Chris Pine quotes:

For me growing up, Christmas time was always the most fantastic, exciting time of year, and you'd stay up until three in the morning. You'd hear the parents wrapping in the other room but you knew that also, maybe, they were in collusion with Santa Claus.

In high school, I once sang 'Let's Get It On' and 'Brown Sugar' with a band that included my English teacher and my math teacher.

Fear runs our lives. It doesn't matter who you are. You have to understand your relationship with fear. Whether you're scared of getting into a relationship; or taking the new job; or a confrontation - you have to size fear up.

I feel prematurely old. I'm actually having this major belated quarter-life crisis. I'm turning 30 in a couple of weeks. I've been thinking a lot about mortality. A lot about what I'm going to do with my life and how to enjoy it. One of the things I'm going to work on is being more spontaneous, letting go, embracing the beauty of come-what-may.

Just lead your life and try to make the best decisions.

Life flies by, and it's easy to get lost in the blur. In adolescence, it's 'How do I fit in?' In your 20s, it's 'What do I want to do?' In your 30s, 'Is this what I'm meant to do?' I think the trick is living the questions. Not worrying so much about what's ahead but rather sitting in the grey area - being OK with where you are.

Mediocrity scares me. It's the fear of not being as good as you want to be. If you give over to that fear, it will sabotage you. As much as I can, I try to use that fear to guide me.

I enjoy dating. I love first dates. I think they're incredibly fascinating studies in human psychology. When you sit down across from someone on a first date and things are going alright, you talk objectives. We want to win each other over, so how do you win someone over? You have to put the best foot forward.

At the end of the day, you have a job to do, and if you don't do your job, you're going to get fired. You just have to kind of put your head down and do it.

Dating someone on the opposite end of the happy spectrum teaches you an incredible amount of patience.

My grandmother was an actress too. In the thirties and forties she was under contract with Universal Studios. Crazy credits, lots of them. My dad was also under contract with Universal Studios. And my first film was shot on the same stage they both worked on at Universal.

The authentic experience, where is that? Living the moment. That is something that we're losing.

Critics think we try to make bad films. They think we want to spend five months of our lives making something bad. We always go out with the best of intentions, whether it's fluffy comedy or a drama.

The mass audience doesn't want to see you if you aren't perfect. If you don't look a certain way, if you don't have big pecs and great skin and the perfect eyes. And it's unfortunate, because kids are growing up with body image dysmorphia because not everyone is represented on the screen.

Growing up in a family of actors, what's great about it is that they're very supportive and they understand what it's like to be an actor - the rejections, the highs and lows... and having a common language with them is great because you have shorthand speech.

I believe in luck and fate and I believe in karma, that the energy you put out in the world comes back to meet you.

Horrible Bosses' is just blatant, outright fun. I've read some of what the critics have said, and it's incredible how mean critics can be about comedies... It's so ridiculous.

I don't usually read self-help books, but I read a great book by a guy called Wayne Dyer: 'The Power of Intention,' which I loved.

We come from fallible parents who were kids once, who decided to have kids and who had to learn how to be parents. Faults are made and damage is done, whether it's conscious or not. Everyone's got their own 'stuff,' their own issues, and their own anger at Mom and Dad. That is what family is. Family is almost naturally dysfunctional.

You have to be able to carry a conversation. I think after the initial attraction kind of dies down. The lust dies down. There has to be the thing that engages you.

Women think that men don't talk about their feelings with guys. We do talk to friends about relationships, but it's succinct - 10 minutes, then we move on.

Theater will always be a huge part of my life. The high I get from doing theater is not, quite honestly, matched by many things. I like the fact that when you step out on the stage, for that given night, for better or for worse, you are the master of the boards. I love it to death.

Whether you're scared of getting into a relationship; or taking the new job; or a confrontation - you have to size fear up.

I like a deep sports massage - a casual beating up. I try to get them whenever I can, usually more if I'm getting in shape for a role.

I do like dating cynics - they tend to be incredibly funny.

Generally speaking, the more money that's involved in anything, the more people are expecting and hoping that it's not going to fail.

