If you're not optimistic on some level, then you've given up. Viggo Mortensen More Quotes by Viggo Mortensen More Quotes From Viggo Mortensen You know, real life doesn't just suddenly resolve itself. You have to keep working at it. Viggo Mortensen resolvereal-lifereal In other words, I’m against cheating, greed, cruelty, racism, imperialism, religious fundamentalism, treason, and the seemingly limitless capacity for hypocrisy shown by Bush and his administration. Viggo Mortensen hypocrisyreligiouscheating I've never been conscious of having any real career plan, and I do not have a wish-list of actors, directors, screenwriters, or cameramen I'm hoping to work with. Life, I feel, has a way of leading us to the right situations and people, or at least to interesting ones. Viggo Mortensen careersrealpeople I have a roof over my head. I had a breakfast, and a lot of people in the world can't say that. I'm not going to complain about being interviewed. Viggo Mortensen peoplebreakfastworld I suppose a good director is like a teacher. I think that someone like David Cronenberg was very much like a teacher, because there's an openness, but a certain set of rules of behavior, and a certain conduct expected. But there's an atmosphere that's relaxed and conducive to exploration, and that is created by someone like Cronenberg. Viggo Mortensen atmosphereteacherthinking You know, real life doesn't just suddenly resolve itself. You have to keep working at it. Democracy, marriage, friendship. You can't just say she's my best friend. That's not a given, it's a process. Viggo Mortensen my-best-frienddemocracyreal As [John] Tolkien himself said, the story [Lord of the Ring ] is not allegorical. He said so when people tried to make analogies to World War II and the fight against Hitler and his fascist coalition. Viggo Mortensen fightingwarpeople I played Lucifer once, which is sort of a difficult character to research. I thought to myself, "We all have the potential to be selfish, to be cruel - at least to think evil thoughts, even if we don't ever act out on them. Even if we don't ever think we behave badly, we probably do more than we realize." Viggo Mortensen selfishcharacterthinking When people say that entertainers should "know your place," they might as well say the same thing about plumbers and teachers and cab drivers. We all should be able to express our views. Viggo Mortensen viewsteacherpeople Like most people I can be lazy, so it's nice to have a goal or deadline or reason to work out. I feel better when I get to exercise, or when I'm outdoors. I like to hike, swim and run, and I love to play soccer. Viggo Mortensen nicerunningsoccer The money I earn from films means I can help the people I want to help - you can do a lot of good if you want to. Viggo Mortensen wantmeanpeople When there is conflict, it's good to step away, even for five minutes, because you could say terrible things that you can't take back, so it's best to walk away. Viggo Mortensen conflictminutessteps Once you learn the idea of what a good guy is, you want your dad to be a good guy, and when your dad lets you down and doesn't act like a good guy, it's disappointing and can make you angry as you see it happen, which is beautiful and very believable. Viggo Mortensen dadbeautifulideas [Captain Fantastic] it's a great story. It's one of the better scripts I've read, ever, as far as being great from beginning to end. It handles a variety of characters. You have six children who all stand on their own, they're all individuals. And it touches on a very real issue, which is the lack of cohesion and communication in America right now. Viggo Mortensen communicationrealchildren Perceval Press a publishing house I founded in 2002 and it's still going strong. Strong for us means not so many books per year, but each one we very carefully design and print. Viggo Mortensen strongmeanbook I have to say that I think Bernie Sanders is the first politician since Dennis Kucinich that I've been truly inspired by. Where you actually are truly speaking truth to power, in a legitimate way and in an unpretentious and very straightforward way. Viggo Mortensen wayfirststhinking I don't speak up about something unless I feel strongly about it and until I've researched a subject extensively and have an informed decision about it. Viggo Mortensen speakdecisionfeels You know, Freud accepted his lot very stoically and very well and with a sense of humor. He aged and died gracefully, and there's a lot to be said for that. Viggo Mortensen sense-of-humoracceptedsaid Travel is one of the best anti-war weapons that there are. I've been to Iran, and if you're there you see little kids, cops, old people, cemeteries. Once you see that, you can't say, 'Oh, Iran, let's bomb them.' Viggo Mortensen iranwarkids The Road was a movie that has a good reputation, even though it wasn't released very well, but that's a movie I'm very proud of. Viggo Mortensen reputationwellsproud