Quotes from Peter O'Toole

For me, life has either been a wake or a wedding.

There is a legend. And to protest is daft.

I've played farce on the stage, but I have never played any sort of comedy on the screen.

My professional acting life, stage and screen, has brought me public support, emotional fulfillment and material comfort. It has brought me together with fine people, good companions with whom I've shared the inevitable lot of all actors: flops and hits.

We were doing it under the most extraordinary circumstances, but the first out of the tent in the morning would be David Lean. He said to me on the very first day of shooting, Pete, this is the beginning of a great adventure.

Where do I begin? I loved working with Kate Hepburn, which was one of the highlights of my life; Working with Richard Burton in Beckett was another great joy.

Public crucifixion is no fun.

Always a bridesmaid never a bride my foot!

Acting is just being a man. Being human. Not forcing it.

I saw a man killed in front of my eyes just before my eighth birthday.

If you can't do something willingly and joyfully, then don't do it.

When I'm doing theatre, I prefer to be doing cinema. When I'm doing cinema, I prefer to be doing theatre.

I tell my children to avoid theatre and go into cinema and TV.

I became a professional cricket teacher about 20 years ago. I had a son born to me when I was 50, and I thought, he needs someone to bowl to him.

The only thing I've ever been interested in teaching anyone in life is cricket.

My dear sir, it haunted me for the rest of my life.

My father was a racetrack bookie.

I had a pretty hilariously gloomy few years in the '70s.

I can now tell from the envelope whether or not it is a good script.

My favorite food from my homeland is Guinness. My second choice in Guinness. My third choice - would have to be Guinness.

Life turned out much better than I thought. I knew after a little while that I could act.

Films were never in my budget. Didn't occur to me till much later. I hoped for a long, good life, which I've had and I'm having as an actor. I didn't expect the rest.

It's very inconvenient because every time I finish, let's say, a chapter of a book, I think I'm going to ring Richard and then realize: Oh, Christ, I've buried him. I buried him last year.

It is time for me to chuck in the sponge. To retire from films and stage. The heart for it has gone out of me: it won't come back.