37 Best Al Pacino Quotes On Acting, Life & Success

Looking for the best Al Pacino quotes? Then look no further.

In a career spanning over five decades, the legendary actor Al Pacino has received many awards and nominations, including an Academy Award, two Tony Awards, and two Primetime Emmy Awards. He is also one of the few performers to have received the Triple Crown of Acting.

He gained wide acclaim and recognition with his breakthrough role as Michael Corleone in The Godfather (1972). In fact, his portrayal of Michael Corleone is regarded as one of the greatest in film history and the Godfather trilogy still remains popular even today.

While Al Pacino has starred in a lot of great movies such as Serpico (1973), Scent Of A Woman (1992), Glengarry Glen Ross (1992), Carlito’s Way (1993), Donnie Brasco (1997) and others, for me his standout performance is his portrayal of Tony Montana in Scarface (1983).

Not only was his acting in Scarface incredible but its also a very motivational movie. It never gets old.

Scarface: The World Is Yours Scene

Below you’ll find the best collection of Al Pacino quotes on acting, life and success. I hope you enjoy reading them and take away some wisdom from one of the greatest actors in history.

Inspirational Al Pacino Quotes

1. “Forget the career, do the work. If you feel what you are doing is on line and you’re going someplace and you have a vision and you stay with it, eventually things will happen.” – Al Pacino

2. “If something is working, don’t fix it. Keep going. Go with the glow.” – Al Pacino

3. “You need people who can tell you what you don’t want to hear.” – Al Pacino

4. “My first language was shy. It’s only by having been thrust into the limelight that I have learned to cope with my shyness.” – Al Pacino

5. “When I was younger, I would go to auditions to have the opportunity to audition, which would mean another chance to get up there and try out my stuff, or try out what I learned and see how it worked with an audience, because where are you gonna get an audience?” – Al Pacino

6. “Be careful how you judge people, most of all friends. You don’t sum up a man’s life in one moment.” – Al Pacino

7. “Sometimes it’s better to be with the devil you know than the angel you didn’t know.” – Al Pacino

8. “You need some insecurity if you’re an actor. It keeps the pot boiling.” – Al Pacino

9. “If you can identify with people, you can empathize with people and therefore you understand things.” – Al Pacino

10. “You’ll never be alone if you’ve got a book.” – Al Pacino

11. “I don’t regret anything. I feel like I’ve made what I would call mistakes. I picked the wrong movie, or I didn’t pursue a character, but everything you do is part of you and you get something from it.” – Al Pacino

12. “It turned out that time doesn’t heal the wound, but in its so merciful way, blunts the edges ever so slightly.” – Al Pacino

13. “You’re only as good as the chances you take.” – Al Pacino

14. “I’m constantly striving to break through to something new. You try to maintain a neutral approach to your work, and not be too hard on yourself.” – Al Pacino

15. “It’s easy to fool the eye, but it’s hard to fool the heart.” – Al Pacino

16. “I don’t think actors should ever expect to get a role, because the disappointment is too great. You’ve got to think of things as an opportunity. An audition’s an opportunity to have an audience.” – Al Pacino

17. “I don’t ever give my opinion. Opinions I have about anything are in my personal life.” – Al Pacino

18. “When I was a younger actor, I would try to keep it serious all day. But I have found, later on, that the lighter I am about things when I’m going to do a big scene that’s dramatic and takes a lot out of you, the better off I am when I come to it.” – Al Pacino

19. “Vanity is my favourite sin.” – Al Pacino

20. “I believe in one day at a time; you’ve got today, that’s what you’ve got.” – Al Pacino

21. “Money makes your life easier. If you’re lucky to have it, you’re lucky.” – Al Pacino

22. “The hardest thing about being famous is that people are always nice to you. You’re in a conversation and everybody’s agreeing with what you’re saying – even if you say something totally crazy. You need people who can tell you what you don’t want to hear.” – Al Pacino

23. “The truth is, you know, we need our anodynes. You know that word, anodynes? We need that in life some times. A good warm bath can be one for you, or a whatever.” – Al Pacino

24. “If you get all tangled up, just tango on.” – Al Pacino

25. “The fruit falls off the tree. You don’t shake it off before it’s ready to fall.” – Al Pacino

26. “There is only one way of surviving all the early heartbreaks in this business. You must have a sense of humor. And I think it also helps if you are a dreamer. I had my dreams all right. And that is something no one can ever take away. They cost nothing, and they can be as real as you like to make them. You own your dreams and they are priceless. I’ve been a lavatory attendant, a theatre usher, a panhandler, all for real. Now, as an actor, I can be a journalist today and a brain surgeon tomorrow. That’s the stuff my dreams are made of.” – Al Pacino

27. “The camera can film my face but until it captures my soul, you don’t have a movie.” – Al Pacino

28. “Our life is looking forward or looking back, that’s it. Where is the moment?” – Al Pacino

29. “Love is overrated. Biochemically no different than eating large quantities of chocolate.” – Al Pacino

30. “My best advice to any young person is, if you want kids, be careful who you have them with. That’s my mantra.” – Al Pacino

31. “It used to worry me what people said about me. I’m learning not to worry as much. Sometimes you feel critics are wrong all the time, but I don ‘t take objection to it, because that’s the way it goes. They can be wrong, they can be right. They can be cruel, they can be kind.” – Al Pacino

32. “Sometimes you’re fighting corporations and forget that people can talk to each other.” – Al Pacino

33. “Failure’s relative. I’ve always felt, even early on, if I lose the freedom to fail, something’s not right about that. It’s how you treat failure, too. There’s something to learn from it. I’ve had movies that have failed colossally, so you kind of analyze your failures: What kind of failure was it? A failure because it’s misunderstood by others? A failure because you misunderstood it yourself?” – Al Pacino

34. “The thing is doing it, that’s what it’s all about. Not in the results of it. After all what is a risk? It’s a risk not to take risks. Otherwise, you can go stale and repeat yourself. I don’t feel like a person who takes risks. Yet there’s something within me that must provoke controversy because I find it wherever I go. Anybody who cares about what he does takes risks.” – Al Pacino

35. “I want to be a great actor someday, and I’ve decided there’s no use philosophizing; the only way is to work at my craft.” – Al Pacino

36. “Acting is hard work. At times, it’s very energizing and enervating. It’s childish. It’s also responsible. It’s illuminating, enriching, joyful, drab. It’s bizarre, diabolical. It’s exciting.” – Al Pacino

37. “Being the actors of the craft, the trade, one of the big things you do and you learn is about repeating. There is something to the repeats. I think that is part of what is healthy to young actors. Get out and learn something just through doing that, repeating.” – Al Pacino

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