Sean Connery quotes: on JB, money, fear, love, and more.
“May God grant us the wisdom to discover right, the will to choose it, and the strength to make it endure.”
“Nothing is impossible, only mathematically improbable.”
“Luck only knocks once. And when it knocks, you have to grab it quick and then hang on tight.”
“I find if I just sit down and think, a solution presents itself.”
“Don’t wait for it to happen, don’t even want it to happen – just watch what does happen.”
“There’s always a new challenge to keep you motivated. There is nothing like a challenge to bring out the best in man.”
“There’s nothing wrong with a little anxiety to keep people on their toes.”
“No thinking – that comes later. You must write your first draft with your heart. You rewrite with your head. The first key to writing is… to write, not to think!”
“Your background and environment is with you for life. No question about that.”
“I just think the most difficult thing to displace is privilege.”
“If you have to resort to violence, you’ve already lost.”
“How peaceful life would be without love. How safe, how tranquil and how dull.”
“If you fear nothing, you love nothing. If you love nothing, what joy can there be in life?”
“Love may not make the world go round, but I must admit that it makes the ride worthwhile.”
“I like women. I don’t understand them, but I like them.”
“The key to a woman’s heart is an unexpected gift at an unexpected time.”
“I take the good with the bad. I can’t love people in slices.”
“Laughter kills fear, and without fear there can be no faith. For without fear of the devil there is no need for God.”
“I’m an actor – it’s not brain surgery. If I do my job right, people won’t ask for their money back.”
“Perhaps I’m not a good actor, but I would be even worse at doing anything else.”
“There’s one major difference between James Bond and me. He is able to sort out problems!”
“Laugh at him? If I laughed at him, I’d be laughing at myself, at my work, and where would be the sense in that? And then being egotistical and ambitious, I have to believe that what I am doing is important. Therefore, Bond is important: this invincible superman that every man would like to copy, that every woman would like to conquer, this dream we all have of survival… and then one can’t help liking him.”
“The character of Bond was amusing, certain to appeal. And lastly it suited me physically. You see, I’ve never had a handsome face, an acceptable face. I’ve always had this difficult face, adult, lined; it was like this even when I was 16. When I was 16 I already looked 30, and without a handsome face it’s far from easy to break in. So, honestly, I was careful not to make too much fuss.”
“Oh, I think there’s still some juice left in the old role. Besides, it’s a very good job. One is very well paid. The Bond character has brought me money and fame – and I am not such an idiot that I regret either.”
“I have no shortage of material or offers, it’s just a case of what you select to do.”
“My own guide is always what I find interesting.”
“I would never deny that Bond made me, and I’ll be everlastingly grateful to him. But that doesn’t make me a Bond‐slave. I can cut the shackles free any time I want to. And they aren’t made of steel chains any longer, either, but smoothest silk.”
“Some age. Others mature.”
“Bond’s introduction: ‘Bond. James Bond.’ Repeated in 17 subsequent Bond films. Number one in the Top Ten Most Famous Movie Quotes – The Guinness Book of Film.”
“I have a great respect for money. I know how hard it is to earn and keep. I never get over the fact that sometimes I see more money being paid for a meal than my father earned in a week.”
“I admit I’m being paid well, but it’s no more than I deserve. After all, I’ve been screwed more times than a hooker.”
“I hope to work, support my children and die quietly without pain.”
“I can’t afford to slow down, but I suppose it really depends. As long as there’s enough enthusiasm, then one wants to continue.”
“I don’t really suppose I’d like Bond if I met him. He’s not my kind of chap at all. Yes, I do identify with him. I too enjoy drinking, women, eating the physical pleasure – smells and tastes living by my senses, being alive. And as far as Bond is concerned, he has no past.”
“I suppose more than anything else I’d like to be an old man with a good face, like Hitchcock or Picasso. They know that life is not just a popularity contest.”
“I’m swimming every day and I’m even trying to get the golf swing working again – but that might take a little bit longer.”
“I haven’t found anywhere in the world where I want to be all the time. The best of my life is the moving. I look forward to going.”
“I’m incredibly lucky to still be around, doing all the things I want to do and getting extremely well paid for it. There’s a parallel with golf – a lot of it is in the mind, and the moment you start to lose the enthusiasm or appetite, it affects your judgments and decisions. And then you stop performing well. I think enthusiasm and appetite are more important than anything.”
“You call it luck. I call it destiny.”
Related: Tom Hanks quotes.