If you had no real training, if you hadn't spent years and years studying a martial art, how would you kill the bad guy?

I work out because that's my job, but what I enjoy about it, beyond the vanity, is the Zen of it. I like getting out of my head, and one great way to do that is to sweat your face off. And to know that, if you're thinking of anything else, you're not working intensely enough.

Imagination is a pretty powerful thing, and when you're in the moment and you're riding a train and you're asked to look scared, I don't know, it just kind of works out. And in those moments where you're actually doing some of the stunts, then it's not so hard at all, because there's an actual fear there.

The customer is not always right.

I'm so envious of that genetic wiring that immediately puts a smile on your face. My genetic wiring just puts creases in my eyebrows.

My nana was an actress, my mom was an actress, and my sister, too. So because I was surrounded by it, it really came naturally.

As an actor, it easy to be so self-critical, saying to yourself, 'Am I good enough? Am I good looking enough? Am I smart enough?'

My father calls acting 'a state of permanent retirement with short spurts of work.'

What kind of woman am I attracted to? Really? Can I just say I like what most human beings want?

From Drew Barrymore to Robert Downey Jr., there's a long list of people who have faced their troubles, wildly overcome them, and succeeded.

I had a job at this French restaurant, and I hated it. I don't like serving; I don't like getting people ketchup.

No matter how bad the individual, everybody has reasons for why they do what they do.

The only thing you sometimes have control over is perspective. You don't have control over your situation. But you have a choice about how you view it.

I have no control over what people think, and if I were to spend energy on that, I would be a lifeless, deadened human being.

If I had let myself off the hook in college, I could have enjoyed myself a lot more. Knowing that I can't have those years back, I have learned to get the most out of living in the now.

I like to listen to French radio; I'm trying to learn French.

I don't know any kid that's not afraid at some point going to bed with the lights off, totally. That's why they make nightlights.

I think the most dangerous word in the English language is 'should.' 'I should have done this.' Or 'I should do that.' 'Should' implies responsibility. It connotes demand. Which is just not the case. Life ebbs and flows.

I have worked hard to get where I am.

When you feel like an oddball, it never really leaves you. Even now, I'm better around people who are uncomfortable with themselves - the misfits.

I had horrible acne when I was a kid. I felt like a complete and utter ne'er do well and someone who didn't fit in and wasn't handsome. So, I understand implicitly, and with a great amount of empathy, a man or human being that feels that way.

Ever since I saw sexy Beast I've been trying to get the cockney thing down.

One thing that I do find really sexy is a girl who's good at crossword puzzles.

It's the fear of not being as good as you want to be. If you give over to that fear, it will sabotage you. As much as I can, I try to use that fear to guide me.

I definitely have a spiritual outlook. I don't usually read self-help books, but I read a great book by a guy called Wayne Dyer, The Power of Intention, which I loved. I'm not a religious guy, in fact I'm probably agnostic but I thought what this writer had to say was really powerful.

Ignore the naysayers. Really the only option is, head down and focus on the job.

My fans have designated themselves the, uh, 'Pine Nuts.' They're a nutty bunch.

It's not always the case that things will fall into your lap or that life will be great, but it's all about perspective and having a positive outlook. If something goes wrong you say: "That happened for a reason, what can I learn from that and how can I grow?"

Hollywood is like living in a weird bubble. A bunch of people take care of you and get you stuff, and you're the center of that little microcosmic world. You start believing that it is real and... you deserve it.

There have been, like, three auditions in my life where I feel like I'm in a 'Saturday Night Live' skit.

I really like the ritual of shaving. I like getting the perfect brush and finding the right sandalwood soap. The act of shaving, though, is not fun. I like beards and the ease of them.

My name is not 'William Shatner.'

I broke my finger in a stunt in a very not-too-romantic way. I was just trying to tackle someone, and I just flicked his forearm and then screamed in pain.

When I'm kissing someone, I don't want to feel as though I'm rubbing off all the makeup that's on their face or messing things around. I think natural is better.

