It’s not a gift of mine, but one given to me, to be able to criticise myself and not be crushed, by myself or by others. – John Malkovich
I think people seem to sort of associate me with danger. And I don’t see that at all. – John Malkovich
Unlike my grandfather or my brother, I’ve actually been able to make some money at a racetrack. – John Malkovich
I’ve permitted myself to learn and to fail with some regularity. And that is probably the one thing I was given, and that I’m still grateful for. – John Malkovich
I like to direct movies, but I don’t like to goof around for eight years talking about it. – John Malkovich
Most filmmakers’ entire body of knowledge is of other movies. When they describe things, they describe them in relation to other movies. That’s why we have so many cyclical movies that look like other movies. But I’m not cynical. I even go to some of those movies. – John Malkovich
I’m more likely to lose my temper on a film set than almost anywhere. Often the level of idiocy is so exalted that it’s impossible to comprehend. – John Malkovich
Nothing you do particularly matters. But I’m not sure that’s a great excuse for doing it poorly. – John Malkovich
People get up, they go to work, they have their lives, but you’ll never see the headlines say, ‘Six billion people got along rather well today.’ You’ll have the headline about the 30 people who shot each other. – John Malkovich
I know for a fact that a lot of actors are desperate and unhappy if their careers are not progressing at what they think is the correct rate. They just go crazy if they’re not working. I don’t feel I’d be that way. You can always get a few people together and put on a play. Maybe not in New York or L.A., but in a lot of other towns, you can. – John Malkovich
Imagine how asleep or utterly unperceptive and clueless you would have to be not to see yourself as absurd for the most part. – John Malkovich
‘Secretariat’ was such a magnificent animal, unbelievably beautiful and powerful. It’s always nice to see something that close to perfection, a reason to celebrate. – John Malkovich
I think when I went to psychoanalysis, I actually believed that people said what they meant. This was my whole problem. – John Malkovich
You know, I’m really not interested in someone telling me that something’s good or bad. – John Malkovich
In New York in the Forties or Fifties, everybody’s in a suit, an overcoat and a hat. – John Malkovich
We have a tendency to think everyone’s idiotic and everyone’s only doing something idiotic, and the world is controlled by a not-so-secret group of morons. There’s great truth in that, I suppose, but then it’s also not true. – John Malkovich
The world is ruled by violence, or at least the imminent threat of violence. It always has been. – John Malkovich
If you’re too smart it can limit you because you spend so much time thinking that you don’t do anything. – John Malkovich
Some directors expect you to do everything; write, be producer, psychiatrist. Some just want you to die in a tragic accident during the shooting so they can get the insurance. – John Malkovich
I lost seventy pounds eating nothing but Jello for 4 months. But of course there is great variety in the colors! I think, if I remember correctly, it’s 230 calories for a whole bowl. Maybe 270? In the 5th month, I added fruit. – John Malkovich