Top 100 Nolte Quotes & Sayings

I've been in movies where the movie doesn't come together but the role comes together, or the movie comes together but the role doesn't come together or something like that. Something misses. It's very difficult to make it hit on all cylinders - it's just very rare. — Nick Nolte

All American males are failed athletes, and it was big time even if it was Little League. It meant a lot to you. — Nick Nolte

You don't learn anything from success. You know, it's comfortable, it's nice, it's warm, but success just leaves you kind of feeling a little bloated. — Nick Nolte

When you start thinking about death more than sex, you know you're getting old. — Nick Nolte

Actors are really working with bodies, with their minds, and with their emotions. Feelings, basically. That's what movies are about, going from one feeling to another. — Nick Nolte

I'm pretty much of a physical actor. — Nick Nolte

About the only thing that'll stay with you that you can trust all your life is your breath. Your breath will be there at the very last, because when it stops, you will stop. — Nick Nolte

I'm old enuf to remember when Dems considered a UN resolution and an actual coalition nothing more than Bushy McHitler going it alone. — John Nolte

Success is a very scary thing especially after you choose something and everything starts coming at you. It's absolutely frightening because the mind does things. It says, 'You've got to hold on to this or get away from this. — Nick Nolte

In the sixties, you're still thinking you could do something about this slow disintegration of the body. — Nick Nolte

I did a series of classes in psychology (at the institute), .. The students that came to that class had children. And over a period of a few years, they decided they wanted a nursery school, a play group (to watch over their children while they were studying). So in one of the garages that was near where we were having the classes, we established a play group area and the students volunteered to supervise. That eventually led to building a state-licensed nursery school, which was approved by the California department of social welfare. — Dorothy Nolte

I'm glad I never went to war. — Nick Nolte

You give up your narcissism, your egotism. That's how you achieve chemistry. — Nick Nolte

In 'Over the Hedge,' I played a bear, and I spent all this time listening to the sounds they make when they fight and mate, when they're angry or happy. — Nick Nolte

If you're older you want to tell stories about the pool of human life and living and to communicate, not only to your age group but to do an age group that can begin to understand, that has enough experience of life far beyond the taste of life. — Nick Nolte

World War II affected the male population in a very detrimental way. They were happy to be home, happy to be alive, happy they won, but they could not express to anybody the horror they had been through. — Nick Nolte

We truly have an ancient part of the brain that was about survival when we were prey but we seem to have gone past prey. We eat everything and nothing eats us. — Nick Nolte

Everyone chases a bit of what they say life is about: money, desire ... But when you stop chasing, you realise life is a rhythm and it's very peaceful, very quiet. You see, it's quite a miracle. — Nick Nolte

It's an eclectic film and I think we served the novel really well. And we had a great cast who worked for free. Everyone read it and said, I'm in, from Nick [Nolte] to Albert [Finney] to Omar [Epps] to Barbara [Hershey]. We really had fun and shot it in a very short time. I think the subject matter is more topical today, more to the point, than it was 30 years ago, when it concerned the Vietnam War. — Bruce Willis

It's failure, really, that you grow by, although nobody likes to experience it. — Nick Nolte

Acting is always therapeutic. — Nick Nolte

There's no greater purpose than service to others. — Nick Nolte

I accept the dying process. I would just like to be as healthy as I possibly can at each step and phase along the way. — Nick Nolte

Obviously I had gone all through high school and into college, and you don't do that not knowing how to read. — Nick Nolte

I never liked the Oscars. They didn't do too much for me at all. I felt like a big, vulnerable hunk of baloney being used to sell some products. — Nick Nolte

When you are making the one you are doing, you think it is the greatest film going. And then you do another one and it is a great film. — Nick Nolte

I can't ad-lib, or not for long. — Nick Nolte

The way you conquer fear is to feel it all the way, and then you'll find out that there's nothing there - it's just emotion. — Nick Nolte

