Dennis Hopper Quotes

The alcohol was awful. I was a terrible alcoholic. I mean, people used to ask how much drugs I did. I said, ‘I only do drugs so I can drink more’. I was doing the coke so I could drink more. I mean, I don’t know any other reason. I’d start drinking in the morning. I’d drink all day long.

Independent films in this country are in the same position. Miramax and Fine Line are not independent – they’re with Disney! Come on. Or they’re with Warner Brothers. They’re all with somebody.

There are moments that I`ve had some real brilliance, you know. But I think they are moments. And sometimes, in a career, moments are enough.

I was reading a lot of Thomas Jefferson at the time, and Jefferson said that every 20 years, if one party has stayed in power, it’s your obligation as an American to vote the other party in.

The inside of the Pentagon is an incredible place and a dramatic set. We do [travel] outside, but the inside workings of the civilian oversight of the military inside the Pentagon is really about as exciting as anything you ever want to deal with. It is really amazing.

Like all artists, I want to cheat death a little and contribute something to the next generation.

Well, it’s not just money. I consider myself establishment right now. I’m borderline establishment, I’m hanging on by my toenails – but I’m establishment.

Dialectic logic is there’s only love and hate, you either love somebody or you hate them.

I am just a middle-class farm boy from Dodge City and my grandparents were wheat farmers. I thought painting, acting, directing and photography were all part of being an artist. I have made my money that way. And I have had some fun. It’s not been a bad life.

Photography and painting, all of that fed into my directing eventually.

I couldn’t get a job acting all the time and there were down periods where I could take photographs or paint. I got into a lot of trouble when I was young, from making two films with James Dean, watching him work and then him dying and thinking I could turn down work. There was a big difference, he was a star and I wasn’t. So I got in a lot of trouble and was essentially banned from Hollywood.

My whole written history is one big lie! I mean, I can’t even believe my history.