George Clooney Quotes & Sayings

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. — George Clooney

I find politics in almost every country I go to be incredibly different and incredibly similar and I'm never surprised by anything. — George Clooney

If you want to protect yourself as an actor, always work with good people — George Clooney

It is astonishing that gay and lesbian Americans are still treated as second-class citizens. I am confident that, very soon, the laws of this nation will reflect the basic truth that gay and lesbian people - like all human beings - are born equal in dignity and rights. — George Clooney

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. — George Clooney

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. — George Clooney

My father taught me about having principles and how to treat people with respect. My aunt also taught me how to keep a perspective on everything that happens to you. So you learn to be humble and not take your success for granted. — George Clooney

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. — George Clooney

I bought a piano once because I had the dream of playing As Time Goes By as some girl's leaning on it drinking a martini. Great image. But none of it worked out. I can't even play Chopsticks. But I've got a nice piano at my house! — George Clooney

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. — George Clooney

You never really learn much from hearing yourself speak. — George Clooney

There are quite a few things that the devil could tempt me with ... I could be tempted by youth if I was allowed to hold on to all the wisdom that I've gotten. In everything, not just sports. In life. In acting. I'd be tempted by youth only so I could continue doing it a little longer. — George Clooney

I'm a liberal. I'm confused when that became a bad word ... — George Clooney

The rehearsal process in general is about trusting one another. — George Clooney

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. — George Clooney

It's incredibly unfair. You don't see a lot of 60-year-old women with 20-year-old men onscreen. — George Clooney

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) — George Clooney

'Ides of March' I did for scale - scale as a director, scale as an actor, scale as a writer. — George Clooney

Anytime there's an actual grassroots movement that isn't funded by people trying to create a grassroots movement, I find that interesting. — George Clooney

The directors are always sharp. It's true. — George Clooney

Whatever you do, don't wake up at 65 years old and think about what you should have done with your life. — George Clooney

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. — George Clooney

I watch 'Batman & Robin' from time to time. It's the worst movie I ever made, so it's a good lesson in humility. — George Clooney

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. — George Clooney

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. — George Clooney

I am the least qualified person to comment on anyone playing the role of Batman since I so terribly destroyed the part, — George Clooney

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. — George Clooney

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. Which is fine, but you have to pay attention to it. — George Clooney

I'm not smart enough and I don't know enough about what's going on. — George Clooney

The problem is, we elected a manager and we need a leader. Let's face it: Bush is just dim. — George Clooney

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. — George Clooney

Even other movies I wasn't involved with, I'd watch them edit 'cause I really enjoy watching them go through their process. It's a very economical, educational process. — George Clooney

It's not about an opening weekend. It's about a career, building a set of films you're proud of. Period. — George Clooney

The Patriot Act is certainly a concern; all of those things are dangerous. I think more important than me preaching is that we as a nation have to have the debate. I don't know what the answers are. I just know that if the idea is to say talking about it makes you unpatriotic, I've got to call your bluff on that. — George Clooney

The truth of the matter is the real story are the people who rise above all of this incredible cruelty. Otherwise that cruelty wins. — George Clooney

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. — George Clooney

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. — George Clooney

I'm a Method actor. I spent years training for the drinking and carousing I had to do in this film. — George Clooney

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. — George Clooney

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. — George Clooney

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. — George Clooney

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. — George Clooney

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. — George Clooney

I enjoy directing. I don't know whether it's improving or not, but it's certainly evolving in different directions. — George Clooney

Getting older is not something that you're not much concerned with. — George Clooney

You can't beat your enemy anymore through wars; instead you create an entire generation of people revenge-seeking. These days it only matters who's in charge. Right now that's us - for a while at least. 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. — George Clooney

There's no connection between al-Qaeda and Iraq. — George Clooney

Most of the time, I'm working in places I'm not familiar with. Sometimes it's Slovakia, and sometimes it's Hawaii. Not to bash on Slovakia, but I really did enjoy Hawaii. — 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. — George Clooney

