- [when asked how he kept so slim] "I highly recommend worrying. It's much more effective than dieting."
- [speaking in 1929] "Unfortunately, or perhaps it is fortunate that I have always been forced to stand on my acting ability. I haven't a personality such as Jack Gilbert's, for instance, that attracts women and makes them like me for myself. When I am on the screen I must make them forget me entirely and think only of my acting."
- My friends have stood by me marvelously in the ups and downs of my career. I don't believe there is anything more worthwhile in life than friendship. Friendship is a far better thing than love, as it is commonly accepted.
- I do not hold that because the author did a bad job of writing the player need trump it with the same kind of acting. When I go into a picture I have only one character to look after. If the author didn't do him justice, I try to add whatever the creator of the part overlooked.
- I have never gone into a picture without first studying my characterization from all angles. I make a study of the fellow's life and try to learn everything about him, including the conditions under which he came into this world, his parentage, his environment, his social status, and the things in which he is interested. Then I attempt to get his mental attitude as much as possible.
- There is more money in being liked by an audience than in being disliked by it. The biggest thing about movie audiences is the sympathy they give characters on the screen. But the art of acting and the talent of selecting what one will act are divorced qualities.
- [When asked to describe his methods for keeping so fit and trim] I give my swimming pool a long and piercing look every morning. I think a lot about tennis and talk a good deal about golf. I find I keep fit best by worrying about what I'm going to do next.
- [Speaking of Myrna Loy] When we did a scene together, we forgot about technique, camera angels, and microphones. We weren't acting. We were just two people in perfect harmony. Many times I've played with an actress who seemed to be separated from me by a plate-glass window; there was no contact at all. But Myrna, unlike some actresses who think only of themselves, has the happy faculty of being able to listen while the other fellow says his lines. She has the give and take of acting that brings out the best.
- [speaking in the late 1970s, on post retirement film offers] When an offer comes, I ask myself, why would I do it? For the glory? The ham in me burned out years ago. For the money? I'd just be in a higher tax bracket. So I've said no for almost twenty-five years.
- Even my best friends never fail to tell me that the smartest thing I ever did was to marry Myrna Loy on the screen.
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