Quotes from James Cagney

You know, the period of World War I and the Roaring Twenties were really just about the same as today. You worked, and you made a living if you could, and you tired to make the best of things. For an actor or a dancer, it was no different then than today. It was a struggle.

Perhaps people, and kids especially, are spoiled today, because all the kids today have cars, it seems. When I was young you were lucky to have a bike.

Live fast, die young, and leave a good-looking corpse.

I got a part as a chorus girl in a show called Every Sailor and I had fun doing it. Mother didn't really approve of it, through.

Outside of my family, the prime concern of my life has been nature and its order, and how we have been savagely altering that order.

Absorption in things other than self is the secret of a happy life.

You dirty, double-crossing rat.

You know, the period of World War I and the Roaring Twenties were really just about the same as today. You worked, and you made a living if you could, and you tired to make the best of things. For an actor or a dancer, it was no different then than today. It was a struggle.

Find your mark, look the other fellow in the eye, and tell the truth.

Once a song and dance man, always a song and dance man. Those few words tell as much about me professionally as there is to tell.

My father was totally Irish, and so I went to Ireland once. I found it to be very much like New York, for it was a beautiful country, and both the women and men were good-looking.

I'm sick of carrying guns and beating up women.

Perhaps people, and kids especially, are spoiled today, because all the kids today have cars, it seems. When I was young you were lucky to have a bike.