Having to say no to 'Avatar' was tough because I particularly wanted to work with James Cameron, and still do, because he’s fantastic, he knew he was the star of that movie and that everyone was going to go see it anyway. When he said, ‘Look, I’m offering it to you, but if you say no, the movie doesn’t need you,' I remember thinking, ‘Oh God, not only do I have to say no because of scheduling, but he’s going to make a star out of some guy who’s going to start taking jobs from me later.'.

Matt Damon

Categorized in : Entertainment

I think what's important for kids to know is that your decisions here on earth matter, your behavior matters and how you treat other people matters.

inspirational kids children

Sometimes all you need is 20 seconds of insane courage by Matt Damon

Sometimes all you need is 20 seconds of insane courage

insane sometimes needs

It's just better to be yourself than to try to be some version of what you think the other person wants.

being-yourself trying thinking

If you can't help people, then what is the point of being success... by Matt Damon

If you can't help people, then what is the point of being successful?

successful helping people

Please find out what you can do to make a difference. Take five minutes to educate yourself on an issue you didn't know about before. Then tell somebody else.

making-a-difference issues differences

Some people just see the glory and they don't want to know about... by Matt Damon

Some people just see the glory and they don't want to know about the story.

stories want people

As a struggling actor, youre not looking for parts that define yo... by Matt Damon

As a struggling actor, youre not looking for parts that define you; youre just looking for work.

define-you actors struggle

All you have in the end is to look back and like the choices you'... by Matt Damon

All you have in the end is to look back and like the choices you've made.

inspirational-celebrity choices looks

You will never solve poverty without solving water and sanitation... by Matt Damon

You will never solve poverty without solving water and sanitation.

solve poverty water

I grew up in and the teachers. I think I was very lucky. I think I had a lot of social capital, and so when I found myself in this position of influence, I just - then I started to engage a bit with some of the problems in the world and realize that I could actually have an impact.

impact teacher thinking

We're here for such a short time. When your great-great-grandkids study history, don't you want them to be proud that you were part of the solution?

proud action want

Eventually stardom is going to go away from me. It goes away from everybody and all you have in the end is to be able to look back and like the choices you made.

going-away choices inspirational

Listen, here's the thing. If you can't spot the sucker in the first half hour at the table, then you ARE the sucker.

half tables firsts

I’ll play Pretty Pretty Princess with you if you just let me watc... by Matt Damon

I’ll play Pretty Pretty Princess with you if you just let me watch a little bit of March Madness.

princess play watches

Some people get into this business and they're so afraid to lose anything. They try to protect their position like clinging to a beachhead. These Actor s end up making really safe choices. I never wanted to go that route. If I go down, I'm going down swinging. I know that's the way Heath Ledger feels and Ben Affleck feels the same way, too. We want to take the big swings.

swings choices people

If you work at something, you get better at it. by Matt Damon

If you work at something, you get better at it.

Bond is part of the system. He's an imperialist and a misogynist, and he laughs at killing people, and he sits there slugging martinis. It'll never be the same thing as this, because Bourne is a guy who is against the establishment, who is paranoid and on the run. I just think fundamentally they're just very different things.

running people thinking

Part of the American ethos is that you want to leave something better for your kids than you had and I know that my parents felt that way and I know that my grandparents felt that way and everybody worked hard so that their kids had a better chance. I just don't want to be the first generation that doesn't do that.

ethos grandparent kids

[Americans] can't understand that the water in our toilet is cleaner than 880 million have access to.

cleaners toilets water

It's better to be a fake somebody than a real nobody. by Matt Damon

It's better to be a fake somebody than a real nobody.

fake fake-people real