Robert John Downey Jr. is an icon among literally anyone who knows American cinema. He is an American actor and singer whose career has included several highs and lows. And he became a standard for inspiration for most of today’s youth. Also, the media has popularized his significant struggles in his young adulthood. Moreover, it furthered by a phase of substance abuse and legal proceedings that dragged his name through a lot of criticism and shame.
However, his success was reinstated in the upcoming years, ever since he became widely known as Ironman of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Ever since, he has been a great role model and played some truly great roles on the big screen. Moreover, he even topped the Forbes list of Hollywood’s highest-paid actors for three consecutive years from 2012 to 2015.
Here is a list of Robert Downey Jr. quotes.
Best Quotes by Robert Downey Jr.
- “Worrying is like praying for something that you don’t want to happen.”
- “Listen, smile, agree and then do whatever you are gonna do anyway.”
- “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 think life changes every year.”
- “Sometimes you just gotta be drop-kicked out of the nest.”
- “Nothing is a break for me. Not even the breaks are breaks.”
- “I know very little about acting. But I am just an incredibly gifted faker.”
- “Look, even bad years are pretty good years, I think.”
- “For years I took pride in being resilient.”
- “It doesn’t matter whether or not you can act. But if you can go into a room and make these sweaters want you, that’s what’ll get you the job.”
- “You need to know what to do when the sun is not shining.”
- “I think that we all do heroic things, but hero is not a noun, it’s a verb.”
- “I think that power is the principle. The principle of moving forward, as though you have the confidence to move forward, eventually gives you confidence when you look back and see what you’ve done.”
- “I guess the issue for me is to keep things dynamic.”
- “Acting is always a challenge.”
- “I’m coming from a place of total strength and humility now.”
- “I always think part of success is being able to replicate results, taking what is interesting or viable about yourself as a professional person and seeing if you bring it into different situations with similar results.”
- “The lesson is that you can still make mistakes and be forgiven.”
- “With a terrible script, you hustle and try to make it better. But with a good script it can be troublesome because you rest on your laurels, so to speak, you think it’s going to translate easily.”
- “I think you end up doing the stuff you were supposed to do at the time you were supposed to do it.”
- “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’ve always felt that if you’re not on your side, why should anyone else be? So, I always encourage people to be confident, and sometimes even a little falsely so, just so you can give yourself an opportunity.”
- “I think it’s all about how much you love, understand and can relate to the material you are given.”
- Nothing will serve you better than a strong work ethic. Nothing.”
- “Discipline for me is about respect. It’s not even about self-respect; it’s about respect for life and all it offers.”
- “Enjoy failure and learn from it. Because you can never learn from success.”
- “You have to let go of the things that are darling to you. You have to take the focus off yourself and put it on the shape of the scene and the intention of what everyone else needs.”
- “I’ve always felt like such an outsider in this industry. Because I’m so insane, I guess.”
- “I don’t think of myself as a superhero. I mean, I’m an actor.”
- “I think that we all do heroic things, but hero is not a noun, it’s a verb.”
- “I have a sense of destiny that you are led to the things you are supposed to do.”
- “I’ve always felt that if I’m going to do something, I should do it really well, and I should try to do it better than anyone has ever done it.”
- “I’ve noticed that worrying is like praying for what you don’t want to happen.”
- “There’s somewhere you’re supposed to go, and if you get quiet enough, then you’ll make it.”
- “You have to let go of the things that are darling to you. Also, you have to take the focus off yourself and put it on the shape of the scene and the intention of the script and the other actors.”
- “I’m one of those people who believe that the imagination is one of the most powerful tools in the toolbox.”
- “I’m a doer, and whether it was the ’80s or ’90s or whatever, I’m still a doer.”
- “Look, even bad years are pretty good years, I think.”
- “Job one is gotten out of that cave. A lot of people do get out but don’t change.”
- “People never change because they are under threat or under duress. Never. They change because they see something that makes their life seem valuable enough to start moving toward a life worth living.”
About Robert Downey Jr.
He dropped out of school at the age of 17 to become an actor. Also, his initial jobs included moving tables at a restaurant and working at a shoe store. In addition, he can play piano, bass, and drums. He has been playing these instruments since he was 12 years old. His nickname was Bob, and his surname was Elias, but his father changed it to Downey, a family name of his stepfather. Further, in 2004, Robert Downey Jr. released a music album titled The Futurist. He also sang the 1973 Joni Mitchell song River in the TV show Ally McBeal.
So, hopefully Robert Downey Jr. quotes will inspire you to work hard and give you the hope that you can always make your dreams a reality.
