Quotes By Joaquin Phoenix

My significant other right now is myself, which is what happens when you suffer from multiple personality disorder and self-obsession.

I had a really wonderful upbringing. We were a tight family. It was wonderful to grow up with so many siblings. We were all just a year or two apart, and we were always so supportive of each other. I learned everything from my older brother and sister and taught it to my younger sisters.

Going out on a stage publicly and not knowing how people are going to react to you - once I experienced that, it made me feel much more comfortable about going into a scene.

You can take that 'I'm an artiste' stuff to the wrong extreme, too.

I becan acting when River was doing this TV series and they needed two kids for the show, so they got me and my little sister, Summer, to do it. After that I did some really weird guest spots with orangutans and stuff.

There are kids who get on a BMX bike when they're eight years old and they go, 'Whoa, this is incredible,' and grow up to do extreme sports. It's the same for me with acting.

With public figures involved in a relationship it seems that there is a machine behind their love so oftentimes.

I just I don't feel challenged by acting anymore. I don't enjoy the process anymore.

Once I became a total buffoon, it was so liberating.

Might I be ridiculous? Might my career in music be laughable? Yeah, that's possible, but that's certainly not my intention.

When I go out with the ladies, I don't force them to pronounce my name. I tell them I like to go by the nickname of Kitten.

You're always thinking, What's the next move - the career, the money.

It's an amazing feeling to go into a studio and really be alone.

In most films - especially in regards to the protagonist - really from the get-go they set up some scenario that endears that character to the audience. Or imbues him with some nobility or heroism or something.

I'd see child actors and I'd get so jealous, because they're just completely wide open.

I mean, I don't like sitting at a table with seven or eight people asking me questions and kind of listening to what I'm doing - scrutinizing my thoughts and things like that. I just don't like it. I can't understand how anyone would.

I've always loved music, but I never really played anything. After 'Walk the Line' and learning to play guitar, and having that sense of performing, I think that certainly opened the door for me, for music.

I don't really make movies because I want to see my face on a billboard or because I want to get good reviews or have a big box office. That doesn't really matter to me at all.

I'm incredibly lazy!

I always have the fear that, if I don't commit 100 percent to my work, then it's gonna suffer.

No, I don't want to talk about River. I have nothing to say about it that I would want to be public.

I feel an obligation to set the record straight. Actors that say they're affected by something, that it changes their life, that they take it home with them, they're just trying to get nominated for an Oscar!

I never prepare. I think that's completely overrated. It's a very simple job. All you have to do is hit this bright mark, stand in the right spot and say the line. So I don't really believe in preparation.

I feel like everything you learn as an actor growing up is wrong. You're supposed to hit your mark, find your light and know your lines. Those are all things that just make things wooden, dull and boring.

I love having a master. I have no problem serving my director. That's my job. I want to make them happy.

My parents were just searching for an alternative way of raising their children.

Things are rarely as exciting or dramatic as we make them out to be in the press.

When I decide to do something, I stick with it, total commitment.

My music is going to be true. I'm not out to sell records. I'm experiencing something, and it's what I feel.

When I look back I can't believe how my parents managed, but the cliche is true. We didn't have money, but we were rich in so many other ways.