John Wayne Quotes & Sayings

Sure I wave the American flag. Do you know a better flag to wave? Sure I love my country with all her faults. I'm not ashamed of that, never have been, never will be. — John Wayne

Republic ... it means people can live free, talk free, go or come, buy or sell, be drunk or sober, however they choose. — John Wayne

Out here, due process is a bullet. — John Wayne

I believe humor nullifies violence. — John Wayne

I won't be wronged. I won't be insulted. I won't be laid a-hand on. I don't do these things to other people, and I require the same from them. — John Wayne

In my acting, I have to identify with something in the character. The big tough boy on the side of right - that's me. Simple themes. Same me from the nuances. All I do is sell sincerity and I've been selling the hell out of that ever since I started. — John Wayne

I'm a greedy old man. Life's been good to me, and I want some more of it. — John Wayne

I read someplace that I used to make B-pictures. Hell, they were a lot farther down the alphabet than that ... but not as far down as R and X. I think any man who makes an X-rated picture ought to be made to take his own daughter to see it. — John Wayne

I would like to be remembered, well ... the Mexicans have a phrase, "Feo fuerte y formal". Which means he was ugly, strong and had dignity. — John Wayne

Everybody that I was in school with had an uncle or father in the law, and I started to realize that I was going to end up writing briefs for about ten years for these fellows who I thought I was smarter than. And I was kind of losing my feeling for that. — John Wayne

If you've got them by the balls their hearts and minds will follow. — John Wayne

I've loved reading all my life. — John Wayne

I want to play a real man in all my films, and I define manhood simply:
men should be tough, fair, and courageous, never petty,
never looking for a fight, but never backing down from one either. — John Wayne

It's kind of a sad thing when a normal love of country makes you a super patriot. I do think we have a pretty wonderful country, and I thank God that He chose me to live here. — John Wayne

Life is hard; It's even harder if you're stupid. — John Wayne

Let's say I hope that I appeal to the more carefree times in a person's life rather than to his reasoning adulthood. I'd just like to be an image that reminds someone of joy rather than of the problems of the world. — John Wayne

America is the land of freedom and that's the way I enjoy living. — John Wayne

Slap some bacon on a biscuit and let's go! We're burnin' daylight! — John Wayne

Life's hard. It's even harder when you're stupid. — John Wayne

When you stop fighting, that's death. — John Wayne

I am a demonstrative man, a baby picker-upper, a hugger and a kisser
that's my nature. — John Wayne

Seen better fights than this at a prayer meeting. — John Wayne

I don't want ever to appear in a film that would embarrass a viewer. A man can take his wife, mother, and his daughter to one of my movies and never be ashamed or embarrassed for going. — John Wayne

COWBOYS, just like the word says. — John Wayne

Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway. — John Wayne

A man deserves a second chance, but keep an eye on him. — John Wayne

Life is tough, but it's tougher if you're stupid. — John Wayne

The reason there are so many stupid people is because it's illegal to kill them. — John Wayne

Very few of the so-called liberals are open-minded ... They shout you down and won't let you speak if you disagree with them. — John Wayne

I never have really become accustomed to the 'John.' Nobody ever really calls me John ... I've always been Duke or Marion or John Wayne. It's a name that goes well together, and it's like one word - John Wayne. — John Wayne

A man's got to do what a man's got to do. — John Wayne

Republic. I like the sound of the word. — John Wayne

Hell, the truth is that I was named after a dog! — John Wayne

I am an old-fashioned, honest-to-goodness, flag waving patriot. — John Wayne

I was sure I'd set the world on fire, and it was hard for a young feller like me to realize the truth - that I hadn't set the world on fire, and I was totally unprepared to handle the consequences if 'The Big Trail' had been a success and launched me as a star. — John Wayne

I'm sure we can talk things out like civilized people. — John Wayne

Any man who'd make an X-rated movie ought to have to take his daughter to see it. — John Wayne

That's why men need instant replays in sports. They've already forgotten what happened. — John Wayne

Government has no wealth, and when a politician promises to give you something for nothing, he must first confiscate that wealth from you
either by direct taxes, or by the cruelly indirect tax of inflation. — John Wayne

Life is tough pilgrim, it is even tougher if you're stupid — John Wayne

When you come slam bang up against trouble, it never looks half as bad if you face up to it. — John Wayne

Of course I know who you are. You're my girl. I love you. — John Wayne

I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted, and I won't be laid a hand on. I don't do these things to other people, and I require the same from them."

- J.B Books in The Shootist 1976, directed by Don Siegel — John Wayne

I never trust a man that doesn't drink. — John Wayne

I would think somebody like Jane Fonda and her idiot husband would be terribly ashamed and saddened that they were a part of causing us to stop helping the South Vietnamese. Now look what's happening. They're getting killed by the millions. Murdered by the millions. How the hell can she and her husband sleep at night? — John Wayne

Jesus Christ! I would crawl over the mountains of Beverly Hills on my hands and knees if I could do a movie with Doris Day! — John Wayne

But you know, I'm very conscious that people criticize Hollywood. Yet we've created a form, the Western, that can be understood in every country. The good guys against the bad guys. No nuances. And the horse is the best vehicle of action in our medium. You take action, a scene, and scenery, and cut them together, and you never miss. — John Wayne

Life is getting up one more time than you've been knocked down. — John Wayne

I didn't vote for him, but he's my President, and I hope he does a good job. — John Wayne

Ahh, women! I never met one yet that was half as reliable as a horse! — John Wayne

