Quotes from Viggo Mortensen

I'm not afraid of death, but I resent it. I think it's unfair and irritating. Every time I see something beautiful, I not only want to return to it, but it makes me want to see other beautiful things. I know I'm not going to get to all the places I want to go.

I'm not afraid of death, but I resent it. I think it's unfair and irritating.

I have no idea what 'method actor' means.

There's no sense in doing something, especially if it's a hard job, if you can't have a little fun.

As a kid I read Jules Verne, H. G. Wells, and a few others. As an adult have admired Leonardo da Vinci's drawings and notebooks.

It's always interesting to play a character that obviously has a secret.

When I land in a country and they ask for 'occupation,' I always just put 'artist.' I think that covers all of it.

Further devastation of the air, land and sea is obviously a very real possibility, unless the attitudes of politicians and all who irresponsibly exploit our natural resources change significantly in the very near future and all collaborate and sacrifice for the good of the planet.

In a way, editing is not unlike the movies. The best books, just like the best movies, are a collaboration. They're only as good as the compromise made between the artists involved.

Toronto Film Festival is one of those festivals where there are 400 movies, and unless you have a distributor who is super confident and puts a lot of money into it, sometimes movies can go unwatched or unnoticed.

One of the most effective tools that the Cheney-Bush junta has used to marginalize dissenting or even mildly inquisitive American citizens has been the accusation of being unpatriotic.

I know I said I wanted to live forever and I would never be bored, but the reality is, it's probably kind of sad to live forever if you're the only one sticking around.

I'm just looking as always for something that's stimulating and I hope to find a good story that's a challenge, whether it's big or small. Or that it finds me. I don't have like a career plan. Maybe I should, but I don't.

It's hard not to get depressed when you pay attention to the world and how strangely and corrupt the people in it sometimes behave.

Life is short and the older you get, the more you feel it. Indeed, the shorter it is. People lose their capacity to walk, run, travel, think, and experience life. I realise how important it is to use the time I have.

I have a work ethic. If I say I'm going to do something, I do it.

I think that people who get to a certain position, and then try to ferociously defend it or build on it, it's kind of a dead-end street. You see people becoming miserable that way.

When you're under stress as a human being, you behave oddly and your relationships with people become strained.

With few exceptions, one ought always do what one is afraid of.

What art does is it makes you feel alive and makes you feel like you're connected.

Awards for arts, where you make comparisons, don't make much sense.

One of the main ways that leadership stays in power is by, in various ways, convincing people that they should just let those who are in government govern: 'Trust us. Trust me. Just let us take care of things. Stay out of it.' Your opinions don't really matter. You are isolated. You are insignificant.

I take my work seriously, but it's not the only thing that exists in the world.

In terms of the movie business, being in a 'Lord of the Rings' has given me more interesting options as work.