Quotes By Tommy Lee Jones

Kindness and politeness are not overrated at all. They're underused.

I think that no matter how much you don't like yourself or the drama of your life you can still find some comedy in it.

As a child of West Texas, I identify with Hispanic culture every bit as much as I do North American culture.

Partnerships are good engines for narrative.

No director wants to be directed, but no good director... would shy away from the good ideas of others.

You can't instruct an audience to laugh, but what you can do is read well and understand the spirit and subtleties, if there are any, in the dialogue.

If you want to know about my politics, the only way to do that is to look at my work.

I don't think I would describe my sense of humor. Doesn't sound like the kind of thing I'd do.

The most important question in American cinema, I've learned, is 'When is lunch?'

I know a lot of cowboys and I've done a little work on ranches with cattle, and those people become your friends, and keep their word.

I've never really known what glamour is.

I don't play just villains. I like to have parts that are not simply villains.

I always told my children when they whined... Only the boring are bored.

I don't direct movies for a living.

I fear other actors who are not prepared. And I fear directors who are afraid.

I haven't a clue if there is life on other planets but I'd be charmed if we found a unicellular organism on Mars. It would change our whole concept of life on Earth.

No, I don't think about the myth of the West. It's not the kind of thinking I do. That's more suited to people who live in big towns on the West Coast or East Coast, people who stay under a roof, in a room, all the time.

I haven't had a lot of comedy come my way as a performer.

I don't fight anybody anytime or anywhere.

As an actor to watch an audience of people howl together in a single mind as a result of work you've done together with friends is a privilege.

I look upon pride as a sin.

The tactic of leading people into... a war that doesn't make any sense by telling them they are under attack, and if they raise any objection they're unpatriotic, is a very old tactic. And it doesn't intimidate me.

All my life I've had the privilege to make my living with my imagination, and the most important thing has been to see my creative life grow. I was educated to do that and have lived accordingly.

Ethnic stereotypes are boring and stressful and sometimes criminal. It's just not a good way to think. It's non-thinking. It's stupid and destructive.

I want to photograph what I see and put it in a dramatic context. I'm an actor and a writer, and I want to tell these stories and present these shapes, colors and movements as I see them, as I see them serve a narrative. As I see that narrative serve an audience. That's what I want to do.

Characters with no integrity are just as interesting as characters with lots of integrity.

In the political world, the only position I have is voter. I'm not a spokesman for anything.

I think any stereotyping is too much.

I've made some bad movies. And I really enjoyed it!

Human beings are glorious and preposterous characters.