You're going to think I'm being corny, but this is how I really feel: I hope my family and my friends will be able to say that I was an honest, kind and fairly decent man. — John Wayne

Real art is basic emotion. If a scene is handled with simplicity - and I don't mean simple - it'll be good, and the public will know it. — John Wayne

General MacArthur told me, "You represent the American serviceman better than the American serviceman himself." — John Wayne

Life is tough, but it's tougher when you're stupid. — John Wayne

If everything isn't black and white, I say, 'Why the hell not?' — John Wayne

Courage is being scared to death - and saddling up anyway"
"A goal, A love and A dream give you total control over your body and your life — John Wayne

Women have the right to work wherever they want, as long as they have the dinner ready when you get home. — John Wayne

My favorite four-letter words are 'hard work'. — John Wayne

I've made over 250 pictures and have never shot a guy in the back. Change it. — John Wayne

But don't get me wrong. As far as a man and a woman is concerned, I'm awfully happy there's a thing called sex. It's an extra something God gave us. I see no reason why it shouldn't be in pictures. Healthy, lusty sex is wonderful. — John Wayne

All the screen cowboys behaved like real gentlemen. They didn't drink, they didn't smoke. When they knocked the bad guy down, they always stood with their fists up, waiting for the heavy to get back on his feet. I decided I was going to drag the bad guy to his feet and keep hitting him. — John Wayne

Get off your horse and drink your milk. — John Wayne

There's been no top authority saying what marijuana does to you. I really don't know that much about it. I tried it once but it didn't do anything to me. — John Wayne

Healthy, lusty sex is wonderful. — John Wayne

A friend of mine told me to shoot first and ask questions later. I was going to ask him why, but I had to shoot him. — John Wayne

If a man says, "I'll call you," and he doesn't, he didn't forget ... he didn't lose your number ... he didn't die. He just didn't want to call you. — John Wayne

I've always followed my father's advice: he told me, first to always keep my word and, second, to never insult anybody unintentionally. If I insult you, you can be goddamn sure I intend to. And, third, he told me not to go around looking for trouble. — John Wayne

True grit is making a decision and standing by it, doing what must be done. — John Wayne

The hyphenated American is ridiculous. But that's what we have to put up with. I think that any person that's in the United States is better off here than they would be where they came from. — John Wayne

The only thing they can get me for is running a funeral parlor without a license. — John Wayne

Courage is being afraid and going on the journey anyhow. — John Wayne

I don't have to assert my virility. I think my career has shown that I'm not exactly a pantywaist. But I do take pride in my work, even to the point of being the first one on the set in the morning. I'm a professional. — John Wayne

Get off your butt and join the Marines! — John Wayne

Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday. — John Wayne

One look that works is better than twenty lines of dialogue. — John Wayne

Fear is just one of the many words I don't know the meaning of. — John Wayne

I drink for comradeship, and when I drink for comradeship, I don't bother to keep count. — John Wayne

I'm an American actor. I work with my clothes on. I have to. Riding a horse can be pretty tough on your legs and elsewheres. — John Wayne

My main object in making a motion picture is entertainment. If at the same time I can strike a blow for liberty, then I'll stick one in. — John Wayne

I'd like to know why well-educated idiots keep apologizing for lazy and complaining people who think the world owes them a living. — John Wayne

Cause even grown men need understanding. — John Wayne

Well, there are some things a man just can't run away from. — John Wayne

Communism is quite obviously still a threat. Yes, they are human beings, with a right to their point of view ... — John Wayne

Don't ever for a minute make the mistake of looking down your nose at westerns. They're art - the good ones, I mean. They deal in life and sudden death and primitive struggle, and with the basic emotions - love, hate, and anger - thrown in. We'll have westerns films as long as the cameras keep turning. The fascination that the Old West has will never die. And as long as people want to pay money to see me act, I'll keep on making westerns until the day I die. — John Wayne

All I'm for is the liberty of the individual. — John Wayne

Life is hard; it's harder if you're stupid. — John Wayne

In westerns, you meet a hardy bunch of characters. There is no jealousy on such pictures. — John Wayne

A man ought to do what he thinks is right — John Wayne

Oscar and I have something in common. Oscar first came to Hollywood scene in 1928. So did I. We're both a little weather-beaten, but we're still here and plan to be around for a whole lot longer. — John Wayne

Nobody should come to the movies unless he believes in heroes. — John Wayne

The guy you see on the screen isn't really me. I'm Duke Morrison, and I never was and never will be a film personality like JOHN WAYNE . I know him well. I'm one of his closest students. I have to be. I made a living out of him. — John Wayne

I never shot nobody I didnt have to. — John Wayne

Westerns are closer to art than anything else in the motion picture business. — John Wayne

You're short on ears and long on mouth. — John Wayne

It's getting to be ri-goddamn-diculous. — John Wayne

I suppose my best attribute, if you want to call it that, is sincerity. I can sell sincerity because that's the way I am. — John Wayne

We're burnin' daylight. — John Wayne

Talk low, Talk slow, and Don't say too much. — John Wayne

Every country in the world loved the folklore of the West
the music, the dress, the excitement, everything that was associated with the opening of a new territory. It took everybody out of their own little world. The cowboy lasted a hundred years, created more songs and prose and poetry than any other folk figure. The closest thing was the Japanese samurai. Now, I wonder who'll continue it. — John Wayne

Paul Newman would have been a much more important star if he hadn't always tried to be an anti-hero, to show the human feet of clay. — John Wayne