Peter O'Toole

When did I realize I was God? Well, I was praying and I suddenly realized I was talking to myself.

No one should ever know where conduct ends and acting begins. Conduct unbecoming. That's what acting is.

I put steam on the table by being an actor. That is how I live. The longer I live, the more expensive it becomes. So I do my work. And I can't be immensely picky. How many beautiful scripts come in one's lifetime? I have had more than anybody, practically.

A few years back I was asked if I would go and meet a director and his various acolytes, and it occurred to me halfway through the meeting that what I was doing was auditioning. And I thought, 'Well, hang on buddy. I've done half a century of this.'

I have no intention of uttering my last words on the stage. Room service and a couple of depraved young women will do me quite nicely for an exit.

Acting is just being a man. Being human. Not forcing it.

It is time for me to chuck in the sponge. To retire from films and stage. The heart for it has gone out of me: it won't come back.

The only exercise I take is walking behind the coffins of friends who took exercise.

I'm the most gregarious of men and love good company, but never less alone when alone.

And maddest of all, to see life as it is and not as it should be.

Question: How do you know you're God? Answer: Simple. When I pray to him, I find I'm talking to myself.