Top 60 Tim Robbins Quotes (2025 Update)

1. “It simply comes down to this, Get Busy Living, or Get Busy Dying.”

— Tim Robbins

2. “If you’re in the position to help someone and you do it, it’s very rewarding.”

— Tim Robbins

3. “I think the enemy is self-censorship. In a free society the biggest danger is that you’re afraid to the point where you censor yourself.”

— Tim Robbins

4. “Any journey in life, if not done for human reasons of understanding and love, would be a very empty and lonely one.”

— Tim Robbins

5. “There’s always someone telling you not to do something. The main thing is just to ignore them.”

— Tim Robbins

6. “There’s the theory that nudity doesn’t really make something sexy; the characters and their relationship make it sexy.”

— Tim Robbins

7. “Our resistance to this war should be our resistance to profit at the cost of human life. Because that is what these drums beating over Iraq are really about. This is about business.”

— Tim Robbins

8. “Notice what no one else notices and you’ll know what no one else knows.”

— Tim Robbins

9. “If you find yourself in a movie that you have questions about, it’s not a compromise to your integrity.”

— Tim Robbins

10. “If you say, I’m living in America and I have freedom of speech but I choose not to use it because it’s going to cost me, well, you’re not living in freedom. You’re not free.”

— Tim Robbins

11. “I’ve used drugs that I do consider to be dangerous, drugs that are potentially detrimental to kids and society at large.”

— Tim Robbins

12. “You should never try irony or self-effacing humour.”

— Tim Robbins

13. “What you get is what you get. What you do with what you get, that’s more the point.”

— Tim Robbins

14. “I mean, what are they scared of? Who’s going to vote for anyone from the Communist Party, for God’s sake?”

— Tim Robbins

15. “It’s difficult when you have to turn down a tremendous amount of money because you don’t like what the script is saying and you don’t have any money.”

— Tim Robbins

16. “There’s nothing more boring than unintelligent actors, because all they have to talk about is themselves and acting. There have to be other things.”

— Tim Robbins

17. “Considering the fact that I’ve used it in the past, and know what it is, and seen the results of it, I don’t view marijuana as a dangerous drug.”

— Tim Robbins

18. “I’m six foot four and a half and I have a temper. It’s reserved for very important issues. If someone is asking me to make an artistic concession, then I’ll become a madman.”

— Tim Robbins

19. “Americans accept that gangsters are running the government.”

— Tim Robbins

20. “Most good actors have a huge intelligence about the human condition and a real open heart to different kinds of people and behavior.”

— Tim Robbins

21. “I couldn’t care less about being a presenter at the Oscars.”

— Tim Robbins

22. “Just because someone gets arrested doesn’t mean what they are doing is wrong. Some laws are unfair and unjust.”

— Tim Robbins

23. “Susan is just great. I know I’m biased, but she’s a great actress.”

— Tim Robbins

24. “I wouldn’t say I’m a method actor. I do research when I feel I don’t have enough experience for the part I’m playing.”

— Tim Robbins

25. “Is Walt turning over in his grave? A man named Joe Roth runs Disney right now-he gave me the go-ahead and total freedom to do whatever I wanted to do.”

— Tim Robbins

26. “You had to know how to fight or you had to know how to avoid a fight. I didn’t enjoy fighting, so I learned how to avoid them.”

— Tim Robbins

27. “New York is not conductive to theater. New York does not encourage its young. It does not encourage experimentation.”

— Tim Robbins

28. “I don’t think people have been able to deal with the fact that African American filmmakers can make movies about life and relationships.”

— Tim Robbins

29. “I love iconoclasts. I love individuals. I love people that are true to themselves, whatever the cost.”

— Tim Robbins

30. “I was a sports fan, but I also went to peace marches.”

— Tim Robbins

31. “I like Spike Lee a lot. He’s incredibly gifted and I don’t think he gets the credit he deserves as a filmmaker.”

— Tim Robbins

32. “Bush is very clever. When the debate should have been about the deterioration of our cities and the lack of action by government, he sent in his idiot to make an outrageous statement about Murphy Brown.”

— Tim Robbins

33. “I’ve long ago compromised my eight hours a night.”

— Tim Robbins

34. “I’m fairly competant as a director and actor, but I am Mr. Neurotic as a writer. I just don’t have enough confidence in my abilities to take criticism well. I take it personally. Start with ‘It’s a masterpiece,’ and then tell me what you think could be changed.”

— Tim Robbins

35. “I learned much more about acting from philosophy courses, psychology courses, history and anthropology than I ever learned in acting class.”

— Tim Robbins

36. “I don’t care about Clinton’s haircuts or his affairs or any of that stuff.”

— Tim Robbins

37. “I don’t view myself as a political leftie. I view myself as a storyteller who is fair to both sides.”

— Tim Robbins

38. “You get money out of acting. You get gray hair out of directing. Actually, I get more of a rush from directing.”

— Tim Robbins

39. “I’ve been lucky-my looks haven’t put me into one category. I don’t look like a blue blood. I don’t look like a criminal. I don’t look like anything.”

— Tim Robbins

40. “When you have a person in power who punishes people for speaking their mind, it’s truly dangerous.”

— Tim Robbins

41. “There are dumb actors. But there are dumb politicians and dumb bakers.”

— Tim Robbins

42. “In this time when a citizenry applauds the liberation of a country as it lives in fear of its own freedomwhen people all over the country fear reprisal if they use their right to free speech, it is time to get angry. It is time to get fierce.”

— Tim Robbins

43. “I learned never to listen to acting teachers because they don’t know what the hell they’re talking about.”

— Tim Robbins

44. “If I’m a commodity, it wouldn’t be a wise idea to buy stock in me – although, in the long run, maybe I’m a slow growth investment.”

— Tim Robbins

45. “My father described me as the oldest baby he’d ever seen. I apparently was very serious and reflective.”

— Tim Robbins

46. “My philosophy is, don’t take no for an answer and be willing to sacrifice your entire project for freedom.”

— Tim Robbins

47. “There are a great number of Republicans who are economically conservative but have hearts and a consciousness about their country.”

— Tim Robbins

48. “I’m not gangly; I’m very coordinated. I do have a bit of a baby face. But I guess that just means I’ll be working longer.”

— Tim Robbins

49. “I don’t know if I ever really bought into the eternal damnation bit.”

— Tim Robbins

50. “It’s certainly a lot more difficult to get a project made if you’re talking about something progressive. That’s just the nature of the industry.”

— Tim Robbins