Quotes About Persistence

The man that's out to do something has to keep in high gear all the time.

It's always a little more difficult after taking a few years off, which we did from 2004 through 2008. It's more difficult to get the machine in gear again, but when you become used to it, then it becomes easier.

If I can't find anything good, I am just going to have to get my butt in gear and start learning how to do everything.

You don't get a script sent to you for two years, it crosses your mind, 'Gee, what's going on?' Then five years pass, and pretty soon a decade has gone by. Finally, you say to yourself, 'Well, if in fact that's it, then let me be happy with 30 pictures that made about $460 million and pictures that made a lot of people laugh.'

I always wanted to be Gene Hackman and I always wanted to be, you know... I wanted to be one of these guys. I always wanted to be Bob Duvall.

I'm clenched down, I'm locked in on it, which is my general approach to life.

At the end of the day, I'm an actor. I'm not here to sell other stuff or use off-screen things to generate whether or not I work. If I'm any good, I'll work; if I'm not, I won't.

My family's lineage is five generations of artists who never made it.

As Bob Marley says, 'We must carry on.' So he has left us a legacy of music to carry on for generations and generations into generations.

Don't be afraid to fail. You're going to go on a million auditions, and most of them you won't get. It's very easy to think, 'This is not going to work for me,' but keep at it. It's very generic advice, but you have to be willing to keep yourself in the game.

You are either genetically tough or you're not.

Genius is nothing but continued attention.

There is no genius in life like the genius of energy and industry.

Usually, I don't revisit a scene once shot. However, in 'Gentleman,' every morning on the sets, I had to revisit the last four scenes and then shoot for the next set of scenes.

I genuinely believe that if you want to get in the film business, get in the film business.

There is no royal road to geometry.

Determination gets you a long way.

Wally Amos is the classic example of a man who gets up again and again.

There are no shortcuts when it comes to getting out of debt.

The reviews are getting better, but they always do, in time, if you're still alive.

I really enjoy acting. I feel I'm getting better and better with each movie I make.

I got better as an actor, and still I'm getting better. That's only been possible because there's always been work.

I just want to keep getting better. People used to ask me - when I was winning in the D-League - why I wasn't in the NBA, and I'd tell them, 'I just want to learn and get better.' I figured it'd happen one day, and if it didn't, I really enjoyed my time coaching anyways.

I'm going to keep perfecting my craft and keep getting better.