Ethan Hawke > Quotes

“Don't you find it odd," she continued, "that when you're a kid, everyone, all the world, encourages you to follow your dreams. But when you're older, somehow they act offended if you even try.”
― Ethan Hawke, The Hottest State

“Give your heart to everybody you meet. The rest is pretense.”
― Ethan Hawke, Ash Wednesday

“If you can channel the best part of you that is bigger than yourself, where it’s not about your ego and not about getting ahead, then you can have fun and you aren’t jealous of others. You see other people's talent as another branch of your own. You can keep it rooted in joy. Life is long and there are plenty of opportunities to make mistakes. The point of it all is to learn.”
― Ethan Hawke

“It's kind of like this," Decker said: "You wake up in the middle of the night and you're dying for a glass of milk. So you stumble out of bed, stub your toe in the darkness, scream with pain, and limp your way to the refrigerator. You open it up and the light is brilliant. You're saved. Then you fold back the paper container, open up the milk, take a deep breath, and put it to your lips. Only --- yhrch! --- the milk is spoiled. Sure, you're bummed. You fold the thing close and put it back in the fridge. It's dark again. But as you're making your way to your lonely old bed, you think to yourself, Wait a minute, maybe that milk wasn't so bad. And I am still thirsty? So you do an about-face and go back to the fridge. The light warms you up again. You take a sip and yup, it's still spoiled. That, to me, is the fitting metaphor for most every relationship I've ever been in.”
― Ethan Hawke, The Hottest State

“Look, I have no idea what's going on," I said, catching my breath. "I don't like myself either. I don't know what's happening to me. I don't want to tell you to fuck off. But you gotta understand, everything in my life feels different. I just want so badly to know if you like me. And I know how asinine that sounds. If you want me to leave you alone, I will, but sometimes... sometimes you meet somebody and you know that whatever you did before, whatever your life was before, it must have been right... nothing could've been too bad or gone too far wrong because it led you to this person. You're that person. Do you want me to go away?”
― Ethan Hawke, The Hottest State

“Success isn't measured by what you achieve, it's measured by the obstacles you overcome.”
― Ethan Hawke, Ash Wednesday

“I take pleasure in the little things. Double cheeseburgers, those are good, the sky ten minutes before it rains,the moment your laugh turns into a cackle. And I sit here, and smoke my Camel straights, and I ride my own melt.”
― Ethan Hawke

“Pay attention: what you need to know is usually in front of you. There are no secrets, just things people choose not to notice.”
― Ethan Hawke, Rules for a Knight

“You are always in the right place at exactly the right time, and you always have been.”
― Ethan Hawke, Rules for a Knight

“The older I get, the more I realize how rare it is to meet a kindred spirit.”
― Ethan Hawke

“[She] and I were giving each other the only thing we truly have to offer: our time. We were going to give each other the living minutes of our life.”
― Ethan Hawke, Ash Wednesday

“And you and I know you’re the best thing that ever happened to me, and, yes, that’s an expression, something people say, that has no meaning, but what I mean is there isn’t anybody in the whole world who has loved me the way you have, not my mother, not my old man, not my friends.
There’s nothing preventing me and you from loving each other and being some kinda world-class shining beacon of love except how bad do we want it and what are we willing to do for it?
Now, I know I did you wrong, and I was freaking out and being stupid and I was mean to you. You know sometimes I get all fucking confused and I can’t see outside of my own asshole. I’m unhappy. Why am I unhappy? It’s gotta be somebody’s fault, right? It couldn’t just be that I’m a self-centered fuck spinning around inside my own dank cloud of concerns.
There isn’t anything I can think of that I really want or that the best part of me wants, that loving you won’t start doing. I love you.”
― Ethan Hawke, Ash Wednesday

“There have always been two ways to be rich: by accumulating vast sums or by needing very little.”
― Ethan Hawke, Rules for a Knight

“...simple joys are the great ones. Pleasure is not complicated.”
― Ethan Hawke, Rules for a Knight

“Stand like you deserve to be here”
― Ethan Hawke, Rules for a Knight

“Every time he opens his mouth I have absolutely no idea what he’s gonna say. He’s the most honest person I’ve ever met. He’s a quick study and rarely needs to make the same mistake twice. He really tries to learn, and does, and he makes me laugh, and the world’s generally a lighter place when he’s in my sight.”
― Ethan Hawke, Ash Wednesday

“Like a dead branch falling from a tree, which them decomposes and nourishes the soil, your disappointments can transform into the elements of change and growth.”
― Ethan Hawke, Rules for a Knight

“I'm magically delicious.”
― Ethan Hawke

“I don’t remember waking up that Sunday morning —- perhaps I never slept. Iwas just sitting up in bed watching Sarah sleep. She’d slept naked in my bed but she hadn’t let me have sex with her. I didn’t care. I loved watching her sleep. The light was falling through my window, all over the blue sheets of my old bed, and onto her face. I lifted up the sheets and watched her breasts move with her breath. They seemed to be sleeping themselves.
I hoped that she wouldn’t wake up. I laid the sheet back over her, right up to her chin.
I looked up and out of my room.
I thought, This must be what praying is like.”
― Ethan Hawke, The Hottest State

“Which wolf will win?...
whichever one you feed”
― Ethan Hawke, Rules for a Knight

“Humility. Never announce that you are a knight, simply behave as one. You are better than no one, and no one is better than you.”
― Ethan Hawke, Rules for a Knight

“Now I have a theory that if a woman wants to keep a man she only needs to say two things: She believes in him and he's got a big a cock. That's all it takes. It doesn't even have to be true.”
― Ethan Hawke, Ash Wednesday

“Habit, routine, and too much consistency numb our minds and pave the road for us to sleepwalk through our lives. Nothing stays the same. Everything passes, and everything changes. However, do not move too much. As an apple tree cannot bear fruit if it is too often transplanted, neither will a knight who is always building a new castle.”
― Ethan Hawke, Rules for a Knight

“Love. Love is the end goal. It is the music of our lives. There is no obstacle that enought love cannot move.”
― Ethan Hawke, Rules for a Knight

“Understanding that he relies on all that surrounds him, a knight is kind above all.”
― Ethan Hawke, Rules for a Knight

“Speech. Do not speak ill of others. A knight does not spread news that he does not know to be certain, or condemn things that he does not understand.”
― Ethan Hawke, Rules for a Knight

“Often we imagine that we will work hard until we arrive at some distant goal, and then we will be happy. This is a delusion. Happiness is the result of a life lived with purpose. Happiness is not an objective. It is the movement of life itself, a process, and an activity. It arises from curiosity and discovery. Seek pleasure and you will quickly discover the shortest path to suffering. Other people, friends, brothers, sisters, neighbors, spouses, even your mother and I are not responsible for your happiness. Your life is your responsibility, and you always have the choice to do your best. Doing your best will bring happiness. Do not be overconcerned with avoiding pain or seeking pleasure. If you are concentrating on the results of your actions, you are not dedicated to your task.”
― Ethan Hawke, Rules for a Knight

“We all see the world through the prism of our identity.”
― Ethan Hawke

“Expect nothing, and you will enjoy everything!”
― Ethan Hawke

“I personally don't think grand gestures are actually romantic. The most romantic moments of my life have been so subtle and small. A snowstorm breakfast, a walk, an accidental meeting. Whenever you start planning these grand things, 'I'm gonna pick the great flower from the top of Mt. Everest', you're already losing. You're trying too hard.”
― Ethan Hawke