Now, there is always a tremendous fear of science and progressing forward into areas of the unknown and it is a valid fear. Some of the genetic alterations of food are a little edgy. — Nick Nolte

After Civil Rights, it was very awkward for whites and blacks. We didn't know how to talk to each other. — Nick Nolte

I've made a lot of mistakes and I don't regret any of them. Sometimes that's the only way you learn. — Nick Nolte

How do I relax? Meditate, I guess. I quit golf. You twist your back and get all cranked up. — Nick Nolte

I just remember Kathy Bates getting on the stage and "The Oscar goes to Anthony Hopkins." I looked around, because I really thought Nick Nolte would get it. I really thought Nick would get it. I was very surprised. It was neck and neck with Nick Nolte and myself. So I really was expecting that to happen, and I went in there without any expectations. — Anthony Hopkins

If a child lives with acceptance and friendship, he learns to find love in the world — Dorothy Nolte

Early on I decided that I was going to lie to the press. The best approach to talking about my personal life was to lie. — Nick Nolte

It's easier to go somewhere if you've been there before. — Nick Nolte

Success comes to you with luck and a lot of hard work, but it doesn't give you the right to be any better than anybody else. — Nick Nolte

You don't want to make awards the reason you're doing things. — Nick Nolte

If a child lives with approval, he learns to live with himself. — Dorothy Nolte

If you feel you have a film that's valid, you stick your ass on the line. — Nick Nolte

When women talk about their feelings, they're not asking for solutions. — Nick Nolte

When I was a kid, my dad went to World War II. I didn't know him. I was born in '41. — Nick Nolte

No one consciously wants to destroy themselves. It always comes in a disguise. But then you have to deal with it some way. — Nick Nolte

If I'm not a successful human being, who I am? — Nick Nolte

I can't get any satiation. My brain is wired in such a way that I - in my research, I probably have a lack of D1 and D2 receptor sites. These are dopamine receptor sites, and satiation is a process that involves a cascade. — Nick Nolte

In America, the old are neglected. — Nick Nolte

Violence isn't really my thing. — Nick Nolte

If a child lives with criticism, he learns to condemn ... If a child lives with fear, he learns to be apprehensive ... If a child lives with encouragement, he learns to be confident ... If a child lives with acceptance, he learns to love. — Dorothy Nolte

This is a service station, we offer service. There is no higher purpose. — Nick Nolte

Birth is violent, and out of that violence is our only chance of rebirth. — Nick Nolte

First make peace inside yourself. — Nick Nolte

Electing a black president was probably the only coup America could pull off. — Nick Nolte

The swath of fiery orange along the horizon was like a crack in a potter's kiln. — Jack Nolte

Heroes understand the vast moral gulf between those who target the innocent and those who target those who target the innocent. — John Nolte

We're really all alone. We can't ever get inside another person's spirit, and see the world they do. So we are alone in that sense. The only way we have to communicate feelings is through words. — Nick Nolte

If children live with approval, they learn to like themselves. — Dorothy Nolte

Nobody likes to change. There will always be resistance to change, and there always will be change. And the quicker you get to that, the easier it is. It's not such a difficult thing. If you entrench yourself and go, "By God, I will not change. I will not have this." Then, you're a dead man. We're great at adaptability. It's our strongest suit. — Nick Nolte

How to become a media star: Be a Republican who bucks the party line. How to be ignored by media: Be a Democrat who bucks party line. — John Nolte

Everything has a purpose, even this, and it's up to you to find it. — Nick Nolte

I never fought much. It just wasn't my thing. I suppose I could, but I've never got into fights. Not a real one. — Nick Nolte

A warrior is not about perfection or victory or invulnerability. He's about absolute vulnerability. — Nick Nolte

I have a lot of scars, man. My mother said that a man is not a man unless he has a scar on his face. And what she meant by a scar was some kind of battle that you had to go through, whether it was psychological or physical. To her, a scar was actually beautiful and not something that marred you. — Nick Nolte

