'Well, Do Ya, Punk?' 37 Classic Clint Eastwood Quotes

Clint Eastwood is a man of few words, and he makes each one count on screen. We hang on every one of his lines, delivered with quiet intensity in that gravelly voice.

Though Eastwood has appeared in a few films in recent years, we’re more likely to find him behind the camera these days. He directed the Oscar-winning 2014 war drama American Sniper, 2016’s acclaimed biopic Sully, 2018’s The Mule which recounts the story of a veteran who becomes a drug mule and the critically lauded biopic Richard Jewell about the Olympic bombing.

Eastwood is 93 and showing no signs of slowing down. His most recent movie, Cry Macho, a neo-Western adaptation of the 1975 novel of the same name was released in theaters and on HBO Max in September 2021.

Related: Clint Eastwood Says He Has No Plans to Retire

To honor his legacy as an actor and filmmaker, we’ve rounded up some of our favorite classic Clint Eastwood quotes—from his movie lines to his advice on life.

Clint Eastwood quotes

“When you’re young, you’re very reckless...Then you get conservative. Then you get reckless again.” —to Parade

On how he likes being called an icon: "Well, I don't know. I guess it's better than being called Hey you." —to Esquire

"I was going to college in 1950. L.A. City College. A guy I knew was going to an acting class on Thursday nights. He started telling me about all the good-lookin' chicks and said, "Why don't you go with me?" So I probably had some motivation beyond thoughts of being an actor. And sure enough, he was right. There were a lot of girls and not many guys. I said, 'Yeah, they need me here.' I wound up at Universal as a contract player." —to Esquire

"If I'd had good discipline, I might have gone into music." —to Esquire

"Nowadays you look at guys and they’ve got to act tough. I never felt I needed to do that. I remember once meeting (world heavyweight boxing champion) Rocky Marciano and he was the toughest guy in the room – not just a great boxer but a roughhouse fighter. He shook hands with me and it was like shaking hands with a jelly. He didn’t try and break your knuckles because he didn’t need to show me he was the great Rocky Marciano, he was just another guy. I thought, 'That’s true masculinity.'"

"I think aging for me has been OK. Our modern society — especially in the West, and especially now — reveres youth. So, that’s what can make aging scary for some men — that idea that aging makes everything more difficult.

"But that’s not the case. Sure, there are some aspects of life that become more difficult [as you age], some things you lose. But I feel there are some things and some aspects of my life that I do better or handle better at 80 than I ever did before." —to AskMen

Related: 10 Early, Candid Young Photos of Clint Eastwood

"I honestly expected to retire from acting 30 years ago. I thought, if I could just get this directing thing to work, I might be OK. But I still keep coming back to acting because I occasionally find some material that challenges me and makes me want to work again." —to AskMen

"As you get older, you're not afraid of doubt. Doubt isn't running the show. You take out all the self-agonizing." —to Esquire

"People love westerns worldwide. There's something fantasylike about an individual fighting the elements. Or even bad guys and the elements. It's a simpler time. There's no organized laws and stuff." —to Esquire

"Smaller details are less important. Let's get on with the important stuff." —to Esquire

“I don’t want to repeat what I did in the last decade or the decade before that." —to Variety

"I bagged groceries for 34 cents an hour. I’m not in it for the dough." —to Parade

—"I didn’t know where I wanted to be until I was drafted in the Army. I got out and I knew that I had to do something." —to Parade

— "If you’re down, you’ve got to find your way to get back up. I don’t know how to tell a person to do that. But I do know you have to be positive and keep working and on it—don’t give up early.. I’m basically a positive person. I like looking at how to correct something that doesn’t work. Something can always be done." —to Parade

— "Even in grammar school they taught you to go with your first impression. It's like multiple-choice questions. If you go back and start dwelling, you'll talk yourself out of it and make the wrong pick. That's just a theory. I've never seen any studies on it. But I believe it." —to Esquire

— "As Jerry Fielding used to say, 'We've come this far, let's not ruin it by thinking.' " —to Esquire

Clint Eastwood movie quotes

"Things change. They always do, it's one of the things of nature. Most people are afraid of change, but if you look at it as something you can always count on, then it can be a comfort." —The Bridges of Madison County (1995)

“You've gotta ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya, punk?" —Dirty Harry (1971)

"'Bout time this town had a new sheriff." —High Plains Drifter (1973)

"You see, my mule don't like people laughing. He gets the crazy idea you're laughin' at him. Now if you apologize, like I know you're going to, I might convince him that you really didn't mean it." —Fistful of Dollars (1964)

"Ever notice how you come across somebody once in a while you shouldn't have messed with? That's me." —Gran Torino (2008)

"With all due respect, sir, you're beginning to bore the hell out of me." —Heartbreak Ridge (1986)

"If I was half as ugly as you, Sergeant Major, I'd be a poster boy for a prophylactic." —Heartbreak Ridge (1986)

"A good man always knows his limitations." —Magnum Force (1973)

Related: See Clint Eastwood's Career in 10 Iconic Movie Posters

"OK, you did two things wrong. First, you asked a question, and second, you asked another question." —Million Dollar Baby (2004)

"There's plain few problems can't be solved with a little sweat and hard work." —Pale Rider (1985)

"What are you pointing the gun at the suitcase for? It's dead already." —City Heat (1984)

"Don't call me buddy, pal or sweetheart." —The Eiger Sanction (1975)

"Nobody calls me mister with my boots off." —Coogan’s Bluff (1968)

"Wake me up if we crash into the mountain. I wouldn't want to miss that." —White Hunter, Black Heart (1990)

"You see, in this world there's two kinds of people, my friend: Those with loaded guns and those who dig. You dig." —The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966)

"Dying ain't much of a living, boy." —The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)

"If you want a guarantee, buy a toaster." —The Rookie (1990)

"I have strong feelings about gun control. If there's a gun around, I want to be controlling it." —Pink Cadillac (1989)

"I've killed just about everything that walks or crawled at one time or another. And I'm here to kill you, Little Bill, for what you did to Ned." —Unforgiven (1992)

"You want to play the game, you'd better know the rules, love." —The Dead Pool (1988)

“Go ahead. Make my day.” —Sudden Impact (1983)

“When a naked man is chasing a woman through an alley with a butcher knife and a hard-on, I figure he isn’t out collecting for the Red Cross.” —Dirty Harry (1971)

"Everybody's got a right to be a sucker … once." —Two Mules for Sister Sara (1970)

You know, you’re going to look awfully silly with that knife sticking up your ass.” —High Plains Drifter (1973)

"No, I'm not OK. I'm sick, I'm tired and I'm armed too, so be careful." —In the Line of Fire (1993)

Next, Clint Eastwood's 10 Best Roles (+ a Classic TV Appearance)