Quotes

[about his early years] Acting never appealed to me, and I was dabbling in it solely as a means of making money. I rather felt that the greasepaint business was somewhat beneath a man who was once a reasonably useful boxer.

[about his professional bout with boxer Jack Johnson] He never knocked me down . . . but he sure beat the livin' be-Jesus out of me.

I have no illusions about acting and certainly I have none about myself. Long ago I came to the conclusion that actors are victims of luck and circumstance. If the role you are in fits the size of your head and some inherent quality in yourself, you do it well.

Every intelligent person resents and dislikes the possibility of war, but there is no denying the fact that those same intelligent people must realize the necessity for defense preparations so that in the event of foreign attack, peace will be much more surely and quickly established because of that very preparedness. This, remember, is the opinion of a soldier. The future is precarious; dictatorships are instituted, over-ruled and overthrown. In the general political turmoil and the unrest that is felt throughout the entire world due to the deplorable political situation, it is preparedness that will prevent many a too impulsive entrance into hostile action. Big nations can prevent bloodshed and the bullying of weaker peoples only by armed watchfulness and the drastic enforcement of law and order.