose wisdom and inspiration extends far beyond his acting career. His memorable quotes offer insight into his perspective on life, love, success, and more. Whether you are a fan of his work or not, there is no denying the impact that Al Pacino has had on the entertainment industry and on the world at large.
Phrases
-It’s easy to fool the eye but it’s hard to fool the heart.
-sometimes it’s better to be with the devil u know than the angel u didn’t know
-I always tell the truth. Even when I lie.
-Be careful how you judge people, most of all friends. You don’t sum up a man’s life in one moment.
-I believe in one day at a time; you’ve got TODAY, that’s what you’ ve got.
-There is no happiness. There is only concentration.
-I like women who can cook. That’s first. Love is very important, but you’ve got to have a friend first – you want to finally come to a point where you say that the women you’re with is also your friend.
Al Pacino-If you get all tangled up, just tango on.
-All I am is what I’m going after.
-The problem with me is, I guess, the way I express myself, you have to be with me 50 years before you can get a sense of what I’m talking about.
-Look, but don’t touch. Touch, but don’t taste. Taste, but don’t swallow.
-Forget the career, do the work. If you feel what you are doing is on line and you’re going someplace and you have a vision and you stay with it, eventually things will happen.
-Either we heal now, as a team, or we will die as individuals.
-Take a look at Israel’s history and you would know who the terrorist is.
-They say we die twice – once when the last breath leaves our body and once when the last person we know says our name.
-Vanity: my favorite sin.
-The camera can film my face but until it captures my soul, you don’t have a movie.
-You’ll never be alone if you’ve got a book.
-Our ability to manufacture fraud now exceeds our ability to detect it.
-Without coffee something’s missing
-Love is overrated. Biochemically no different than eating large quantities of chocolate
-My best advice to any young person is, if you want kids, be careful who you have them with. That’s my mantra.
-Freedom, baby, is never having to say youre sorry.
-Our life is looking forward or looking back, that’s it. Where is the moment?
-If something is working, don’t fix it. Keep going. Go with the glow.
-The fruit falls off the tree. You don’t shake it off before it’s ready to fall.
-Romantic love can be a lot of crap, though, let me tell you. And it can hurt you.
-Show me a bad script and I will show you a big payday.
-The only thing in this world that gives orders is balls.
-There are many things my father taught me here in this room. He taught me: keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.
-Love goes through different stages. But it endures.
-Either I act or I die.
-On any given Sunday you’re gonna win or you’re gonna lose. The point is — can you win or lose like a man?
-That’s the way to live – around people who care. It may be a tough ride, but something is going to come out of it.
-My weaknesses… I wish I could come up with something. I’d probably have the same pause if you asked me what my strengths are. Maybe they’re the same thing.
-If you can identify with people, you can empathize with people and therefore you understand things.
-Sometimes the only way you can get an audience is at an audition.
-It turned out that time doesn’t heal the wound , but in its so merciful way , blunts the edges ever so slightly
-I love work because it keeps sex in perspective. Otherwise, it can become a preoccupation.
-“To be or not to be is” [by William Shakespeare] beyond anything I can comprehend. I understand it on a superficial level, but the depth of it just boggles my mind. I think it’s probably the greatest of all speeches ever written.
-There was a time in my life when being dishonest with women was the natural way to be. I finally said, “Hey, I have to stop this silliness.”
-Actually, the person I related to was James Dean. I grew up with the Dean thing. Rebel Without A Cause had a very powerful effect on me.
-A kiss is a lusty dollop of dessert to be served with desire and savored with passion.
-Sometimes what we imagine and the world aren’t different things. Sometimes they are the same exact thing.
-I don’t understand the hatred and fear of gays and bisexuals and lesbians… it’s a concept I honestly cannot grasp. To me, it’s not who you love… a man, a woman, what have you… it’s the fact that you love. That is all that truly matters.
-Sometimes you’re fighting corporations and forget that people can talk to each other.
-We live in a world where the more you’re working, the more things you do. It’s a workaday world.
-There are a couple of times I would’ve liked to have married. I think I made a mistake, especially once.
