Top 88 Jack Nicholson Quotes

I don’t have any fear of intimacy, but rather thrive on it, which is rare in a public person.

If you get an impulse in a scene, no matter how wrong it seems, follow the impulse. It might be something and if it ain’t – take two!

When I was in high school, I earned the pimple award and every other gross-out award.

I’m definitely still wild at heart.

You only lie to two people in your life, your girlfriend and the police.

Just let the wardrobe do the acting.

I’ve been too many places. I’m like the bad penny.

In this industry, there are only two ways up the ladder. Rung by rung or claw your way to the top. It’s sure been tough on my nails.

Well, a girlfriend once told me never to fight with anybody you don’t love.

There is no way you can get people to believe you on screen if they know who you really are through television.

Acting is everybody’s favorite second job.

Well, a girlfriend once told me never to fight with anybody you don’t love.

I think that’s what distinguishes Schmidt, really. In the movies now, so much of what is appealing to an audience is the dramatic or has to do with science fiction, and Schmidt is simply human. There’s no melodrama; there’s no device, It’s just about a human being.

With my sunglasses on, I’m Jack Nicholson. Without them, I’m fat and 60.

I am a person who is trained to look other people in the eye.

A star on a movie set is like a time bomb. That bomb has got to be defused so people can approach it without fear.

Just let the wardrobe do the acting.

I hate giving advice, because people won’t take it.

The minute that you’re not learning I believe you’re dead.

I always knew there wasn’t going to be anybody to help me and emotionally support me, that whatever I did I’d have to do on my own.

Early on, if I was alone two three nights in a row, I’d start writing poems about suicide.

If men are honest, everything they do and everywhere they go is for a chance to see women.

I think that’s what distinguishes Schmidt, really. In the movies now, so much of what is appealing to an audience is the dramatic or has to do with science fiction, and Schmidt is simply human. There’s no melodrama; there’s no device, It’s just about a human being.

I worry from the moment I take a job. I worry about how I’m going to do it, if I can do it… Then I walk on set and the director says, ‘Roll’, and all of a sudden, all of it disappears and it’s all happening, and I relax, and I’m doing what I do, and I’m not even thinking about it.

In my last year of school, I was voted Class Optimist and Class Pessimist. Looking back, I realize I was only half right.

I’m an actor who they said was wrinkled and balding and everything else when I was in my early 30’s. Most of the people who wrote that who thought they were younger than me are now bald and wrinkled.

I’m Irish. I think about death all the time.

Once you’ve been really bad in a movie, there’s a certain kind of fearlessness you develop.

I’ve been too many places. I’m like the bad penny.

A lot of people can’t remember things because they weren’t actually there to begin with – they don’t take it all in.

I don’t want people to know what I’m actually like. It’s not good for an actor.

The camera photographs what’s there.

My motto is: more good times.

I wanted to be the best actor possible. I worked very hard at the craft of it.

I worry from the moment I take a job. I worry about how I’m going to do it, if I can do it… Then I walk on set and the director says, ‘Roll’, and all of a sudden, all of it disappears and it’s all happening, and I relax, and I’m doing what I do, and I’m not even thinking about it.

I like to not care that much about criticism, but I do care about it.

I know I can act. There aren’t too many other jobs I know how to do.

I don’t have any plugs or tucks but people do what they want. I look at it as mutilation.

Once I got started acting I loved it.

I hate giving advice, because people won’t take it.

I just like art. I get pure pleasure from it. I have a lot of wonderful paintings, and every time I look at them I see something different.

I’ve never been able to say I’ve been influenced by a list of artists I like because I like thousands and thousands and I’ve been influenced in some way by all of them.

I’m a New Wave baby, so I got very stimulated by foreign film.

The average celebrity meets, in one year, ten times the amount of people that the average person meets in his entire life.

I just like art. I get pure pleasure from it. I have a lot of wonderful paintings, and every time I look at them I see something different.

In other words, I wouldn’t like to be an actor if I could only be real. I like to get wild, behaviorally wild, and it’s crazy to think of any form where it’s just one way.

I have a lot of vanity.

I never had a policy about marriage. I got married very young in life and I always think in all relationships, I’ve always thought that it’s counterproductive to have a theory on that.

With my sunglasses on, I’m Jack Nicholson. Without them, I’m fat and 60.

I’m content with the fact that I made a decent effort. That’s what I’ve always worried about: that I wouldn’t try hard enough.

I’m definitely still wild at heart.

I would never complain about my life, even though I really would like to have a mate.

Because you know, down deep in my heart, when all is said and done, I still live under the illusion that basically people think of me as an up-and-coming young actor.

I don’t want people to know what I’m actually like. It’s not good for an actor.

There’s only two people in your life you should lie to… the police and your girlfriend.

My whole career strategy has been to build a base so that I could take the roles I want to play. I’d hate to think that a shorter part might not be available because I was worried about my billing.

I’m not a power person. I like everyone to be on an equal footing.

Well, I’m not going to sit here and pretend that I haven’t been a rogue most of my life.

The average celebrity meets, in one year, ten times the amount of people that the average person meets in his entire life.

When I am cast in a movie where I feel that the woman’s part is more interesting, I usually start thinking about Spencer Tracy and Fred Astaire. They seem to be the most clear actors when working with women.

Almost everybody’s happy to be a fool for love.

Age is the first limitation on roles that I’ve ever had to encounter, and I hit that awhile ago.

I’ve spent more time playing golf than anything else the last 18 years. Just wanted to be an 80s-shooter. Got there, too.

I always knew there wasn’t going to be anybody to help me and emotionally support me, that whatever I did I’d have to do on my own.

I learned a long time ago in Hollywood that the only person I should vote for is myself.

I never had a policy about marriage. I got married very young in life and I always think in all relationships, I’ve always thought that it’s counterproductive to have a theory on that.

Early on, if I was alone two three nights in a row, I’d start writing poems about suicide.

You only lie to two people in your life, your girlfriend and the police.

I learned a long time ago in Hollywood that the only person I should vote for is myself.

In this industry, there are only two ways up the ladder. Rung by rung or claw your way to the top. It’s sure been tough on my nails.

If I go into a restaurant there’s a very good chance that I’m going to spend my time being the mayor. If I want to have a good time, I’m happier having dinner here.

One of my school friends’ parents owned a minigolf course, and a bunch of us kids would play there all day in the summer. Two-under deuces was a good score.

It’s not like I’m starved for company – I have a few very good lady friends – but there’s only a certain amount of times a woman wants to see you and never go out for dinner.

I can’t hit on women in public any more. I didn’t decide this; it just doesn’t feel right at my age.

When I am cast in a movie where I feel that the woman’s part is more interesting, I usually start thinking about Spencer Tracy and Fred Astaire. They seem to be the most clear actors when working with women.

In my last year of school, I was voted Class Optimist and Class Pessimist. Looking back, I realize I was only half right.

I’m not hard to get along with.

We are going as fast as we can as soon as we can. We’re in a race against time, until we run out of money.

My motto is: more good times.

I have a lot of vanity.

There were points in my life where I felt oddly irresistible to women. I’m not in that state now and that makes me sad.

Well, a younger woman is a type, but not necessarily a type for me. And what is a younger woman? I mean, I’m pretty old. Almost everyone is younger.

Played tennis for years. But you can’t improve at tennis after you’re 50. You get to be in your 40s, and suddenly you’re a doubles player.