Sean Connery Quotes

1. I am not an Englishman, I was never an Englishman, and I don't ever want to be one. I am a Scotsman! I was a Scotsman and I will always be one.


2. Love may not make the world go round, but I must admit that it makes the ride worthwhile.

3. I don't think there is anything particularly wrong in hitting a woman, though I don't recommend you do it the same way that you hit a man.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. I like women. I don't understand them, but I like them.





7. Your background and environment is with you for life. No question about that.

8. I care about Bond and what happens to him. You cannot be connected with a character for this long and not have an interest. All the Bond films had their good points.

9. I have always hated that damn James Bond. I'd like to kill him.

10. I don't know anything about baseball.

11. I don't understand if you get caught in a fight, but take it out on a room, how that implies some psychiatric disorder.

12. I just think the most difficult thing to displace is privilege.

13. I left Scotland when I was 16 because I had no qualifications for anything but to join the Navy, having left school at 13.

14. I never trashed a hotel room or did drugs.

15. I unfortunately don't speak French, but my wife is now fluent in English, which really reflects rather badly on me.



16. It's a kind of madness in cosmopolitan cities now.

17. Only 4 percent of all the companies owned in Scotland have their head offices in Scotland.

18. The Irish seem to have more fire about them than the Scots.

19. There's a lot of fantasy about what Scotland is, and the shortbread tins and that sort of thing.

20. There's something fundamentally wrong with a system where there's been 17 years of a Tory Government and the people of Scotland have voted Socialist for 17 years. That hardly seems democratic.

21. To cultivate an English accent is already a departure away from what you are.

22. When you hear someone from the very north of Scotland speaking, I think its nice, very musical and harmonious.

23. There is nothing like a challenge to bring out the best in man.

24. There's one major difference between James Bond and me! He is able to sort out problems!


25. Perhaps I'm not a good actor, but I would be even worse at doing anything else.

26. If America had been discovered as many times as I have, no one would remember Columbus.

27. More than anything else, I'd like to be an old man with a good face, like Hitchcock or Picasso.

28. Laughter kills fear, and without fear there can be no faith. For without fear of the devil there is no need for God.

29. There are women who take it to the wire. That's what they are looking for, the ultimate confrontation. They want a smack.

30. I have no shortage of material or offers, it's just a case of what you select to do. But I think it's realistic that my chances of playing Romeo are now over.

31. You know, the Oscar I was awarded for The Untouchables is a wonderful thing, but I can honestly say that I'd rather have won the U.S. Open Golf Tournament.

32. I met my wife through playing golf. She is French and couldn't speak English and I couldn't speak French, so there was little chance of us getting involved in any boring conversations - that's why we got married really quickly.

33. My view is that to get anywhere in life you have to be anti-social, otherwise you'll end up being devoured. I've never been particularly social, anyway, but if I've ever been rude, fifty per cent of it has usually been provoked by other people's attitudes. Though I do admit, like most Celts, I'm moody. It's fine until people try to cheer you up with gems like: "snap out of it" or "Come on, now".

34. The world revolves around sex. But that doesn't mean that youngsters should sleep around willy-nilly. I'm all for trial marriages. The wedding of two virgins starts off with a huge handicap.

35. There's nothing I like better than a film that really works, provided you don't have to deal with all the shit that comes afterwards in terms of getting what you're entitled to.

36. I've been very fortunate and have never had any real problems with people. But I've also had the guts to tell them: "you're a bore".


37. I've honestly not been too aware of my age until I went to the doctor for a full check-up. He said I had the heart of a young man - "but you're not young, you're 40".

38. There's nothing wrong with a little anxiety to keep people on their toes. But anybody who's professional has no problems with me.

39. I have a great respect for money. I know how hard it is to earn and keep, especially with our diabolical taxes in Britain. I never get over the fact that sometimes I see more money being paid for a meal than my father earned in a week.

40. I've always loved woman. Blonde, brunette, but preferably foreign. They're more attractive than Britons.

41. As far as I'm concerned, Bond is over and done with. You need a younger actor now, about thirty-five - Mel Gibson perhaps . . .

42. My own guide is always what I find interesting. If it's something that makes me think: "I'd like to see this" then that's the yardstick I apply. Obviously that doesn't satisfy everybody.