-I’m so shy now I wear sunglasses everywhere I go.
-I don’t regret anything. I feel like I’ve made what I would call mistakes. I picked the wrong movie, or I didn’t pursue a character, but everything you do is part of you and you get something from it.
-I’m an actor, not a star. Stars are people who live in Hollywood and have heart-shaped swimming pools.
-The truth is, you know, we need our anodynes. You know that word, anodynes? We need that in life some times. A good warm bath can be one for you, or a whatever.
-You never open your mouth until you know what the shot is.
-I’m not a violent person, never was, but I have this temperament that I’ve always displayed. I guess it has to do with my tradition and being Italian, we’re very outgoing with our emotions.
-I found out how temperamental I am, yes. And that sometimes that can be kind of off-putting.
-Man is a little bit better than his reputation, and a little bit worse
-In America most everybody who’s Italian is half Italian. Except me. I’m all Italian. I’m mostly Sicilian, and I have a little bit of Neapolitan in me. You get your full dose with me.
-I was playing a part of someone dealing dope on a street corner – and there was a guy actually dealing heroin right there. I looked at him, he looked at me, and I got real confused.
-Vanity is my favourite sin.
-The play is the source, it is orchestrated with words. In a movie, you are not dealing with as much as that. There are machines and wires. When you’re acting for a camera, it keeps taking and never giving back.
-I don’t talk politics and I don’t talk philosophy or anything like that, but if you look at my work, you might get an expression of me as a person.
-Opinions I have about anything are in my personal life.
-The thing that can get you a little upset is when people say other people are better than you. That can bug you.
-It’s never really that much fun for me to do movies anyway, because you – you know, you have to get up very early in the morning and you have to go in and you spend a lot of time waiting around.
-The difference between the actor and the painter is that the actor would buy somebody a knish in order to have them watch him act.
-Playing a character is an illusion, and I feel that when you know too much about a person, possibly part of that illusion is disrupted.
-I’m constantly striving to break through to something new. You try to maintain a neutral approach to your work, and not be too hard on yourself.
-Everything changes with age. The parts change with age, your feelings about them change, roles that I would’ve wanted to play 10 years ago, I don’t want to play now.
-I destroy the painting as soon as I can see what it is. When I can make out something in it, I destroy it because it’s no longer coming from my unconscious.
-All due respect and trying to be as modest as I can be, I am a dancer. But I don’t think I would be on ‘Dancing with the Stars,’ mainly because I would be too shy.
-I learned to wrestle, I learned defensive fighting at a young age, because when someone hit me, I would throw up and fall down.
-I don’t like a lot of things like [Iraq], I never did. Being in a position of celebrity and having your words carry such unnatural weight…I’ve always been a bit squeamish when it came to that kind of thing.
-It wasn’t until I got older that I realized acting was something I could really do.
-The literal, basic thing of the stage is really like a magnet. It brings me back to earth.
-Shakespeare’s plays are more violent than ‘Scarface.’
-I don’t think actors should ever expect to get a role, because the disappointment is too great. You’ve got to think of things as an opportunity. An audition’s an opportunity to have an audience.
-I used to say I wanted to genuflect to a woman, put her up on a pedestal higher and higher, way up beyond my grasp…Then I’d find another one.
-I’ve had very deep relationships that lasted for long periods of time with people – you could almost call them marriages, even though I didn’t marry. But it was costly.
-I hope the perception is that I’m an actor, I never intended to be a movie star.
-I don’t need bodyguards. I’m from the South Bronx.
-I turned down a lot of films before I made my first one. I knew that it was time for me to get into movies.
-When you perform with a live audience, the audience comes back to you, so that you and the audience are giving to each other, in a sense. It’s an extraordinary thing. It’s wild turf up there.
-When [Julia Marie Pacino] was 5 or 6 years old, we were in an Italian restaurant, and these people came by the table and they would start talking to me, asking me for my autograph and she just went under the table.
-It would be hard to play a character you don’t like – for me anyway – or can’t find something in them to like.
-It’s not personal, it’s strictly business