I never really thought about myself being in really big movies at all. In fact, I always though I'd do, I don't know, smaller movies is not quite the right word, but more character-oriented, dramatic things. I took myself a little bit seriously.

Not a fan of spiders. I saw the movie 'Arachnophobia,' which was single-handedly rated in the top three worst choices of my life.

You either listen to the naysayers and fall into the pit of self-loathing, or you stay on the path and move forward.

I think that when you let go and "throw it all away" and stop getting attached and say "whatever happens, happens", you don't invest too much in anything particular, and things work out.

I grew up in a house where my father went on auditions, and he got some and he lost some, and there were good years and lean years. I didn't expect anything from the business, and that's often a danger in Hollywood, the notion that if you're pretty and have white teeth and just show up for the game then you'll win.

It's really interesting that, in 'The Avengers,' the character that people relate to is The Hulk, and I think the reason why they relate to The Hulk is because he's fragile and human and faulty.

I think the first thing that I saw on IMAX was 'The Avengers.' The scope and the size of it are pretty neat, I will say that.

There are going to be good times and bad times, but lighten up.

A lot of tragedy can befall us, but there's always something else; there's always hope.

I was a shy kid, a late bloomer. At 22, I was probably 16 emotionally.

I'm always calculating what I want to do, who I want to be, what I want to accomplish. I don't need to worry about that - that's always there on a slow simmer. The muscle I have to work on is being more present.

Film is just a different version of what we did round the campfire when we were Neanderthals. We tell stories so people can learn things and relativise things.

I'm more cerebral than I want to be.

With Facebook and Twitter, everyone wants to publicize their innermost truths.

I've worked Keira Knightley quite a bit and Kevin Costner.

Look at the movies of the sixties and seventies. They were making a different kind of movie then. Would 'Network' ever be made now? No. Would 'Kramer vs. Kramer' ever be made now? No. Would 'Tootsie' ever be made now? Probably not. Robert Altman films? Never.

I cry all the time - at work, at the shrink's, with my lady. 'The Notebook' killed me. 'Up' destroyed me.

Musical theater is great; you get painted up, you get to play princesses and witches, and you sing. The joy alone of that can really carry a lot.

The mythic journey is always about selflessness.

'Star Trek' is about a bunch of disparate people and what they're capable of when they work together.

I was never much of a musical theater guy, but I have so much more respect for the art form, the physical exertion of doing eight shows on Broadway a week, I cannot even fathom it.

I still assume that, any day, I'm going to be exposed as a fraud. That, like I once heard Gene Hackman say, the acting police are going to burst in and take away my card.

I think it's a very healthy thing to learn from what's happened in the past. But only if you look at what happened and think, 'How could I have dealt with that differently?' Then let it go.

L.A.'s a pretty, warm, easy, breezy place. You can sunbathe, get a Mai Tai, and wake up five months later. And it's still sunny. And they're still serving Mai Tais.

The great thing about theater is that you have so much time to prepare, and to fail, before presenting it to the public. In film, the high-wire act seems to be that much farther up, and the net seems to be less there.

I've seen what can happen to an actor when he's just working for the sake of working. All of a sudden it's ten years later, your career's happened, and you haven't had any control.

I am critical of myself like everyone else. You go to a movie theater and you are forty feet high. I had bad skin as a teenager and I am a shy person, but I think I am in the perfect business to fight my insecurities. You have to learn to love yourself and say 'I am pretty cool' instead of being so critical. You can easily fall into the trap of doing that.

The more you are positive and say, I want to have a good life, the more you build that reality for yourself by creating the life that you want.

I don't actually drive trains. I'm an actor.

It's a fun thing for journalists to say that [ Captain Kirk] is the boyfriend role. I'm happy to give a laugh. But it's a really complex story.

I'm always surprised reading my old journals. There's this idea that life is hard now, but then I'll reach that moment where it'll change. But there's no summit. It's a constant climb.

It feels great to not be the acne-ridden outsider that I felt like when I was in high school. It's a lot more fun being alive now than it was then, I'll say that much.

My brain's not sharp enough to come up with a witty comment.

My nipples could cut glass.

