Matthew McConaughey Quotations

The unsaid rule for living in a trailer park is: 'If the door's shut, don't come a-knockin.' But if it's open and you're walkin' by, feel free to say, 'Hello.'

We dissect failure a lot more than we dissect success.

I think most defense attorneys know, to some extent, their clients are guilty.

A creep is someone who claims he's one thing but he's actually another.

The male is always the pawn in a romantic comedy. Come together, break up, go chase her, get her, roll credits. That's what happens in all of them.

When I see grace in a woman, that's very sexy. You can tell by how someone moves or their rhythm.

I've never been a manipulator, even in my bachelor days. I never wanted to do things to people that could catch up with me later on.

Life is a series of commas, not periods.

Now, you lose something in your life, or you come into a conflict, and there's gonna come a time that you're gonna know: There was a reason for that. And at the end of your life, all the things you thought were periods, they turn out to be commas. There was never a full stop in any of it.

I like having my hands in the clay. I like the movie-making process.

I'm a golfer, and what are the two sports you can do till you drop? Golf and surfing. They're great for you limber-wise, they're great for you health-wise, and they put you in sweet locations.

I don't dislike any of my exes. If I took time to form a relationship, it's gonna hurt when we move on, but are you puttin' White-Out over all that beautiful time together? That was real time in your life. It's connected to where you are today.

The challenge for me as an actor is if you become a celebrity, you don't meet strangers anymore. And strangers are where we have our anonymity. And I believe it's essential for the soul to be anonymous, especially if you're going to be an actor.

I like the city. I like the concrete. I like big business. I like being a CEO of my own company and having a lot of responsibilities. At the same time, when I can go off with a backpack or off on a surfboard or even off on a run somewhere in the woods - that's where I'm really happy.

Man who invented the hamburger was smart; man who invented the cheeseburger was a genius.

There aren't many things that are universally cool, and it's cool not to litter. I'd never do it.

There's a difference in thinking you are a champion and knowing that you are.

Sure, I can get a little bit jealous. The good part about jealousy is that it comes from passion. It's also the dangerous part and it's an ugly emotion that hurts.

When you have good friends you've been around, every time they talk, you don't give them your full attention. You don't look them in the eye and stop. Half the time, you're listening, half the time, you are ignoring them.

I love having my hands in the dirt. It is never a science and always an art. There are no rules. And if it comes down to me versus that weed I'm trying to pull out of the ground that doesn't want to come out? I know I'll win.

My life is the road, man. I need to keep moving.

We have a big appetite for putting people down but, at the heart of everyone, there's enough room for all of us to succeed.

When I first starting making money, when I first made my first six-digits, I was - my big thing was I went to put super unleaded in my truck for the first time.

I'm a football fan, a sports fan, a fan of competition.

I don't want to just revolve. I want to evolve. As a man, as a human, as a father, as a lover.

I have my own vocabulary. I love linguistics. That surprises people.

I was responsible for Brandon Lang, ... That was my job, to be able to make a believable character who you can understand and go through the whole story with." ()

She's a cool ghost. Maybe me being nude all the time is why we get along." ()

She's got a premiere in Paris. But we're both having a great night." ()

Kids will remind you that, even though you've gone down a road 100 times, it's brand new for them - and that's healthy.

such an exotic underworld that we know a little about, but not much. I've wanted to explore it for a while." ()

My wife and I don't compete. We know each other's preferences, and we work to provide those for each other. One will take over when the other is faced with something he or she dislikes. That's what friends do.

My number one thing? Don't overleverage yourself. Don't say you can do something when you really can't.

I thought this was a great story about a winner who starts losing, ... And if you're a winner, what do you do if you lose, and how do you get out of that hole?" ()

That's what interested me in the character of him. He sees things differently. He was not as connected to the community. He was a bit of an outsider, not local. It was let's coach football, take baby steps, do what we have to do. He likes to philosophize. He's got opinions on everything. He'll let me know. It's an honor to be stepping into his shoes. What he did was life inspiring things." ()

There are a whole bunch of roles where people say, 'Oh, you're playing yourself.' I guess it's kind of a compliment. Or people say, 'Oh, man, you just roll out of bed and do that.' The work is to make it look effortless. That's the hard part.

