Ralph Fiennes Quotes

I do struggle with how much and in which way, as an artist or celebrity, that you voice your political views.

People have always tut-tutted about actors stepping out of line politically. And I can sort of see it because what you've got your fame for is not being someone who can influence things, so it's cheating.

I think it's really important for celebrities to use their power of money and fame to get their voices out there. It's funny to me that we're expected to keep quiet just because of who we are. Why do I lose my right to speak my mind because I'm famous?

I do not believe that artists or actors and people should be out there like voicing their full-blown opinions on politics because, let's face it, at the end of the day, I'm not that smart of a guy.

I think people can't say anymore, 'Celebrities should keep their political opinions to themselves,' because we elected a reality TV star, so I think that's off limits.

In this culture, where entertainers and athletes wield such power, it seems only right to me that they try to make their influence a good one.

I have always hated celebrities lecturing people on politics.

Law is nothing unless close behind it stands a warm, living public opinion.

The will to set values and the power to make them law are jointly at the bottom of all operative norms. When linked to divine wisdom, this source of moral law is still in safe hands which man can trust.

I think that celebrities should never underestimate their power. I mean just to draw attention, because then people get involved on a personal level.

Just like Tim Robbins is very political - and obviously, Arnold Schwarzenegger must be - I want to be able to have this public personality that's considered authoritative.

I've never been called quiet about anything in my life. However, I'm also not one of those people who thinks that because I have been moderately successful at playing make believe for a living that I am supposed to tell you who to vote for.

… [now football] players want to be politicians and use their fame to lecture other Americans, the parsons of the press corps want to make them moral spokesmen…

I don't understand why people who have the most power, say people like Amitabh Bachchan, are silent on most issues.

I would be delighted not to see another celebrity, regardless of their political beliefs, come to Washington to make yet another appeal for some cause about which they know little.

Rappers are definitely role models and definitely should get involved. They're involved in politics whether they like it or not.

Celebrities have a platform, and people listen to them. And there's a lot of people that we are able to touch, who aren't watching activists and aren't watching the news, that are watching what celebrities say.

I don't pick and choose what LeBron should talk about any more than any talking heads who try to pick and choose.

Actors spend a great deal of their time making films. And that doesn't mean that they're not educated. But we haven't gone to law school and we're not experts on policy. We're just people with a platform and an opinion. But that should never be enough, in my opinion, to be political.

I suppose people also have to be a little more careful or circumspect if they're going to leverage their celebrity to promote their political aims. The problem is that politics is about the accretion of power, and it's very difficult not to get giddy with power.

I felt that for 20 years, I was wooing the people of my country and asking them to like me as an actor, and when they liked me as an actor, I told them, 'Now, you like my politics.'

Beyonce may be a gifted entertainer, but no one should really care what she thinks about any serious issue confronting our nation.

Authority is mainly a moral power; therefore, it must first call upon the conscience, that is, upon the duty that each person has to contribute willingly to the common good.

Actors, like it or not, their voices carry deeply into the culture: people look towards them for attitudes, for right or wrong, and today, the mainstream media doesn't really balance the unheard.

I hate the idea that people should listen to what actors have to say on certain issues more than anyone else. Actors have no more right to be heard than anyone.