John Gavin Quotes

Come on, just because I'm an entertainer it doesn't mean I don't have any dignity!

I spent a lot of the last five years on a set, and every once in a while you take stock of your life and look at what you're doing.

When I started acting, it was like a double identity crisis - your basic crisis, compounded by people saying, 'there goes Robards' kid, Bacall's kid.' Now I realize, sure, that gets your foot in the door, but once it's there, it's your foot. I'm not bothered anymore. I'm confident of my abilities.

I did not have a reputation to defend.

I'm 64 years old, and I've been acting now for 42 years. Only recently have I thought to myself, 'Hmmm, it may be interesting to start directing.'

Self-respect, the value of 'face,' is universal but is most pronounced in China, then in Japan where the Confucian ethic is most influential.

I have considered myself a mature actor.

That's what Rocky is all about: pride, reputation, and not being another bum in the neighborhood.

I have to prove myself in a lot of ways - as an actor, as a person, as someone who can handle pressure.

I want to be respected as an actor. There's my ego. But I don't have a great need to be liked by an audience.

I try not to look back on my career.

I think just being on 'One Tree Hill' has given me a lot of confidence.

I don't have any shame about the way I conducted my professional life.

Tell me how a person judges his or her self-esteem, and I will tell you how that person operates at work, in love, in sex, in parenting, in every important aspect of existence - and how high he or she is likely to rise. The reputation you have with yourself - your self-esteem - is the single most important factor for a fulfilling life.

You are not very good if you are not better than your best friends imagine you to be.

Reputation is what other people know about you. Honor is what you know about yourself.

We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of, while others judge us by what we have already done.

In reality, I am more a professor, one who reflects and mediates on spiritual questions. Practical governance is not my strong point, and this is certainly a weakness. But I do not see myself as a failure. For eight years, I carried out my work.

I did very well when I was younger, and I am fine.

Some of those early photographs of me might as well be sepia. It's always thought that I disclaim television and am too theatre, but the truth is 'The Avengers' bores me now. I was grateful because it catapulted me into stage stardom. It was good. I'm not ashamed of it. But I only did it for two years.

I like to be respected as an actor.

I don't want to be known as an unprofessional actor. There was a time I was considered unprofessional, to a certain extent. I was very uncomfortable about that.

Filming 'Glow' helped with my confidence.

All of us wish for a dignity that commands respect. But few have it.

I feel people look up to me.