He was the quintessential Hollywood movie star—and so much more
The word amazing doesn’t even begin to describe Robert Redford. A true Hollywood legend, Redford—who died on Sept. 16 at age 89—boasted a wide-ranging career over his 60 years in the business that touched on nearly every genre. He starred in a romantic tearjerker (The Way We Were), a classic Western (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid), a rollicking caper (The Sting), a spine-tingling baseball fable (The Natural) and the greatest movie about journalism ever made (All the President’s Men). And that impressive list doesn’t even include favorites such as Barefoot in the Park, The Great Gatsby, Out of Africa and Indecent Proposal.
But “leading man with the tousled blond hair and a boyish grin” was just one of Redford’s roles. A first-class filmmaker, he won a Best Director Oscar in 1981 for the staggering Ordinary People. (He also directed The Milagro Beanfield War, A River Runs Through It and Quiz Show, among others.) An activist, humanitarian and philanthropist, he was committed to the environment, Native American communities and nature conservation. And, of course, he was the godfather of low-budget independent cinema. In 1981, Redford created the Sundance Institute and Sundance Film Festival to support burgeoning filmmakers. The annual festival, held in Park City, Utah, is one of his most enduring legacies, and it’s still going strong today.
And along the way, he learned a thing or two along the way about life, love and success. His words of wisdom still have the power to both inspire and instruct. Read on for some of his most notable quotes on and off the screen.
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Inspiring Robert Redford quotes
- “Speak out for what you believe and what you feel. Or don’t. You have to live with yourself.”
- “People don’t remember who the critics were.”
- “Humor. Skill. Wit. Sex appeal. That order.”
- “Life is essentially sad. Happiness is sporadic. It comes in moments, and that’s it. Extract the blood from every moment.”
- “Sound and accurate journalism defends our democracy. It’s one of the most effective weapons we have to restrain the power-hungry. I always said that All the President’s Men was a violent movie. No shots were fired, but words were used as weapons.”
- “I believe there’s no room for discrimination. None. I think it’s un-American.”
- “I remember hearing early on the Native American principle of not inheriting the land from their ancestors, but rather borrowing it from their children. That really resonated with me, and I’ve tried to use their wisdom as a guiding principle in my own approach in working to protect our planet.”
- “Sitting around and talking about a scene interminably is like standing on the edge of a high dive. The longer you stand, the tougher it is to dive.”
- “Very early on, when I realized the importance of the environment, I also realized that I was going to have to play a role in protecting it, and it might not be easy.”
- “One of the faults of Hollywood is that people put so much emphasis on staying young. I can tell when [an older actor] tries to make the effort, and it looks fake. You’re missing a great dimension.”
Robert Redford quotes about success
- “Not taking a risk is a risk. That’s how I see it. If you’re going to take a risk, you have to be prepared if it doesn’t work. You have to have perseverance and a certain gumption and maybe be a little nuts.”
- “What really matters is the work. And what matters to me is doing the work. I’m not looking at the back end: ‘What am I going to get out of this? What’s going to be the reward?’ I’m just looking at the work, the pleasure of being able to do the work.”
- “I think it’s important to fail. Failure’s not fun. I’m not that perverse. I grew up in a world that said failure is the end of the road. It’s not. It’s a step along the road.”
- “Change is inevitable. You either resist it—we know who those people are—or you go with it.”
- “My business has been very good to me as an actor. I look at directing as a natural step. I’ve been frustrated for many years in wanting to have total control of something. It’s like doing a painting.”
- “The way you really find out about the performer’s seriousness about the cause is how long they stay with it when the spotlight gets turned off. You see a lot of celebrities switch gears. They go from the environment to animal rights to obesity or whatever. That, I don’t have a lot of respect for.”
- “I wasn’t really seeing the country I lived in being represented onscreen. I wanted to see stories where things weren’t so red, white and blue, or so black and white. I was interested in the grey zone.”
- “Be careful of success. It has a dark side.”
- “That is usually what brings people to the work: They have a story they want to tell. A lot of people are taken aback with that question: What’s your story?”
- “If you persevere, if you really believe in something strongly enough, you just keep at it until it happens.”
Famous Robert Redford movie quotes
- “You hold on, and I don’t know how. I wish I did.” —Hubbell Gardner, The Way We Were
- “Knowing is the easy part; saying it out loud is the hard part.” —Tom Booker, The Horse Whisperer
- “I guess some mistakes you never stop paying for.” —Rob Hobbs, The Natural
- “You guys are amazing. You think not getting caught in a lie is the same thing as telling the truth!” —Joe Turner, Three Days of the Condor
- “They volunteered he was innocent when nobody asked if he was guilty.” —Bob Woodward, All The President’s Men
- “What do we do now?” —Bill McKay, The Candidate
- “You just keep thinkin’, Butch. That’s what you’re good at.” —Sundance Kid, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
- “I love you, Corie. Even when I didn’t like you, I loved you.” —Paul Bratter, Barefoot in the Park
- “You’ll do well, Del—providing you don’t get into trouble with all that hair.” —Jeremiah Johnson, Jeremiah Johnson
- “Suppose I were to offer you $1 million for one night with your wife.” —John Gage, Indecent Proposal
- “Luther said I could learn something from you. I already know how to drink.” —Johnny Hooker, The Sting
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Why trust us
At Reader’s Digest, we’ve been sharing our favorite quotes for over 100 years. The sayings and quips that appear in the magazine’s “Quotable Quotes” (formerly “Remarkable Remarks”) are curated from interviews and essays originally published in the magazine, reprints from trusted titles and other verified sources. For this piece on Robert Redford quotes, Mara Reinstein tapped her two decades of experience as an entertainment journalist, film critic and pop culture expert. We verify that all quotes are attributed correctly and have credible sourcing. Read more about our team, our contributors and our editorial policies.
