James Woods Quotations

We know exactly what our plant is going to cost,

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.'

The press is like a big bass, you just stick a hook in their mouth and they'll take it.

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.

Aficionado my ass...I just love to smoke cigars

When I was in high school, we were all laboring under the illusion, or maybe it was a reality, that everyone in our school was a virgin.

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?

Whatever it took to get elected president of the United States, I don't think being a complete and utter moron is one of those predicates.

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.

I'm a pretty quiet guy, but if people want to think of me as a lady killer, I guess that's good.

My second ex-wife was really kind of like a ship passing in the night. Only she turned out to be the Exxon Valdez.

Golfers are genuinely courteous in a discourteous world. Show me a guest on The Jerry Springer Show who's a golfer.

Here's what I believe a soul is - at least this, I believe it's at least this. I believe that every kindness that we create in our lives, if it came because we were affected by a person we loved and lost, that person lives through that kindness. That's what a soul is.

Give Bush 10 minutes before you hammer him. I think he's going to surprise people. He sounds simple and uncomplicated, but maybe that's what we need now. He's not as stupid as everyone thinks. I like the guy.

Achieving success as an actor has not been easy for me. My biggest, probably most irrational complaint has been that I've had to work harder for what I've gotten. I've seen other people with nepotism or wealth or cheesy good looks on their side who've had.

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.

The lifeblood of my career has been independent film.

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

It is okay to fall, but not okay to stay on the ground.

...simple logic tells you that if somebody wants you dead you have one course of action: To get them deader sooner.

The bottom line is to be in control of your own destiny.

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.

Filmmaking, like sex, isn't a polite enterprise. It involves a lot of mess and the bottom line is, if somebody ain't screaming, you're not doing your job.

I think the great power of Bette Davis was she always knew who she was. She had an obligation to herself and her audience. When you think of what she was compelled to do, the power she put on the screen, the fact that she took upon herself a much greater task...

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.

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.

Just curious. Does the president of the United States have any advice for other teenage boys in America? Wounded warriors, for example . . .

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'm absolutely gonna win it, because I'm ruthless. I sit at the poker table and my job is to destroy people.

...if [the 9/11/01 attacks] had happened to the Russians, about three major cities in the Middle East would have been parking lots in twenty minute and they wouldn't have worried about the consequences because there would not have been any because the remaining terrorist states would have said 'we get the message.'

The only reason people lock their car doors when Obama walks by is they are afraid he'll tax them to death . . .

I would give you seven to one odds that this is going to be a slash piece, but that's OK. I'm willing to take the heat.

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.

I hate to say that, but name an actor, and I'll tell you who they're related to, ... It's unbelievable! So I came out here, this sort of skinny geeky kid, and it just took forever. I didn't get my first sort of break until I was 30.

If I say I'm the best actor for the part, I mean it and I'm not kidding.

If someone is not tech savvy, I have no time for them. I've always been a big believer in looking forward.

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.

Whatever it takes to get the job done. We need all hands on deck.

Hold on a second, I got a hand here... you don't mind if I play while we talk? It's part of the charm of this entire event.

I think the iPhone was as significant an invention as the Gutenburg press, in terms of the future of humanity.

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 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.

I think that we've been up until now a rather indulgent nation, and now I think we're starting to become more serious adults.

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.

just horrible, as everybody knows now. They've gotten so bad.

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.

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.

Two of our biggest movie stars are Julia Roberts and Cameron Diaz, and they smile onscreen. Something people have forgotten about doing for 30 years.

The whole world has gone back to something we are genetically engineered to do - communicating through symbols.

The same time we were talking with Eric we were having airline tickets printed to go see Dave in Jacksonville.

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.

This is an idea that is working fabulously.

This is a total shock, ... This is really a step backwards for us.

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.

It should have been done. It's our pure oversight. It should have been told to them as soon as we knew.

I've had wonderfully lucrative offers to do another network series. I could do that again and have a very luscious retirement.

I look back on my life and have to face the fact that I have been narcissistic and selfish.

If you strive for the moon, maybe you'll get over the fence.

If General Motors can't survive and run their business like a business, let them go under.

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.

You could see all this fire and smoke and electricity flying everywhere. You could see arcs of electricity. It was just crazy.

All the racial jokes and so on are so over-the-top that's the only way they can work. If they weren't, then you'd really have a problem, ... Because they're so ridiculous and over-the-top and because the character's so ridiculous, then actually it gets that kind of gasping, screaming laughter from everybody, which is good -- or we haven't had any problems, nobody's felt hurt, thank God.