Robert Downey Jr: Inspiring Quotes From The Iconic Actor

The lesson is that you can still make mistakes and be forgiven.

John Hughes wrote some of the greatest youth stories of all time.

You need to know what to do when the sun is not shining.

You have to let go of the things that are darling to you. And learn how to discriminate between this great idea that you have, the story that you?re falling in love with, and the movie that you?re making.

Remember that just because you hit bottom doesn’t mean you have to stay there.

I think you end up doing the stuff you were supposed to do at the time you were supposed to do it.

I think part of my destiny has to be realizing that I’m not the poster boy for drug abuse. I’m just this guy who has a really strong sense of wanting home and wanting foundation and having not had it, I now choose to create it.

It’s hard to get out of the barrel. It’s slippery around the edges and people are happy to see you fall back in.

I want to give myself a chance to really focus on children in need and lend my assistance to setting up important NGO’s.

The higher the stakes, the happier I am, the better I will be.

Life is just so painful and messy and hard and worth it and all that stuff.

Do I want to be a hero to my son? No. I would like to be a very real human being. That?s hard enough.

I’m an assistant storyteller. It’s like being a waiter or a gas station attendant, but I’m waiting on six million people a week, if I’m lucky.

I think life changes every year. This is just a little more comfortable.

I know very little about acting. I’m just an incredibly gifted faker.

People never change because they are under threat or under duress, they change because they see something that makes their life seem valuable enough to start moving toward a life worth living.

You need to know what to do when the sun is not shining.

Listen, smile, agree, and then do whatever the heck you were gonna do anyway.

I think you end up doing the stuff you were supposed to do at the time you were supposed to do it.

The lesson is that you can still make mistakes and be forgiven.

Mediocrity is my biggest fear. I’m not afraid of total failure because I don’t think that will happen. I’m not afraid of success because that beats the hell out of failure. It’s being in the middle that scares me.

I don’t want to be so confident that I’m not completely nervous at some points.

The future is uncertain, but that can be a good thing.

Worrying is like praying for something that you don’t want to happen.

Do I want to be a hero to my son? No. I would like to be a very real human being. That’s hard enough.

I’ve always felt like such an outsider in this industry. Because I’m so insane, I guess.

I understand reversal of fortune; that usually has come through my own hand, but you know, you live life on life’s terms.

If I could eat whatever I wanted every day, I would have Domino’s pizza with pasta carbonara inside every slice.

Listen, smile, agree, and then do whatever the fuck you were gonna do anyway.

You need to know what your convicts are, and go after them with a vengeance.

I know very little about acting. I’m just an incredibly gifted faker.

Life is just so painful and messy and hard and worth it and all that stuff.

I am not my story.

Job one is to get out of that cave. A lot of people do get out but don’t change.

I think you end up doing the stuff you were supposed to do at the time you were supposed to do it.

It’s not that difficult to overcome these seemingly ghastly problems…What’s hard is to decide.

Do I want to be a hero to my son? No. I would like to be a very real human being. That’s hard enough.

The lesson is that you can still make mistakes and be forgiven.

To me, friendship means loving tolerance.

People rise out of the ashes because, at some point, they are invested with a belief in the possibility of triumph over seemingly impossible odds.

Remember that just because you hit rock bottom doesn’t mean you have to stay there.

Worrying is like praying for something that you don?t want to happen.

Mediocrity for me is not an option.

I think part of my destiny has to be realizing that I’m not the poster boy for drug abuse.

I take some pride in… representing myself exactly how I would like to have my son remember me to his kids.

Just because you’re at the bottom doesn’t mean you have to stay there.