The Wisdom of Clint Eastwood (Quotes)
July 26, 2010 | Filed Under Small Talk
“The Wisdom of Clint Eastwood”
Gran Torino is one of my favorite movies from the last decade. And Unforgiven is perhaps the greatest Western of all time. And Clint Eastwood is one of my favorite people alive (yeah, I know it’s strange to consider a celebrity whom you’ve never met a favorite person). The guy has his head screwed on straight, his one shortcoming seeming to be marriage…
I thought I’d have fun by collecting together some of his best quotes and providing commentary…
We boil at different degrees.
Commentary: In most situations, it pays to stay calm and act rather than to get angry and lose control.
A good man always knows his limitations.
Commentary: Humility is the highest virtue. Echoes Socrates: The only real wisdom is knowing you know nothing
It takes tremendous discipline to control the influence, the power you have over other people’s lives.
Commentary: There are only a handful of certain conclusions I’ve made about life and one of them is this: power corrupts.
I don’t believe in pessimism. If something doesn’t come up the way you want, forge ahead. If you think it’s going to rain, it will.
Commentary: There’s a big difference between pessimism and realism. Pessimism paralyzes. Realism strengthens.
I’m interested in the fact that the less secure a man is, the more likely he is to have extreme prejudice.
Commentary: Comes back to humility (not cowardice) as the fundamental virtue.
Sometimes if you want to see a change for the better, you have to take things into your own hands.
Commentary: It’s not enough to want. You’ve got to act.
If I had to define courage myself, I wouldn’t say it’s about shooting people. I’d say it’s the quality that stimulates people, that enables them to move ahead and look beyond themselves.
Commentary: Courage is the anti-thesis of selfishness. Woe to those of us in the West.
I think that, for all of us, as we grow older, we must discipline ourselves to continue expanding, broadening, learning, keeping our minds active and open.
Commentary: There is an ugly myth that the capacity to learn and take on challenges decreases with age and goes away altogether around age 25. That’s deathful thinking.
In school, I could hear the leaves rustle and go on a journey.
Commentary: There is nothing quite like the wonder and vastness of learning.
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