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Charlton Heston

26 quotes

“Charlton Heston once told me that getting ahead in acting was more a matter of luck than talent and skill; but then he hastily amended that. "What I meant," he said, "was that there are a lot of skillful and talented people out there, far more than the industry can absorb, so that it takes luck, at least one good break, to rise above the crowd. However, if you haven't done your homework and developed your skills, one good break won't do you any good because you won't be able to exploit it.”
Charlton Heston (1923–2008) first seen 1989 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Jerry Pournelle, BYTE (January 1989)
“Let me make a short, opening, blanket comment. There are no "good guns". There are no "bad guns". Any gun in the hands of a bad man is a bad thing. Any gun in the hands of a decent person is no threat to anybody — except bad people.”
Charlton Heston (1923–2008) first seen 1997 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interview on Meet the Press (May 18, 1997)
“You do not define the First Amendment. It defines you. And it is bigger than you. That's how freedom works. It also demands you do your homework. Again and again, I hear gun owners say, how can we believe anything the anti-gun media says when they can't even get the facts right? For too long, you have swallowed manufactured statistics and fabricated technical support from anti-gun organizations that wouldn't know a semi-auto from a sharp stick. And it shows. You fall for it every time.”
Charlton Heston (1923–2008) first seen 1997 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech to the National Press Club (September 14, 1997)
“I simply cannot stand by and watch a right guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States come under attack from those who either can't understand it, don't like the sound of it, or find themselves too philosophically squeamish to see why it remains the first among equals: Because it is the right we turn to when all else fails. That's why the Second Amendment is America's first freedom.”
Charlton Heston (1923–2008) first seen 1997 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech to the National Press Club (September 14, 1997)
“Now, I doubt any of you would prefer a rolled up newspaper as a weapon against a dictator or a criminal intruder. Yet in essence, that is what you have asked our loved ones to do, through an ill-contrived and totally naive campaign against the Second Amendment.”
Charlton Heston (1923–2008) first seen 1997 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech to the National Press Club (September 14, 1997)
“You could say that the paparazzi and the tabloids are sort of the "assault weapons" of the First Amendment. They're ugly, a lot of people don't like them, but they're protected by the First Amendment — just as "assault weapons" are protected by the Second Amendment.”
Charlton Heston (1923–2008) first seen 1997 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interview Fox News Channel (September 15, 1997)
“Political correctness is tyranny with manners.”
Charlton Heston (1923–2008) first seen 1999 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech at the Harvard Law School (1999), as quoted in "Appreciation : Charlton Heston" in Time magazine (April 6, 2008)
“NRA members are in city hall, Fort Carson, NORAD, the Air Force Academy and the Olympic Training Center. And yes, NRA members are surely among the police and fire and SWAT team heroes who risked their lives to rescue the students at Columbine. "Don't come here"? We're already here. This community is our home. Every community in America is our home.”
Charlton Heston (1923–2008) first seen 1999 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: NRA annual meeting opening remarks, Denver, Colorado, 1999-05-01
“Sam is the only person I've ever physically threatened on a set.”
Charlton Heston (1923–2008) first seen 2003 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On working with director Sam Peckinpah, as quoted in "(Westerns Channel Begins Production on Original Documentary Focusing on Western Films of Legendary Director Sam Peckinpah" (August 29, 2003)
“I always work on the theory that the audience will believe you best if you believe yourself. This meant that I had to come to understand Moses well enough to believe in my portrayal of him.”
Charlton Heston (1923–2008) said by 2008 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“To me Moses is all men grown to gigantic proportions. He was a man of immense ability, immense emotions, immense humanness and immense dedication. There is something of Moses in each of us — the more there is, the better we are. It is interesting to note that once Moses climbs Mt. Sinai and talks to God there is never contentment for him again. That is the way it is with us. Once we talk to God, once we get his commission to us for our lives we cannot be again content. We are happier. We are busier. But we are not content because then we have a mission — a commission, rather.”
Charlton Heston (1923–2008) said by 2008 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Moses is the keystone to every man's ethical code. He was the first man of record in history to conceive of the law as separate from the will of a ruler, to choose whether a man should live by grace of law, or law by grace of man. In a literal sense Moses lives at every council table today.”
Charlton Heston (1923–2008) said by 2008 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It's fashionable for modern actors to talk about getting "inside" a character. But you can't get to the inside without getting the outside right first.”
Charlton Heston (1923–2008) said by 2008 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Celebrity is a corrosive condition for the soul. I have tried to restrain its inroads on me, but there are odd corners of my character that have been harmed.”
Charlton Heston (1923–2008) said by 2008 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I used to think if it wasn't possible to be a family man and a totally dedicated artist, I'd rather be the former. I'm an idealist and a romantic.”
Charlton Heston (1923–2008) said by 2008 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“To be an actor you need four things: energy, concentration, a lot of luck and, of course, good roles.”
Charlton Heston (1923–2008) said by 2008 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I have played some of the great men in history and I believe in the great man who does heroic deeds, even in these egalitarian times.”