You have only a short period of time in your life to make your mark, and I'm there now. — George Clooney

My little animal secrets must remain my little animal secrets. How I do my nails, that is really my business. — George Clooney

Yes, I slouch. My mother tells me that. — George Clooney

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. — George Clooney

You get better as an actor over time if you're growing. Like singers. — George Clooney

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. — George Clooney

I think one of the major misconceptions about me is that I live my life the way people think I lead my life, with hot and cold drinks running everywhere and a party all the time. They think of my life in terms of certain excesses that don't really exist. Things are actually fairly simple. — George Clooney

Failures are infinitely more instructive than successes. — George Clooney

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. — George Clooney

I go on YouTube when somebody says to look something up. — George Clooney

Stage actors look down on movie actors, movie actors look down on TV actors, and TV actors look down on ... mass murderers ... — George Clooney

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. — George Clooney

What did Bush do on 9/11? He ran away and hid. Even Reagan knew more about leadership than that, and he was as bad a symbol of America as I can think of, off-hand. But at least he's been in enough cowboy movies to know he had to come out and stand on top of the rubble and be seen shaking his fist or something. — George Clooney

I resolve not to drink liquids before donning the Bat-suit. — George Clooney

If you think back , the Academy was doing a better job. Think about how many more African Americans were nominated.We need to get better at this. We used to be better at it. — George Clooney

The only failure is not to try — George Clooney

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. — George Clooney

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.' — George Clooney

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. — George Clooney

It's fun to slap people around. — George Clooney

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. — George Clooney

I like owning dirt. You know, I spent a lot of time broke when I moved to California. So deep in my soul is still this idea of being unemployed. To me, owning land means you could sell it at some point and have money. — George Clooney

I believe in all the qualities of being a liberal. I keep going back to all the great social events in our country's history, starting with the Salem witch trials, where the conservative view was that they're witches and should be burned at the stake, and the liberal view was there's no such thing as witches. — George Clooney

I would vote for Johnny Depp. We could use a president that could swashbuckle. — George Clooney

I use my film-making to work through my deep questions and my deep problems. I think I could watch each film and tell you exactly which part of my psyche I'm trying to work out. — George Clooney

In doing the screenplay for 'Good Night, and Good Luck,' the most important thing for me was to constantly go back to wherever the opposition would argue. So I had to keep reading all the books and articles about why McCarthy is such a good guy. — George Clooney

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. — George Clooney

Most of the films I've done haven't done particularly well. I'm surprised I'm continuing to work. — George Clooney

I'm interested in making films that ask questions and don't particularly provide answers. — George Clooney

Never get behind old people. Their bodies are littered with hidden metal and they never seem to appreciate how little time they have left — George Clooney

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. — George Clooney

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. — George Clooney

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.' — George Clooney

There is a strange pecking order among actors. Theatre actors look down on film actors, who look down on TV actors. Thank God for reality shows, or we wouldn't have anybody to look down on. — George Clooney

I do know something about the news world. I was sitting on the floors of newsrooms since I was seven years old, and I've been around them my whole life. I understand that someone looks at a story with famous people in it, and you want to put it out. — George Clooney

I'm not completely against khakis. It's just the level that you have to wear them. The higher you pull them, then more excruciating it is. — George Clooney

As you get older and ease your way into being a character actor you have to be comfortable with where you are in life and career, and I'm very comfortable with what I'm doing - working on projects I'm proud of. — George Clooney

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. — George Clooney

Oceans is about glamour. I can't go looking like a slob can I? — George Clooney

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. — George Clooney

I'm really white trash. — George Clooney

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. — George Clooney

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. — George Clooney

Peace is a fulltime job. It's protecting civilians, overseeing elections, and disarming ex-combatants. Peace, like war, must be waged. — George Clooney

It's not ideal to have three films coming out at once — George Clooney

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. — George Clooney

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. — George Clooney

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. — George Clooney

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 — George Clooney

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. — George Clooney

The best lesson my mom taught me was how to be scrappy. — George Clooney