Quotes from Kirk Cameron

I could have anything I wanted and if I didn't have it, it was because I didn't want it.

I learned that the problems that we have are not solved by blaming somebody else, and that our hope is not in who governs us as a nation. It's not in Mitt Romney or Barack Obama or Ron Paul. Our hope is in the power of God and his gospel working in the hearts of people.

My default position is not to be an actor. My default position is to be a follower of Jesus Christ. If that means I continue in acting, great! I'd love that. But if it means I need to change professions someday because I can't provide for my family, well, that's what I need to do.

I think my biggest problem was, as a celebrity on a TV show, you get an inflated ego and you think you're the center of the universe.

People want to be liked by other people so they adopt other people's standards, but for me, my standard had always been true.

When you take a subject and reduce it to something like a four-second sound bite and a check mark on a ballot, I think that that's inappropriate and insensitive.

I love all people. I hate no one. And, you know, when you take a subject and you reduce it to something like a four-second sound bite, and a check mark on a ballot, I think that that's inappropriate and insensitive.

It does grieve me to think there are people misunderstanding my heart on an issue.

I came all this way for a reason. Today is the day of salvation. Trust Jesus to save you. Then be sincere as God knows a pretender.

Put your nose into the Bible everyday. It is your spiritual food. And then share it. Make a vow not to be a lukewarm Christian.

There is nothing more important than your eternal salvation.

Think of someone you know who's not saved but you may be afraid to share the Gospel with that person. I've found a way that's radically effective in training people to share the Gospel.

Q&As covered my fave color (purple), my fave shows (Family Ties and Cosby), my height (5? 7?), weight (130 pounds) and eye color (hazel). They also printed false information. One said my parents were a psychologist and a newspaper reporter. Sure, my television parents held those careers—my real parents were a math/P.E. teacher and a housewife/manager (of me). I was supposed to be the coolest kid on the planet, but no one knew what a dork I was.

When I started working in commercials, I quickly learned some rules for hawking products: 1. Audiences like their soda in frosty mugs. It should look straight out of Santa's Village. 2. People respond to cereal floating in foamy milk. 3. When lapping up soup, viewers like to see kids dressed in cable knit sweaters by a fire. 4. A golden retriever in the background never hurt the sale of anything.

But what I really needed was a mom. I still wanted to take advantage of that free laundry service at home. I wasn't about to turn away the homemade potato-chip casseroles or her famous turkey tacos. I didn't even mind when the "chore chart" was put up on the fridge. That was the normalcy I craved. I wanted Mom to continue to bring warm cookies to the set, making me the guy with the best mom around.

If someone had given me a tank top with shoulder pads, I probably would have put it on. I couldn't possibly have understood the influence I had—or, to be honest, the influence my character, Mike Seaver, had. When I spun around sporting sunglasses and a brown leather coat during the Growing Pains theme, millions of teens were doing the same thing in front of their bathroom mirrors. I had no idea.

In the early years of the show, I had earned a reputation as the prankster who planted stink bombs under the audience seats, greased doorknobs and hid crew members' cars in bushes. I initiated practical jokes, laughter, ribbing and the sarcastic comments that flew around stage like the evil monkeys on The Wizard of Oz. My fellow cast members affectionately named me "Devil Boy.

I spent the bulk of my days with a pretend family whose issues always worked out in less than half an hour. We always dealt with conflict in a funny, heartwarming, positive way. These don't transfer to the real world of relationships

And though at nine I wasn't sure what an "agent" was, I knew she must be extremely important to make even my parents nervous. Besides, I was afraid of anyone I didn't know, let alone someone hiding behind a shroud of smoke. My imagination began to get the best of me. It was like we were in the presence of the Wizard. Instead of "I am the Great and Terrible Oz," she was the Great and Terrible Agent.

I guess in the eyes of many, I blew it. I didn't go out with all the babes. Contrary to National Enquirer, I did not buy my home in Simi Valley to line the walls with women. Maybe I had a smorgasbord of women to choose from, but I was never a playboy. My friends couldn't believe how I didn't take advantage of all that female energy rushing in my direction.

I couldn't believe it. I snagged a bagel and smeared it with cream cheese. It was my first of many, many years of free bagels. (To this day I won't pay for bagels or cream cheese—not when I can score them for free on film sets.)

I did get the callback for Growing Pains. This time I knew it was a comedy and played it the way I saw Mike Seaver. It must have gone well. One day I was playing Atari when Mom interrupted my session. "Kirk," she said, sticking her head in the room. "You got it! You got the pilot!

We went into the audition building and immediately started rehearsing lines. Mom was always so eager, and that drove me nuts. "Let's practice the lines. You do this part and I'll do that," she'd chirp. When I didn't go for it, she'd say, "Okay, sweetheart, after the audition, where would you like to go to lunch?" I'd heave a big sigh and say, "McDonald's. I've been thinking about a Big Mac all day.

Work never failed to give me that same ego boost I had experienced when filming that first cereal commercial. People bent over backward to give me what I wanted. And what kid doesn't want adults eating out of his hand, catering to his every wish? Because life was all about getting to the place where I could be happy all the time, acting was the perfect venue. It wasn't only the ego boost that kept me going. I truly loved what I did.