I think the desire to be with someone beautiful...I just had such a different experience growing up. To be in a position where you're lauded for things that you don't own - and don't think of yourself as - it's so bizarre.

I'm certainly not the lead of the film [Wonder Woman] and I don't have a problem with that.

In adolescence, it's 'How do I fit in?' In your 20s, 'What do I want to do?' Your 30s, 'Is this what I'm meant to do?' I think the trick is living the questions. Not worrying so much about what's ahead but rather sitting in the gray area; being okay with where you are. If you can find the parity between 'Where am I going?' and 'What's my purpose?' you've got two pretty solid pillars for your coffee table.

When I got the job I thought about her a lot. Not only was I getting a great job in a really good movie, but it was with Lindsay Lohan. She's so famous and I don't have any of that, I have never experienced that kind of intense scrutiny that she's under, so of course I wondered what it would be like acting opposite her. I can tell you that it's like being with The Beatles. You cannot fathom the kind of attention she gets. It's mind boogling.

Everything is just make believe. They're just different versions of make believe. I love the period of this movie [The Finest Hours ]. I love the '40s. I love the '50s. I love the style of the clothes. I love how the women looked. I love the dances. I love the music. I love the amber of the lights and the cars. I'm in love with all of it.

When you want something enough, it brings out primal emotions. You get into this place of 'must happen, must happen.'

After many years of self-flagellation, I've realised that beating myself up doesn't get me anywhere.

Life is a beautiful thing. But you're always striving to be better in your art, striving to be heard. And obviously in this business, it's striving to be noticed and appreciated.

Working together always works together better...

Maybe the realisation of the full human potential is the utopian thing. Maybe that is our collective struggle, is to find a way to get there. But right now it seems like we're duplicating what was written in the Bible, a millennium ago, which is "An eye for an eye." Revenge policy; "If you hit me, we'll hit you back worse"; ad infinitum.

No one can survive on their own. Thinking you can is ridiculous, especially going into the middle half of the 21st century. To think you can do it alone is just ridiculous.

I still have anonymity, which is great. I can go out anywhere I want and no one ever recognizes me.

We tell each other stories so we can understand the world better and there's catharsis and we understand the models of what a hero could be and what the hero's journey as a human being is all about. But unfortunately, I think sometimes those stories too can be very prohibitive and confining.

Anybody who's gone through puberty has understood what it feels like to be an outcast and alone.

I took part in a theatre festival in Massachusetts two summers after I graduated from college. Then I was in Los Angeles thinking: "I'm going to go to New York." I'd decided that I would not have a chance of a film career, so I was about to make the move. I bought a plane ticket and found a place to live in New York, packed my bags and of course the universe "told me" that I was not meant to go. Suddenly, a week before I was supposed to leave, I had three job offers and one of them was my first movie.

As an actor it's easy to be so self-critical, saying to yourself: "Am I good enough? Am I good looking enough? Am I smart enough?" Yet here I am, so I'm lucky.

[ The Finest Hours] reminded me a lot of a film I did called Unstoppable in that you have a driving thriller aspect of the film and it's not all that complicated of a story and there's a simple elegance to it. I liked that. It is also driven by a really strong romance and ordinary men doing extraordinary things. I love that.

My touchstone is just fear and anxiety and I know a lot about those two awful emotions.

When I was 18 I was an emotional wreck and I couldn't imagine having to deal with some kind of fame.

With film, oftentimes you work in a vacuum and then you get on a high wire and then you try it and then the day's over and that piece of film exists somewhere in a vault for 1000,000 years and that's it.

I find it really hard to even read another script while shooting.

I love the stories that have come before, that we know of. I think for me it's always more interesting to start from square one and you take the fundamental pillars of the character and, around that, try to create something new and different.

I think it's not fair to the uniqueness and wonderfulness of the individuals, that we can complement one another greatly, but we are not the source of each other's happiness, especially if you don't know who the hell you're talking to.

Work takes up a lot of my brain space. So when I work, it's one thing. I don't have a lot of time to think about dating.

I talk to myself, especially in the car.

I performed and sang at school but as a child it was never anything I was interested in doing professionally.