Americans aren't good at accents, but the English are because their accents change. You go five or six blocks and the accent is different, so they are used to hearing different pitches. In America, you gotta travel maybe 10 states before you can really hear a difference. — Nick Nolte

Asking for forgiveness is just one of the most painful kind of experiences. — Nick Nolte

I never felt comfortable in real life very well. It's always been an awkward kind of thing for me and so when I hit the stage I just sensed freedom. I sensed, 'Here's a place that I can have all the experiences of life and not feel uncomfortable about it.' — Nick Nolte

It's fun to change your body and find new things that your body does because of the weight. — Nick Nolte

The tragedy is that every brain cell devoted to belief in the supernatural is a brain cell one cannot use to make life richer or easier or happier. — Kay Nolte Smith

We're social animals. We've got to get along together. It's in our nature. We're hardwired that way. — Nick Nolte

The only people who ever called me a rebel were people who wanted me to do what they wanted. — Nick Nolte

Living in a small town, one of the keys to survival was your imagination. — Nick Nolte

The difference between a murderer and myself is only that I choose not to do it. But I'm capable. — Nick Nolte

We're very reluctant to change, even though we know that all things change, and especially our relationships are just determined to change. — Nick Nolte

With 3D, all you're doing is trying to shock the audience; there's no value to the storytelling. — Nick Nolte

The thing about '48 Hrs.' that really isn't thought about much is that's the first film where the black and the white criticize each other. — Nick Nolte

The greatest movie would be the movie that gave the audience a cathartic feeling of transcendence. — Nick Nolte

Nobody likes to lose power or reach a point of humility. — Nick Nolte

Women are just more oriented toward feelings - and I don't mean that in a negative way. But with a male actor and a male director, the emotional exploration can only go so far. With a female director, you can end up exploring so many more depths. — Nick Nolte

Acting is a bit of a substitute for life. — Nick Nolte

I am a good sewer. My mother taught me how to sew. — Nick Nolte

I like working with writer-directors because you can solve problems right there. — Nick Nolte

Every generation will be challenged morally once in their life about its government, and they will have to say where they stand. — Nick Nolte

If I'm going to have to deal, as I get older, with arthritic pain, I don't want to get into opiates. — Nick Nolte

Action films have a certain illogicalness to them. They're what we call, when we're working, 'exaggerated realism.' — Nick Nolte

You're playing a role, but you're still feeling it. You can walk away from it after 'Cut,' but if you're playing a sad or mixed-up person, it's hard to stay in that place for these longish period of times. You kind of have to check out. — Nick Nolte

The truth was that, you know, there was no reason to send me to Shattuck Military School. But it was a disciplinarian school. — Nick Nolte

I've been called 'the voice actor.' — Nick Nolte

People are not theirs thoughts, they think they are, and it brings them all kinds of sadness. — Nick Nolte

You work at a job, and you reach a certain level, and you're a little satisfied, and you keep going at it a little more, and you finally finish it. You go, 'Ah,' all your dopamine receptor sites are full. You're satiated. — Nick Nolte

You have to struggle a bit, hustle a little, and be willing to go bankrupt. Once you're willing to do that, everything opens up and you get the freedom. My joke is that next year, I'll make the first film that costs zero dollars. — Nick Nolte

Sometimes the writing can be so good that the actor doesn't really have to do anything. — Nick Nolte

Ageing's a difficult thing, moving closer to death, but it's okay. I've had a good time living, so I'm gonna have a good time dying. — Nick Nolte

Yes, you can get addicted to exercise. — Nick Nolte

The corn that is B something 5 corn thats been genetically altered in the United States, it cant reproduce but it has huge kernels, its very sweet and its wonderful but the winds have blown this across into Mexico. And so the Mexican corn is being infected with the inability to reproduce. — Nick Nolte