Quotes About Identity

Supporting Celtic, waving a tricolour because your parents are Irish - that's a valid culture.

I say if you are here illegally and are displaying and waving the Mexican flag, you should go back to Mexico and fly that flag there.

If there's a Filipino flag waving, will.i.am whispers to me, 'Filipinos are over there!' And then I wave towards that direction.

I don't advertise what I do to my kids. I don't go around waving a flag. I'm sure they are proud, in a certain way. I'm not like 'hey kids - check this out.' No matter what they do, your dad is still your dad. Nothing is going to help you out in that regard. Dad is just not cool.

When I came out, I found I hadn't been born with the right genes. It's quite brutal. If you're beautiful and you have the right genes, then the gay scene is a place where you can be worshipped. But if you don't, it's a different ball of wax.

For a man it's not easy to play a woman onscreen. You have to wax your body. You dress up a lot to be able to do justice to the portrayal.

Social media is changing the way we communicate and the way we are perceived, both positively and negatively. Every time you post a photo, or update your status, you are contributing to your own digital footprint and personal brand.

I'm just myself. That's the best way to put it.

I dress the way I want. I don't pretend to be someone I'm not.

People have often asked if I'm gay because I don't go out of my way to spit and scratch and give people attitude.

I like me better naked. I don't mean that in a vain way... When you put clothes on, you immediately put a character on. Clothes are adjectives, they are indicators. When you don't have any clothes on, it's just you, raw, and you can't hide.

A lot of people can throw the drip on, but if you don't layer your chain a certain way, it doesn't complete the outfit.

It's cool to be different and just be who you are and shock people in a good way.

Dad's Jewish and Irish, Mom's German and Scotch. I couldn't say I was anything. My last name isn't even Downey. My dad changed his name when he wanted to get into the Army and was underage. My real name is Robert Elias. I feel like I'm still looking for a home in some way.

I can't help the way you was born if you was gay.

Everyone should be able to express themselves in the way that best suits them - life is too short to spend it unhappy.

The way to gain a good reputation is to endeavor to be what you desire to appear.

The image is one thing and the human being is another. It's very hard to live up to an image, put it that way.

I've never looked at myself and said that I need to be a certain way to be around a certain sort of people. I've always wanted to stay true to myself, and I've managed to do that. People have to accept that.

Nationalism has a way of oppressing others.

The ego is only an illusion, but a very influential one. Letting the ego-illusion become your identity can prevent you from knowing your true self. Ego, the false idea of believing that you are what you have or what you do, is a backwards way of assessing and living life.

David Lee Roth had the idea that if you covered a successful song, you were half way home. C'mon - Van Halen doing 'Dancing in the Streets'? It was stupid. I started feeling like I would rather bomb playing my own songs than be successful playing someone else's music.

I remember playing John Wayne Gacy, serial killer, very sick, neurotic, screwed-up guy. You know what? There's a part of me there, too, and you explore that.

When did Jimmy Stewart not play Jimmy Stewart? When did John Wayne not play John Wayne? But that's what we like about them. When you talk about acting, you really have to respond to somebody's personality.