Top 57 Quotes & Sayings by Steve Guttenberg

I'm somebody who's really contributed to culture. Popular culture.

There are 100,000 actors in the Screen Actors Guild. Only 2,000 of them make more than $75,000 a year.

Every film can be fun, even if it's a terror.

No matter how bad your life gets, you can always turn it around.

The allure of Hollywood is huge when you don't know anything. You don't know the knives behind the smiles.

I've only had good experiences with actors. Starring next to them and directing them, for the most part they're all inspiring, special people.

Underneath all the skin, we're all the same.

From 1980 to 1990, I shot more films than any other actor in the Screen Actors Guild, apart from Gene Hackman.

I'm not going to say, I'm an actor and I'm changing the world. Who cares?

If you put down a list of jobs, doctor, lawyer, janitor, teacher or movie star, everybody would pick the movie star. And why? So you could lie around the pool, drink margaritas and send money to your parents. So that's what I did.

You can tell when you're in a hit.

I'm sure if you dig deep, Joe and Ralph Fiennes do it because they want to be noticed.

You never know who's going to become your friend. Friends are always chance meetings.

In Utah, there are no bad things in the water there. It's just smooth, really beautiful.

Unless you're Jack Lemmon or Cary Grant, there are few guys who can do comedy and drama.

When people are nasty, it gets everybody's attention, and it gives them a name.

It's good Xerox is known for its copying machines, and it's good Jim Carrey is known for comedy.

Someone's just told me the English are still trying to take over the United States - is that true?

Let's look at people as artists and try to support them; just because Picasso painted a couple of bad paintings, that's no reason to say he's a lousy painter.

If you're an underdog, mentally disabled, physically disabled, if you don't fit in, if you're not as pretty as the others, you can still be a hero.

When you're starting out as an actor, there isn't much food around. I was lucky to have a hit pretty early on. I didn't starve too long.

A gay man can be friends with a straight man. That can happen.

Everyone keeps asking me, What are you doing? I say, Why do I need to do anything? I'm rich.

I'm lucky to be in this business. I'm very grateful.

Typecasting is a good thing. It's good to be known for what you do.

I've made a lot of people a lot of money, and I've made a lot of people really happy. I've entertained millions and millions of people.

I love the fame and the money and the power. You have to keep working to have that.

A career is a series of ups and downs, of comebacks.

Directing is a tremendous art.

I'm not bragging but my movies have grossed well over a billion dollars.

I'm somebody who deserves to be supported and encouraged to continue my work because I have a lot to give.

For 15 years I did two to three movies a year, sometimes four. I didn't get to spend time building my personal life.

When you're going over periods of your life, you remember certain things, certain events, certain people that you've forgotten. You've forgotten certain lessons or people you were very close to, and then you haven't seen them in a while. I think if you can go through life with the correct regrets, then looking back on it, like I did, a certain portion of my life is pretty enjoyable. All my regrets are ones that I'd like to keep.

You're never really playing yourself. You're always acting. It's an illusion that you're really playing yourself. The only time I'm playing myself is when I'm at home!

Making art is an act of courage. Do you know who said that?

What life really is all about is happiness. It's not money, or stature, or the amount of cars you have in your driveway. Life, a really successful life, is one in which you are loved and love somebody else, or some other people.

Any kind of writing that's meaningful becomes hard work, so there were times when it would really flow, there were times when I'd get 10 pages a day, and then there were days when I would do three pages. Depends on the thickness of the material. If it's satisfying, it's hard, but it's pretty wonderful.

My thoughts were to become a dentist when I first went to Albany State. I didn't know where I would end up, but I knew I'd be happy, and I knew I would have a nice life. That was always my goal, to have a nice, happy life. That's, to me, being rich.

I'm just thinking all the time. There are times when I don't really need to think. You know what I mean? If you think about stuff for five hours, you really only need to do like five minutes and the rest of sort of rehashing it and dramatically going over it.

Wanting to work is a luxury; having to work is not.

In show business, you can't make a living. You can only make a fortune, but you can't make a living.

I don't believe in having to show anybody anything. I just do my work. You know, making a living as an actor is such a rarity on earth. It's like making a living as a painter. So I look at different opportunities in the same way as Jack Nicholson, who said once, "Keep popping up in different holes. That's what you want to do: Just keep popping up in different holes." That made a lot of sense to me.

If you're buying something from Chanel, you want it perfect, and delivered on time.

It's all about commerce. Movies are not made like paintings, where you can make them for free and put them at the side. Movies are supposed to make money.

Wanting to work is a luxury; having to work is not. If you're an artist, an actor, and you don't have to work, then you do work that you wanna do.

It's important for everybody to have somewhere to go. Men and women need purpose [in life].

If I buy a luxury gift for someone I love, it's got to be perfect. The product has to be in perfect condition from the company. If I'm going to buy a luxury watch or luxury car or clothing for someone I love, it's got to be perfect, and they've got to handle it perfectly. They have to pack it perfectly. I want the people that I love to have that great experience, because you're paying so much, you should have it perfect.

It is hard to look back and talk about a set of disjointed experiences as though they were part of one smooth progression.

There's tons of waste on every film. It really doesn't matter the budget, as long as it hits a bull's-eye.

I turned down Short Circuit 2 too and I now wish I hadn't. Sequels are a lot of fun and you get to hang out with all your friends.

Sometimes it's good to miss a bus. It might be the wrong bus.

When you have nothing to lose, the sky's the limit.

Read more. Read. Read. Read. Deeply, widely, read. Learn all kinds of subjects. The smarter you are as an actor, the better an actor you'll be.

Show business has never been my everything. It's a means; it's not the end. It's a means to the end. I want and have always wanted freedom. That was always my goal, to not have a boss, to not have anybody tell me what to do. Luckily, as an actor, I got that.

The worst professional advice I've received. "If you were the last person on earth, I would never choose you to be a movie star."

I've always been proud of my character and how I live my life. So my regrets are few, and the ones I do have, I'm glad I have.

If I could spend the rest of my life inside one movie it would be The Godfather, because it's the greatest movie ever made.