To bring a healthy child into this world, raise them right and watch them grow is the biggest miracle there is.

Whether I'm running on the beach without my shirt or whether I'm going out with my kids or going to church or going out to dinner - I don't choose to insulate myself in engaging in real life. Hence, the public kind of almost knows me as much through my real life that they see through the rag mags.

I've read a lot of really great characters in some really crappy stories, where I said, like, 'Boy I could shine here, but the story sucks.' I don't want to be part of that.

Very seldom to you read about stories like this. It's based on something that happened ... history. I was inspired by it. It really happened and it stayed on my mind. I wanted to be a part of it somehow." ()

You can make these things for cheap. This one cost $35 million. You make $70 million on 'The Wedding Planner,' you're dancing in the streets. You make $70 million on 'Sahara' (which cost $130 million), you're not dancing in the streets." ()

Without exercise, I don't feel like my head works right.

When someone bestows something on you, no matter how true it is, when someone says, 'Sexiest Man Alive,' I'm honestly going, 'Thank you. Right on.' For me, it's never canceled out anything, it's never made me go, 'Does this make me less talented of an actor?'

Once we were doing a scene, and suddenly, right in the middle of the take, he stops and looks at me and says 'I don't believe you,'. That'll stop you in your tracks. When Al Pacino tells you that he doesn't believe you, you believe it." ()

This guy can tell a story and boy you really feel like you've been there the entire time." ()

This guy knows knows sports the way an art dealer knows a painting, ... He will tell you intricacies of the game that most guys even the guys who bet money on games don't know. I've done a lot of movies, but I was learning from him on this one." ()

Romcoms are hard in a lot of ways: they're built to be buoyant. It's easy to demean them.

Even as a kid, I wore J.C. Penney plain-pocket jeans because they were plain pockets. I didn't want anybody's name on my backside. I personally don't like to wear clothing that is named for somebody or has someone's likeness all over it.

You're like a crack enhanced Kathie Lee!" ()

I like a good pair of jeans, but I also like putting on a nice tux. I'd rather go around in a good pair of jeans that you don't wash every day, because they get more and more comfortable.

I've got incredible support from my wife and family and people around me. I've got great people around me who handle anything on the outside, business-wise, who help free me up to create in my job.

Any artist, the work you do, if it's a painting or if it's a performance, you hope it translates to a common denominator with the people that they see something in their own life in there. Or they see something in somebody else's life. That's what's fun about sharing art.

In whatever adulation you get, there's truth and there's not truth. And wherever they dog you, and they say it was horrible - there's truth and there's not truth. It's human nature to like to read the adulation more.

If you want your hair to be thicker, cut it when the moon is about to be full - a heavy, full, waxing moon. Do not cut it when the moon's waning.

It was a big dance, working with him, ... It was a lot of new moves that I've never seen before, but always with the rhythm. It was a real vital experience. It's easy to go out there and tell the truth, because you're in a scene and you catch a wave, so to speak. You're not conscious of where you're going, but you're on a wave. And usually those turn out to be either the worst take or the best, but all you need is one that's the best, you know?" ()

And that's the main buzz with betting games like this. Every weekend, whether I bet or not, I go through lists and try to pick winners in my own life so come Monday, if I did well, I can go 'told ya' and if I didn't do well I can blame it on something else." ()

The character I portray was not first on the list. There were others who didn't want it. One (took it), stayed a couple of days and moved on." ()

The first day we were shooting, you've got that 35 millimeter camera and then I've got two or three other video cameras and I can look into those cameras, but I can't look into the 35 millimeter, obviously, ... Well, the first day of shooting, I'm sitting there, talking to one camera and then I'm looking in all the cameras. Ron had to come up and say, 'Don't look at this one.'" ()

It's not a science when you are judging art, but we'd be remiss to say you can't look at something and say, 'This is more well done than that.'

We spend so much time sublimatin', thinkin' about, 'What am I going to have for lunch, dinner?'

I'd rather wait until we're through working." ()

Having children has helped me become a better actor because they remind you to play make believe. It's the ease and naturalness of their beings. They just play and it's completely real for them at the time. As an actor, if we do it well, we make you believe.

