Sylvester Stallone Quotations | Page 3

I realized, the older I get, the more difficult life becomes. It's not easier, it's more difficult.

I would never run for president.

Boxing is the only sport where you have the audience coming right up to you and saying, "You Stink." And you got to deal with that. It's like being in front of the lions.

The older I get the more things I gotta leave behind.

I try to eliminate as much dialogue as possible, and I guess Rambo is my really best experiment with how to eliminate dialogue.

Dreams cost nothing. They are free. The hard part is just keeping them going.

Artists die twice. First creatively. Then physically. The second one is the easiest.

I love being so tight on people in close-ups that the veins in their eyes look like the Mississippi River.

At the very end, the one person who Rambo should kill, he doesn't kill. He lets it live. Because you can't kill that kind of hypocritical bureaucracy. It goes on forever.

There are endless exercises for arms, but the basics are best-chinups and pushups.

I think there comes a time when you realize that you need God in your life, God's Word, and the spiritual guidance that only He can give.

Lighting can bring out certain contours in the body, in the face, in the eyes, that otherwise flat lighting couldn't.

The character of Rocky was built on the idea that he was chosen to do something. That's why the first image in Rocky is the picture of Christ.

Now, if you know what you're worth, then go out and get what you're worth. But you gotta be willing to take the hits, and not pointing fingers saying you ain't where you wanna be because of him, or her, or anybody. Cowards do that and that ain't you. You're better than that!

Every champion was once a contender that refused to give up.

In fact, every day I'll read a chapter of some art book. I don't know why. It's just a habit.

I do believe that American should deal from strength.

To know that the odds are so high that only through the perishing of your life will the minions survive, that's love. That's heroism.

The problem is, your ego sometimes tells you that you can do many things. But sometimes it's best to stay focused and be honest with yourself.

I never started out to be an action actor. I was an ensemble actor.

Movies are a whole different ball-game, now. It's much more of a business - very scientific.

Life's not about how hard of a hit you can give... it's about how many you can take, and still keep moving forward.

Boxing is a great exercise ... as long as you can yell "cut" whenever you want to.

Until America, door to door, takes every handgun, this is what you're gonna have. It's pathetic. It really is pathetic. It's sad. We're living in the Dark Ages over there.

The men in Vietnam weren't allowed to fight the war with any kind of concern to win by the government. It was like a war of attrition.

If I'd made it right away as an actor, I would've stopped at a certain level and stayed there, probably as a character actor.

I'd rather do something I love badly than to feel bad about not doing something I love.

I have tremendous respect for fighters and I always tell people that boxing in movies is one thing but when you get into the ring for real, even the worst heavyweight in the world is going to murder you. You've just got to appreciate the pain and the suffering and the glory and skill that goes into what they do. That's why I love the sport so much.

Clichés are what good writing is all about. Because our lives are basically clichés.

Racing's very much like the world of acting. You have your front runners and you have guys that are there for the long race, and you have other guys that block for other people, that are called supporting and character actors. It's all the same kind of situation.

Most of the films I myself like don't do very well. Every director, he has a choice, whether to go for subtlety and try to articulate every minute detail, or to go for the broad strokes and hope that the people will fill in between the lines. I tend to go for the broader strokes.

When crossing someone's borders you have to be prepared to engage in a war that is far more brutal than if it were to take place on neutral territory.

When you're pushed killing is as easy as breathing

Plan B. You've always got to have a Plan B.

There is an age-old proverb that really does hold true in every area of life - in relations between nations and right down to the most subtle and sophisticated or must unstable and unsophisticated relations between lovers - and it is this: they took "kindness" for "weakness."

You're a disease. And I'm the cure.

There might have been a period around 'Tango & Cash' when I was nearly fashionable. My problem is that my weight's always been changing for the movies I'm in.

The church is the gym of the soul.

Back there I could fly a gunship, I could drive a tank, I was in charge of million dollar equipment, back here I can't even hold a job PARKING CARS!

I really am a manifestation of my own fantasy.

Nothing is real if you don't believe in who you are!

You cannot train yourself. I feel the same way about Christianity and about what the church is: The church is the gym of the soul.

I feel that America is like a child that grew up so strong and so fast and so tall that it became self-conscious about its size and started to stoop over so as not to offend anyone.

I thought marriage was tough. Golf's like going over Niagara Falls in a barrel! It's a psychological game that gets into your blood.

The champion's management says let's do this for real, for charity. Rocky says no but decides to be true to himself even though he's going to be berated by everyone. Just to compete, not to win.

I think I'd like to be remembered as someone who beat the odds through just plain determination. ... that I persevered. Because I think that being somewhat of a pest to life, constantly plaguing and pursuing, will bring results.

I've always boxed a certain way. But with Rocky, the character himself had to be kind of awkward. So I had to learn to fight that way.

If it's not broken, break it. That's how new discoveries are made. That's why everything that changes life is called a breakthrough.

You have to grab life by the throat and squeeze before it grabs you by your neck and breaks it. Own your destiny.

Ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

I think people of all occupations, whether it's the camera - puller or the man who's doing the catering, they can identify with Rambo's frustrations, with the veteran's frustrations.

If you're gonna be a failure, at least be one at something you enjoy.

Sometimes when I don't want to cry, I cry. And when I want to I can't. It's subconscious. Like sexual performance.

Every rep I did on chin-ups, on squats with 500 pounds, I never said, to myself, 'Oh, my God, another rep.' I said, 'Yes, another rep, because that will make my dream turn into a reality.'