43. I never disliked Bond, as some have thought. Creating a character like that does take a certain craft. It's simply natural to seek other roles.

44. 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.

45. I was there for two years and working on that show is still one of the happiest times of my life.

46. It runs the gamut to the $5,000 custom pieces. If they want it matted in ostrich hide, we can do it.

47. His name is John Mason, a British national incarcerated in The Rock in 1962.

48. His character and my character were kind of the perfect combination to get laughs.

49. It makes you wonder at times what exactly is the criteria to qualify.

50. What we really need is to get back some of the optimism we had five years ago (in the Middle East peace process) and I'm sure there's going to be a change in the climate within a week.

51. (Daniel) Craig 's a great choice, really interesting - different.

52. People used to call me Bond in the street. It was impossible to avoid crowds of people all over the place and blinding flashguns. The Beatles had to run the gauntlet as well, but at least there were four of them!

53. I've stayed friends with most directors I've worked with, and I never have a problem with any other actors, unless they're assholes.

54. 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.

55. I was called Sean long before I was an actor, I had an Irish buddy when I was 12 named Seamus - pronounced Shay-mus. So they nicknamed us Seamus and Shawn and it stuck.

56. Some age, others mature.

57. (on turning down the role of Gandolf in the first "Lord of the Rings" film) I had never read (J.R.R. Tolkien), and I didn't understand the script when they sent it to me. Bobbits? Hobbits?

58. I'm an actor - it's not brain surgery. If I do my job right, people won't ask for their money back.

59. I've never kept a record of anything. I gave away everything: all the posters, the memorabilia that would have been helpful - and financially rewarding.

60. (on whether he would ever escape being identified as James Bond) It's with me 'til I go in the box.

61. (3/03, about the impending US invasion of Iraq) I don't know who could be in favor of it, but it can't be stopped. It is inevitable.








62. I'm fed up with the idiots, the ever-widening gap between people who know how to make movies and those who green-light them. I don't say they're all idiots - I'm just saying there's a lot of them. It would almost need a Mafia-like offer I couldn't refuse to do another movie.

63. I said I never would (do an autobiography) and then I thought about it and I said: "I'm going to do it". Then I started. Yeah, and it cost me a stonking amount of money not to do it - because I'd already put the wheels in motion. He (Davies) started to run with the ball with all this stuff. I realized I was going to be spending the best part of my life, and probably the rest of my life, trying to correct these inaccuracies and I can't be bothered.

64. I thought Pierce Brosnan was a good choice. I liked GoldenEye (1995). Timothy Dalton never got a handle on the role. He took it seriously in the wrong way. The person who plays Bond has to be dangerous. If there isn't a sense of threat, you can't be cool.

65. I think the fact that one's hair disappeared early made it easier. I never had a "transition problem". I've always played older. I played Harrison Ford's father and Dustin Hoffman's father. And this year, I'm going to be 65. I'm hardly going to get into a weight program and do "Tarzan". I could have the best body sculpting in the world, but I'm never going to be James Bond again.


66. What happened was that I had polyps on my vocal cords for about six years. I had them lasered off each time. But then I had a little twinge of a problem while I was doing Rising Sun (1993). I couldn't get the timbre of my voice right. I couldn't get the variation and enunciation as comfortable as I wanted. So I went back to the doctor and he suggested radiation. I went for six weeks and didn't have any side effects or problems. Then I made the announcement that I had done radiation treatment. The publicists said not to do it, that it would set off an explosion. But I thought: "If you do radiation and it's a success, why not speak about it?"

67. (On The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003)) It was a nightmare. The director should never have been given $185 million.

68. (3/06) I have retired for good. It's been a bit rough since Christmas but I'm perfectly OK and I feel well. In fact, I'm working on a history book.

69. (on why he resigned the role of James Bond while filming You Only Live Twice (1967)) One of the reasons I stopped doing it was because I got really fed up with the space stuff and special effects. I just found it getting more and more influential in the movies.

70. (during his speech after receiving the AFI Life Achievement award) Though my feet are tired, my heart is not.

71. I had no grand plan. Everyone talks about how they knew the Bond films were going to be a success, but it simply isn't true.

72. (on turning down the role of Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)) Yeah, well, I never understood it. I read the book. I read the script. I saw the movie. I still don't understand it.


