Montalban Quotes & Sayings

There couldn't be better parents than mine, loving yet strict. They disciplined with love. A child without discipline is, in away, a lost child. You cannot have freedom without discipline. — Ricardo Montalban

It is to TV that I owe my freedom from bondage of the Latin lover roles. Television came along and gave me parts to chew on. It gave me wings as an actor. — Ricardo Montalban

And yet I think of Christopher Reeve who said he would pay two million dollars to be able to feel pain again. What a courageous man! So I have to think that pain is a blessing. — Ricardo Montalban

My father taught me that only through self-discipline can you achieve freedom. Pour water in a cup and you can drink; without the cup, the water would splash all over. The cup is discipline. — Ricardo Montalban

I found enormous opposition to my religion. It's like if you want to strengthen your biceps, you lift heavy weight, as heavy as you can handle, and work your muscles against resistance until it grows strong. I had to do that with my religion. — Ricardo Montalban

Because we should always respect other nationalities, I have always tried to play them with dignity. — Ricardo Montalban

What is appealing is the idea of attaining the unattainable and learning from it. Once you obtain a fantasy it becomes a reality, and that reality is not as exciting as your fantasy. Through the fantasies you learn to appreciate your own realities. — Ricardo Montalban

As one who appreciated the tragic side of eating, it seemed to him that anything other than fruit for dessert implied a reprehensible frivolity, and cakes in particular ended up annihilating the flavour of quiet sadness that must be allowed to linger at the end of a great culinary performance. — Manuel Vazquez Montalban

Wasn't he approaching Ricardo Montalban? Probably because there were more interesting things in heaven than Ricardo Montalban. — B.J. Novak

Standing on soil feels so much different than standing on city pavement; it lets you look inward and reflect and see who you really are, while you see a beautiful, unspoiled land as far as the eye can see. It allows your inner life to grow. — Ricardo Montalban

Hollywood does not write parts for people like me, an elderly gentleman, and when they find out you're crippled, forget about it. No, I'll never work again. — Ricardo Montalban

Politics is too partisan, and sometimes patriotism is cast aside. Patriotism is honor and love of your country and your brothers and sisters. With politics I get the impression that it's all about what's good for the party and not necessarily what's good for the country. — Ricardo Montalban

Thanks, Pepe. You've put an extra night into my life. I would have spent it just sleeping like an ox, but I've lived it instead. I'm grateful. — Manuel Vazquez Montalban

Ask not what the role can do for you; ask what you can do for the role. — Ricardo Montalban

Ricardo Montalban is to improvisational acting what Mount Rushmore is to animation. — John Cassavetes

If you shake your fist, the other guy will shake his too. But if you extend your hand to shake their hand, then they will extend theirs also, and you've made a friend. — Ricardo Montalban

You're a cop aren't you?
A private detective.
Isn't that the same thing?
The cops guarantee order. All I do is uncover disorder. — Manuel Vazquez Montalban

The owner of the Agut d'Avignon had the air of a 1920s dandy who had ruined himself with one mad night of gambling at baccarat and had only been saved by this restaurant, which he seemed to cherish as if it were his wife or a good fountain pen. — Manuel Vazquez Montalban

Revenge is a dish best served cold — Ricardo Montalban

I regret that I do not have the dignity of Ricardo Montalban, the class of Dean Martin, or the humor of Bill Cosby. I DO have the heart of a lion. — Burt Reynolds

True love doesn't happen right away; it's an ever-growing process. It develops after you've gone through many ups and downs, when you've suffered together, cried together, laughed together. — Ricardo Montalban

Being the only non-Black was a unique experience. After a few weeks, you're not aware of skin color differences. You see the color; you're not blind, but it doesn't matter. You see the human being first. — Ricardo Montalban

To begin cooking duck at one in the morning is one of the finest acts of madness that can be undertaken by a human being who is not mad. — Manuel Vazquez Montalban