James Dean Quotes:
An Inspirational Tribute to James Dean

James Dean (1931 - 1955)

Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today.

I also became close to nature, and am now able to appreciate the beauty with which this world is endowed.

Being a good actor isn't easy. Being a man is even harder. I want to be both before I'm done.

When an actor plays a scene exactly the way a director orders, it isn't acting. It's following instructions. Anyone with the physical qualifications can do that.

You're tearing me apart!

A fish that is in the water has no choice that he is. Genius would have it that we swim in sand. We are fish and we drown.

[when told he was too short to be an actor] How can you measure acting in inches?

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The gratification comes in the doing, not in the results.

Studying cows, pigs and chickens can help an actor develop his character. There are a lot of things I learned from animals. One was that they couldn't hiss or boo me.

To grasp the full significance of life is the actor's duty; to interpret it his problem; and to express it his dedication.

I want to be a Texan 24 hours a day.

Since I'm only 24 years old, guess I have as good an insight into this rising generation as any other young man my age.

James Dean

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Being an actor is the loneliest thing in the world. You are all alone with your concentration and imagination, and that's all you have.

To me, acting is the most logical way for people's neuroses to manifest themselves, in this great need we all have to express ourselves.

An actor must interpret life, and in order to do so must be willing to accept all the experiences life has to offer. In fact, he must seek out more of life than life puts at his feet.

Rebel Without a Cause.

Eternity? ... That is one hell of a movie.

But I can't go with you. Son, you drive too fast.

It breezes along quite quickly.

In the short span of his lifetime, an actor must learn all there is to know, experience all there is to experience, or approach that state as closely as possible.

James Dean
How do I live without you?

If a man can bridge the gap between life and death, if he can live on after he's dead, then maybe he was a great man.

I think the one thing this picture shows that's new is the psychological disproportion of the kids' demands on the parents. Parents are often at fault, but the kids have some work to do, too.

To my way of thinking, an actor's course is set even before he's out of the cradle.

But you can't show some far off idyllic conception of behavior if you want the kids to come and see the picture. You've got to show what it's really like, and try to reach them on their own grounds.

Live fast, die young, and have a beautiful looking corpse.

I`m not going to go through life with one arm tied behind my back.

James Dean
Rebel

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There is no way to be truly great in this world. We are all impaled on the crook of conditioning.

Only the gentle are ever really strong.

Trust and belief are two prime considerations. You must not allow yourself to be opinionated.

You can do Hamlet while performing cartwheels . . . as long as the audience sees your eyes - you can make the performance real.

The only greatness for man is immortality.

James Dean

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