73. It is said that a total ban on handguns, including .22s, would take away innocent pleasure from thousands of people. Is that more or less pleasure than watching your child grow up?

74. (on being one of the biggest movie stars in the world) Well, that's only because of your price. And my current price? Well, ha, that's nobody's business but mine.

75. (on Indiana Jones 4 (2008)) I am resting from acting - you might say I'm retired. It would take something really considerable to bring me back. Nothing has been discussed but I hear it's back on.

76. I did smoke pot a few times but nothing else. I would never inject. I'm too fond of the drink. At times I can go two weeks or more without it, but then I'm quite enthusiastic to get back to the taste again.

77. Dealing with this financial stuff was too much for me. It was back to education and I had to learn to understand it all myself.

78. Peter Mandelson, two times thrown out, is now representing Britain in Europe. In the olden times, they would have hung him up by his feet. The decisions in the UK are made by President Tony Blair and a couple of his cooks in the kitchen.

79. I am happy to say that I sued Allied Artists for cosmetic bookkeeping and they're bankrupt.



80. It reads as though one had made great dramatic decisions, but in fact one didn't. I certainly had the drive from the beginning, but the targets and ambitions were much, much less.

81. One of the things that strikes me is that no matter how difficult or underprivileged the situation you were living in as a child, it wasn't considered difficult. I don't think as children, you are aware of it. You have nothing to compare it to.

82. The time came for me to retire because of my rather unfortunate last movie . . . The cost to me in terms of frustration and avoiding going to jail for murder cannot have continued.

83. Whenever I've tangled with a beautiful spy, have you noticed what invariably happens? Even if I know the girl is a nasty and dangerous little snake, I've still had to kiss her first and kill her later.

84. (in 2004) The Scottish media all say: "Oh yeah, he's a tax exile". I have paid more tax than the government put together in that Parliament. I still pay full tax when I work in England and the same when I work in America.

85. (on his knighthood being blocked by the Labour government for the second time in 1998) It's purely political. I have never made any secret of my association, affiliation with the Scottish National Party. I don't like the turn it's taken now when they drag up something, which is something from the past about my violence towards women which I have attempted to answer in so many ways. It might have been a stupid comment of mine to say to smack a woman or slap a woman, I think I said, and it was picked up much later by an unmentionable in America who really worked a flanker and presented a show as though I had actually admitted that it was okay to punch women. In fact, in the near future there will be some kind of revelation about quite a lot of that anyway, which I'm not going to go into now.

86. I get asked the question so often, I thought it best to make an announcement. I thought long and hard about it and if anything could have pulled me out of retirement it would have been an Indiana Jones film. I love working with Steven (Steven Spielberg) and George (George Lucas), and it goes without saying that it is an honor to have Harrison (Harrison Ford) as my son. But in the end, retirement is just too damned much fun. I, do however, have one bit of advice for Junior: Demand that the critters be digital, the cliffs be low, and for goodness sake keep that whip by your side at all times in case you need to escape from the stunt coordinator! This is a remarkable cast, and I can only say: "Break a leg, everyone". I'll see you on May 22, 2008, at the theater!

87. Bond should be played by an actor 35, 33 years old. I'm too old. Roger's too old, too! - On A View to a Kill (1985)

88. A silent gesture can convey more in a flash than a minute of spoken dialogue. Unlike most actors, who resist directors cutting their lines, I have spent my whole career filleting mine. There are few directors who have not seen my cuts as improvements. Steven Spielberg paid me the ultimate compliment on Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) by adopting nine out of ten of my ideas that traded dialogue for added visual interaction.

89. Anyone contemplating a film career could do no better than read Alexander Mackendrick's book "On Film-making: An Introduction to the Craft of the Director."

90. From the earliest days of cinema a fascination with Scottish historical themes fed the appetites of Hollywood. Macabre shockers, or what Robert Louis Stevenson called "regular crawlers", were especially popular. Not counting numerous shorts, five feature versions of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931) were produced in Hollywood between 1912 and 1941, though none surpassed Fredric March's Oscar-winning performance and his menacing facial transformation in Rouben Mamoulian's production of 1931.

91. Only 4 percent of all the companies owned in Scotland have their head offices in Scotland.

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