Clint Eastwood

I always thought of myself as a character actor. I never thought of myself as a leading man.

It takes tremendous discipline to control the influence, the power you have over other people's lives.

Governor Romney has a great business background. He is extremely well educated. He has several degrees from Harvard, including, you know, business and including a law degree.

I do believe in the energy and the productivity of the American business world.

You are always hoping that movie audiences are interested in characters and interested in story values rather than just mindless special effects. But you never know.

Comedy isn't necessarily all dialogue. Think of Buster Keaton: the poker face and all this chaos going on all around him. Sometimes it's a question of timing, of the proper rhythm.

I tend to believe that audiences are relatively well-balanced people.

Nobody looks like they did when they were 20, so why not take advantage of the fact that you're changing, emotionally as well as physically?

The fact is, violence is not only not a beautiful thing, but it's also very painful and not without consequences for the perpetrator as well as the victim.

It's always appealing to play a character that has to overcome himself as well as an obstacle. It makes the drama so much deeper.

I've always been very liberal when it comes to people thinking for themselves.

They've got this crazy actor who's 82 years old up there in a suit. I was a mayor, and they're probably thinking I know how to give a speech, but even when I was mayor I never gave speeches. I gave talks.