Charlton Heston (1923–2008) said by 2008 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You simply disobey. Peaceably, yes. Respectfully, of course. Nonviolently, absolutely. But when told how to think or what to say or how to behave, we don’t. We disobey the social protocol that stifles and stigmatizes personal freedom.” 16 February 1999”
Charlton Heston (1923–2008) said by 2008 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“My dear friends, colleagues, and fans, my physicians have recently told me I may have a neurological disorder whose symptoms are consistent with Alzheimer's disease. So I wanted to prepare a few words for you now because when the time comes, I may not be able to.”
Charlton Heston (1923–2008) said by 2008 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I have lived my whole life on the stage and screen before you. I found purpose and meaning in your response. For an actor that is no greater loss than the loss of his audience. I can part the Red Sea, but I can't part with you, which is why I won't exclude you from this stage in my life. For now, I'm not changing anything. I will insist on work when I can; the doctors will insist on rest when I must. If you see a little less spring in my step, if your name fails to leap to my lips, you will know why. And if I tell you a funny story for the second time, please laugh anyway.”
Charlton Heston (1923–2008) said by 2008 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I'm neither giving up nor giving in. I believe I'm still the fighter that Dr. King and JFK and Ronald Reagan knew. But it's a fight I must someday call a draw. I must reconcile courage and surrender in equal measure.”
Charlton Heston (1923–2008) said by 2008 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I also want you to know I'm grateful beyond measure. My life has been blessed with good fortune. I'm grateful I was born in America, that cradle of freedom and opportunity where a kid from the Michigan North Woods can work hard and make something of his life. I'm grateful for the greatest words ever written, that let me share with you the infinite scope of the human experience. As an actor, I'm thankful I have lived not one life, but many.”
Charlton Heston (1923–2008) said by 2008 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Telling us what to think has evolved into telling us what to say, so telling us what to do can't be far behind. Before you claim to be a champion of free thought, tell me: Why did political correctness originate on America's campuses? And why do you continue to tolerate it? Why do you, who're supposed to debate ideas, surrender to their suppression? Let's be honest. Who here thinks your professors can say what they really believe? It scares me to death and should scare you too, that the superstition of political correctness rules the halls of reason. You are the best and the brightest. You, here in the fertile cradle of American academia, here in the castle of learning on the Charles River, you are the cream. But I submit that you, and your counterparts across the land, are the most socially conformed and politically silenced generation since Concord Bridge. And as long as you validate that ... and abide it ... you are — by your grandfathers' standards — cowards.”
Charlton Heston (1923–2008) first seen 1999 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech at Harvard Law School cited to the NRA website (February 16, 1999)]
“Thank you all for coming and thank you for supporting your organization. I also want to applaud your courage in coming here today. Or course, you have a right to be here. As you know, we've cancelled the festivities, the fellowship we normally enjoy at our annual gatherings. This decision has perplexed a few and inconvenienced thousands. As your president, I apologize for that. But it's fitting and proper that we should do this. Because NRA members are, above all, Americans. That means that whatever our differences, we are respectful of one another and we stand united, especially in adversity. I have a message from the mayor, Mr. Wellington Webb, the mayor of Denver. He sent me this and said, "Don't come here. We don't want you here." I said to the mayor, well, my reply to the mayor is, I volunteered for the war they wanted me to attend when I was 18 years old. Since then, I've run small errands for my country, from Nigeria to Vietnam. I know many of you here in this room could say the same thing. But the mayor said "Don't come." I'm sorry for that. I'm sorry for the newspaper ads saying the same thing, "Don't come here." This is our country. As Americans, we're free to travel wherever we want in our broad land.”
Charlton Heston (1923–2008) said by 2008 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Tragedy has been and will always be with us. Somewhere right now, evil people are planning evil things. All of us will do everything meaningful, everything we can do to prevent it, but each horrible act can’t become an axe for opportunists to cleave the very Bill of Rights that binds us. America must stop this predictable pattern of reaction. When an isolated terrible event occurs, our phones ring demanding that the NRA explain the inexplicable. Why us? Because their story needs a villain. ... That is not our role in American society and we will not be forced to play it. ... Now, if you disagree that's your right, I respect that, but we will not relinquish it, or be silenced about it, or be told "do not come here, you are unwelcome in your own land.”
Charlton Heston (1923–2008) first seen 1999 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: NRA annual meeting closing remarks, Denver, Colorado, 1999-05-01; referring to the complaints that some had that the NRA should not proceed to have its scheduled convention in Denver out of sensitivity to the fact that …
“I remember a decade ago at my first annual meeting in St. Louis. After my banquet remarks to a packed house, they presented me with a very special gift. It was a splendid hand-crafted musket. I admit I was overcome by the power of its simple symbolism. I looked at that musket and I thought of all of the lives given for that freedom. I thought of all of the lives saved with that freedom. It dawned on me that the doorway to all freedoms is framed by muskets. So I lifted that musket over my head for all to see. And as flashbulbs popped around the room, my heart and a few tears swelled up, and I uttered five unscripted words. When I did, that room exploded in sustained applause and hoots and shouts that seemed to last forever. ... So as we set out this year to defeat the divisive forces that would take freedom away, I want to say those words again for everyone within the sound of my voice to hear and to heed, and especially for you, Mr. Gore: From my cold dead hands!”
Charlton Heston (1923–2008) first seen 2000 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech at NRA Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina (May 20, 2000)