By their fruits ye shall know them.

When thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what they right hand doeth.

Unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance; but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.

I like to be directed, but when I'm flying and I'm on fire, I don't want someone coming and getting in my way just because they feel like they need to.

I think I can keep a rhythm to a beat, but there are quite a few people who would argue with me.

The dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table.

I'm not arrogant enough to look back on my career and criticize my choices. It's really not my place.

I was raised on, 'You go get a nine-to-five job, earn your pay and work your way up.

I go on The Daily Beast. The Daily Beast is one of the websites that I check out.

I believe in living in the present and making each day count. I don't pay much attention to the past or the future.

I don't know how to work a room. It's a real skill.

I got interested in the justice system. If I was, I'd probably be a defense lawyer. I was headed that way, but luckily changed my track to film school.

They eat, they crap, they sleep, and if they're crying they need to do one of the three and they're having trouble doing it. Real simple.

A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

I like quips. I like whiffs of cynicism and I think they can be witty. But I don't really know where wittiness is constructive.

Each of the films, whether it's Magic Mike or Dallas Buyers Club, was a challenge for me. I had to dig deeper. Also, my decision to shake things up came after my first child was born. I had taken nearly two years off and I thought that I would enjoy my time as a dad and wait until something interesting came along

I had a fan who had a fictional relationship with me. She wrote letters to me and then wrote return letters to herself (from me). In her mind, we were married and had two children. Her parents finally uncovered this delusional life she was living and she got help.

If you can be mentally stimulated by the workout and find out how to get through it, it's more fun.

I have some good friends of my own who happen to be gay, and when it comes to gay, straight, or whatever, I'm for anything life-affirmative. I'm for gay power, straight power, male power, female power; everybody should feel empowered without oppressing anyone who's different.

My favorite dish is cleaning out the fridge on Sunday night and improvising a great medley.

That's what I love about these high school girls, man. I get older, they stay the same age.

We found a great rhythm. Contractions started kicking in. I sat there with her, right between her legs. We got tribal on it, we danced to it! I was DJ-ing this Brazilian music.

I keep a diary - one for each film and foreign land I travel to.

You want to be a writer? Start writing. You want to be a filmmaker? Start shooting stuff on your phone right now.

The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.

I personally don't like to go see romantic comedies. But people do want to see them, and they seem to want to see me in them.

It's one of the things I love about making films: the places I've got to travel that I would never have gone to before.

You know who it is? It's me in 10 years. So I turned 25. Ten years later, that same person comes to me and says, 'So, are you a hero?' And I was like, 'not even close. No, no, no.' She said, 'Why?' I said, 'Because my hero's me at 35.' So you see every day, every week, every month and every year of my life, my hero's always 10 years away. I'm never gonna be my hero. I'm not gonna attain that. I know I'm not, and that's just fine with me because that keeps me with somebody to keep on chasing.

I want to thank God because that's who I look up. He's graced my life with opportunities. He's shown me that it's a scientific fact that gratitude reciprocates

It's nice when they notice the deep voice from across the house, and they know it's papa. They know it's Dad.

The one thing that will be the bane of my existence with my kid will probably be the way he or she is most like me in some ways.

First off I want to thank God, because he's the one I look up to, he's graced my life with opportunities that I know are not of my hand or any other human kind. He has shown me that it's a scientific fact that gratitude reciprocates. In the words of the late (British actor) Charlie Laughton, who said, 'When you got God, you got a friend and that friend is you.'

When I'm surfing, I'm sure not thinking about the paparazzi. I guess if they start getting on floaties and coming out there in the water, then I might be a little upset.

There's a gap between what I want to do, what I do on camera, and what gets edited. Right? So the goal is to try and close the gaps. What's the biggest compliment is if I read a review and it's exactly what I wrote down in my diary before ever filming it. That's really cool. That's the biggest signifier of closing the gaps.

When you've got God, you got a friend. And that friend is you.

Cynicism can be funny. But it's the easy way. You'll forget to enjoy anything. I try to make the evolving choice, the forward-moving, life-giving choice. Just keep living, man.

A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house.

No computer, no gadget, no trickery. I am an animal, it is a plant. I will beat the weed!