To me, the most perfect screenplay ever written will be one word, when you finally reduce it down to that. Until then, writing will be an imperfect form of communication.

You are what you leave behind.

Rocky is a very predictable movie. The ending is a foregone conclusion.

Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place and I don't care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard ya hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!

The man who can best gets along with women, is the man who can get along without them.

Gangster is the truest friend I can ever ask for.

We follow a certain pattern, a maze, if you will, every day, tracing our steps into certain districts and neighborhoods and back home. So it's easy for people to relate to clichés. That's why comedy routines are based on mutual experiences of clichés.

The only happy artist is a dead artist, because only then you can't change. After I die, I'll probably come back as a paintbrush.

I think everyone has questions in their mind. Did they do their very best?

When you find the right components in your life, the right people, that gel with you, then you feel as though you're invincible. It may be a fallacy, but you at least feel as though you can take all that life has to dish out.

Everybody has anger or regret in them one way or another. They all try different things to get it out. Some people go to psychiatrists. Some paint pictures. Some people talk it out.

Boxing is a great way to vent. I don't know if there is a better way, I think for women too. There is something so primal about it and it's the best exercise in the world, even if you don't ever get in the ring.

I guess the best thing I do of all is ride. Horsemanship, I have a natural flair for it.

All young men want to prove themselves.

Once I stopped trying to always do everything my way, and once I asked for God's help, things have truly gone a different direction.

When you are young, you often think that the world spins around you. You think you can do anything, can take the world on your shoulders.

When I was cognizant of the war, I was very angry at the street-corner liberals who were trying to defame the footsoldier. Because there was a man who had no choice. He was a cog in the wheel, just trying to survive. I was always aware of that.

I love being verbal in films.

Without the church it's like having a boat without the rudder. You think you can do it on your own and this may sound pedestrian or trite but I'll equate it to this: all my life I've been involved with exercise but no matter how much - and I know a great deal about the body - you need help. You need a trainer. You need to go to a gym and you need to have the expertise and the guidance of someone else. You cannot train yourself. I feel the same way about Christianity and what the church is. The church is the gym of the soul.

I'm a patriot of the heart.

Everyone has this conjecture that action films are somewhat less prestigious than dramatic films. Nothing could be further from the truth. I've done them both and this is hard and dangerous.

A lot of time people are like, "oh my God, you're stereotyped." Good, then you're known for something.

I tell people diets don't work. And I don't care what they say. I have tried them all.

You can actually alter a person's perception when they're that young. I mean, it can affect them in a very positive way.

Movies are a collective art. Art by proxy.

The idea that boxing lends itself to cinema so well is because it's usually a morality play - good against evil, insecurity and triumph, fear strikes out, so the audience can really get drawn into the drama of it. Also, it was sensual and very primal. I think subliminaly we do two things - life is a fight, life is a struggle and we understand that from our early, early, early ancestors, and life is a race.

To be really artful, though, you have to be subjective and so singular.

I started out as an actor, but I forced myself to be a writer, even though I wasn't very good at it and had never written. I don't think I ever passed an English course in my life. My first eight to 10 scripts were pretty horrendous, but I stayed at it, stayed at it, and stayed at it, until I eventually found a voice and a subject like Rocky that people were interested in.

Training and working in Philadelphia is a very unusual situation because that city does believe that Rocky is real. No one calls me Sylvester, it's Rocky.

I've done my "mind over matter" movies, and I think probably that people aren't really interested in seeing me do that anymore. I think I'm kind of past my prime to do dramatic films. I think it'd become kind of like almost a pathetic cry out to be recognized as a serious drama actor.

Without love, loyalty, desires, passion, courage, dignities, faith, beliefs and all the other ingredients that go into making the human soul something so elevated that only God knows its limits, we are only shells bobbing aimlessly in a calm sea of mediocrity. ...And if you can figure that out, please write and explain it to me because you're a better man than I am.

The one thing in my films, I only kill people who need to be killed, or killers killing killers. And I believe that the violence is very justifiable.

Study people's success stories hard. Study their failures even harder.

Don't discuss your dreams. Pursue them!

I'm astounded by people who take eighteen years to write something. That's how long it took that guy to write Madame Bovary, and was that ever on the best-seller list?

Often people going into directing want to learn as much as they possibly can about "technique." And I say the hell with that.

If you make exercise your hobby instead of your enemy it becomes your friend; it's the one thing that will never let you down. It will always be there for you and it will always make you better than you were before. Remember: every time you go to the gym, every time you put the right supplement in your mouth, you're better than you were ten minutes ago. [...] The irony is most people know what to do, they just don't do what they know.

I thought I had reached a point in life where everything would be smooth. But it is not. It just gets more jagged and pitted and filled with turns that take you into the dark recesses of your mind. It never seems to get easy.

The world meets nobody halfway. When you want something, you gotta take it.

And if I look at my icebox, there's no way I'm sitting there looking like Gandhi. I mean, I don't have crickets in there and little green rice. No, I mean it's a pretty liberal icebox. It's all in there.

Love is absolute loyalty. People fade, looks fade, but the loyalty never fades.

Real love is when you become selfless and you are more concerned about your mate's or children's egos than your own. You're now a giver instead of a taker.

I think there's a kind of built-in arrogance to anyone who considers themself an artist. They want to feel as though like they can run the whole spectrum. "I can do it all. I can do minimalism, and I can do classical art." Well, that's not true.

Your spiritual sense will make you either a winner or a loser.

If you look back at life, I bet you will regret about 80% of your actions. But life consists of all mistakes.

Now if you know what you're worth. Then go out and get what you're worth.