Best 207 quotes of Michael Caine on MyQuotes

Obsession is a young man’s game.

Obsession is a young man's game, and my only excuse is that I never grew old.

One of the great things with comedy is that there's no such thing as a mediocre comedy; it's either uproarious or crap. That's the problem.

One of the main things about Cockney is, you speak at twice the speed as Americans. Americans speak very slow.

People say to me, why did you do those films, and I say, for money. It wasn't for diamond rings or kidney shaped swimming pools in Beverly Hills, it was in order to improve the lot of everyone around me.

Presenting the Oscars was the most nerve-racking job I have ever done in show business. It's very much a live show: they have comedy writers waiting in the wings, and as you come off between presentations, they hand you an appropriate gag to tell.

Save your money. You're going to need twice as much money in your old age as you think.

Since I was 19, I've had the most fun possible every single day, even when I had a rough life. It was the army which taught me about life, and the theater which taught me how good it could be.

Some men just want to watch the world burn

Someone said to me the other day: "Well, you're eventually going to live until 110." And I said: "Well, who's going to keep me? What age do I retire? 100?" How are you going to live all those years and who is going to keep you doing it? I have a couple of grandchildren now so I'm banking on them.

That to me is what my idea of film acting should be. There shouldn't be any acting. You should just be watching a real person.

The American cinema in general always made stories about working-class people; the British rarely did. Any person with my working-class background would be a villain or a comic cipher, usually badly played, and with a rotten accent. There weren't a lot of guys in England for me to look up to.

Theater acting is an operation with a scalpel, movie acting is an operation with a laser

The basic rule of human nature is that powerful people speak slowly and subservient people quickly - because if they don't speak fast enough, nobody will listen to them.

The difference between a movie star and a movie actor is this - a movie star will say, 'How can I change the script to suit me?' and a movie actor will say. 'How can I change me to suit the script?'

The first thing I'll do if I want to look really crappy is, I don't wear any makeup at all.

The greatest luxury is not driving. I didn't own a car until I was 30, and that was a Rolls-Royce, so it was cheaper to insure a chauffeur. I never want to drive again. My mind is always on other things. I hate parking, and I'm very short-tempered and would get road rage, I'm sure.

The old guys like me started in the theatre. I was in the theatre for nine years.

The Quiet American is anti the people who took them into the Vietnam War.

There are loads of black actors.You can't say: I'm going to vote for him, he's not very good but he's black, [so] I'll vote for him. You've got to give a good performance.

There is no point in competing with young talent...I just concentrate on getting better each day.

There's only two things I hate in this world. People who are intolerant of other people's cultures and the Dutch.

There's quite a lot of bad stuff written about me. My wife even says a lot of bad stuff about me. But she is wonderful.

There was a certain moment. I was about 61 - two, three or four, and I got a script. And I sent it back to the producer saying - "I don't wanna do it. The part's too small." And he sent it back to me, he said, "You shouldn't read the lover. You should read the father.

The standing ovation threw me. ... To be held in such regard in a town so full of talent is quite something.

The three actors I admire the most are all dead. Humphrey Bogart, Spencer Tracy and the French actor, Jean Gabin. They're all very natural, sort of masculine without being overly macho.

The trouble with women? Elbows.

They use those monitors now, and sometimes you'll be doing a shot and then suddenly you see yourself on one of those monitors, and I always say turn the monitor round, I don't want to see myself on the monitor. I never see myself 'til the movie's finished.

Things are not quite what they seem always. Don't start me on class, otherwise you'll get a four-hour lecture.

This is your life, Larry. Learn to enjoy what you've got.

To be a movie star, you have to carry a movie. And to carry a movie where you play the title role is the supreme example.

To be a movie star, you have to invent yourself.

To disappear your complete self into a character is quite difficult. I've tried it 85 times, and I've succeeded two or three times.

To me, 'Educating Rita' is the most perfect performance I could give of a character who was as far away from me as you could possibly get and of all the films I have ever been in, I think it may be the one I am most proud of.

To me, growing old is great. It's the very best thing - considering the alternative.

We should vote for the welfare of the country, not for the welfare of the party.

What a lot of people dont realize about gangs, in my opinion, is that a gang is not there to attack you. Eighty percent of the people in a gang are there to stop anyone from attacking them. You join a gang for protection, not to go out and hit someone.

What it is is that comedy is underrepresented in every actor's life, because it's so bloody difficult to write. Anyone can write, and then you leave it to special effects to make it look good. But comedy, you've got to do some writing.

When becoming a character, you have to steal. Steal whatever you see. You can even steal from other actors' characterizations; but if you do, only steal from the best.

When I look in the mirror, I see someone who's happy with how he looks, because I was never one of the handsome Hollywood people. And I've had success as I've gotten older, because I'm able to play characters. I no longer get the girl, but I get the part.

When I'm doing an accent, you shouldn't notice it for a while, if I'm doing it right.

When it comes to politics, I believe you have to cut the cake so that everybody gets a piece, but at the same time, you have to keep in mind that somebody has to make the cake.

When I was a young actor I was in a lot of film doing one day work and two days' work, and they've included all those titles, which I don't even remember. I think I've played the lead in about 75 movies.

When you reach the top, that's when the climb begins.

When you're a movie star and you're young, you are always playing someone who's a better fighter, a better lover, a better everything than you.

Wherever I live, if there isn't a restaurant I want to go to of a certain type, then I open it. That's all. For selfish reasons.

You cannot have one bathroom. And it don't matter how much you love your wife and everything, 'cause you wind up with no room at all. You just get a little corner and you've got a toothbrush and your paste and a shaving brush and a razor. And you can never get in there. So you must have two bathrooms. You really must. I think it's essential.

You can see all sorts of things in film acting if you know where to look and what to look for. One thing I often notice is that the actor is looking for his mark, the place where he has to stand to be in the right place in the shot.

You can write shorthand and still look at the guy you're talking to.

You don't sacrifice your individuality; you sacrifice a lot of freedom.