To talk about Robert De Niro (1943) is to talk about one of the most prolific and multifaceted actors of the last forty years. Born in New York, De Niro has starred in such unforgettable films as Taxi Driver (1976), The Godfather II (1974) and Wild Bull (1980).

His career has been marked by his peculiar association with Martin Scorsese. This director, together with Brian De Palma, has positively marked her acting career.

Robert De Niro’s famous phrases

Known so much for his mythical performances of the most varied characters, De Niro is perhaps one of the most acclaimed actors of our time .

In this article we are going to know the best phrases of Robert De Niro, extracted from many of his films but also from interviews in which he shows his most human side.

We all pay a price for the actions we take in the past, but when has it ever been enough? (Condemned)

The price is usually a hard to beat. A mortgage for life.

2. Always hunt the game with a single bullet. Doing it with two is a botched job. I always tell everyone, but no one listens to me. (The hunter)

A metaphor that we can apply to any facet of life, not just hunting.

3. A guy in my position must always have plenty of cash on hand, the cops smeared and the thugs, who don’t accept checks. (Casino)

The law of the street, taken from one of his biggest blockbusters.

4. In a casino the first rule is to make them play without stopping and get them back. The longer they play the more money they lose, and in the end we keep it all. (Casino)

About the predatory mentality of bookmakers’ owners.

5. If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem. If you’re not, you’re just part of the landscape. (Ronin)

A sentence that can be applied to different spheres of business, criminal and police life.

6. What were we going to paint in the middle of a desert? The only reason is money. That’s the end result of the neon lights and travel agency offers, all the champagne, the free hotel suites, the hookers and the booze. Everything is organized just for us to take your money. We are the only ones who win, the players don’t stand a chance. (Casino)

Another reflection on casinos and the way customers are only prey to a (nearly) perfect system for emptying their pockets.

7. The desert seemed a disturbing place to me, you couldn’t tell who was buried there. (Casino)

Certainly, the miles and miles of sand are a perfect hiding place for any corpse that needs to be hidden.

Lawyer? Lawyer? Are you there? Come out, I want to see your little tail…

A famous line by Robert De Niro in his role as Max Cady, a psychopathic criminal who chases the lawyer who left him stranded in a trial that cost him a jail sentence.

9. I am like God and God is like me, I am as big as God, he is the same size as me, he is not above me, nor am I below him…

From the same film as the previous sentence, in this case Max Cady shows off his delirium of grandeur.

10. I have an old-fashioned mind about honor: ‘an eye for an eye’ and so on. (The heart of the angel)

Honor or rancor? In any case, another film in which Robert De Niro plays a bad boy

11. There are three ways to do things: right, wrong and mine. (Casino)

On the particular ethics of bookmakers.

12. Give this bull a stage where he can show his bravery, because even though my thing is to fight more I would like to know how to recite… This is a show. (Wild bull)

Playing a stubborn and brave boxer.

13. The difference between me and the preacher is that the preacher works for God… and I am God. (Men of Honor)

Another character characterized by his grandiloquence and his narcissistic spirit.

14. I’d like to feel them vibrate when they hear me recite Shakespeare. A horse, my kingdom for a horse, I haven’t won a bet in six months. (wild bull)

Boxer and poet: two sides of the same coin?

15. Don’t tie yourself to anything you can’t leave in less than 30 seconds when the cops are on your tail. (Heat)

One of the laws of criminal gangs.

16. If there’s any doubt, it’s that there’s no doubt. (Heat)

A curious phrase from Robert De Niro that can motivate us to take action.

17. There’s no one else here… Are you talking to me? (Taxi Driver)

In front of the mirror, the crazy cab driver was having this hypothetical conversation.

18. Loneliness has always haunted me. Everywhere. In bars and cars, streets, shops… everywhere. I have no escape. I’m God’s lonely man. (Taxi Driver)

A grey taxi driver reflecting on his existence before taking action.

19. By the way… if I talk to you and become a fag, I’ll kill you. (A dangerous therapy)

An ironic phrase in his role as a fresh out of prison patient.

20. They call him 6 pesetas because he’s overdoing it. (A dangerous therapy)

From the same film as the previous one, in this case it is ironic about an excessively boastful guy.

21. Look at the trunk of this car, it’s huge, it holds 2 or 3 bodies. (A dangerous therapy)

Always faithful to black humor.

20. You get further with a kind word and a gun than just a kind word. (Elliot Ness’ Untouchables)

Perhaps the phrase by Robert De Niro that best defines his acting career: a mixture of black humor and criminal spirit.

23. At night people from all classes go out. Whores, punks, thieves, drug dealers… Someday a rain will come that will clean the streets of this filth. (Taxi Driver)

A final reflection on the decline of New York.

24. According to a recent survey, women claim to be more comfortable undressing in front of men than in front of women. They say that they become too critical; while we men, of course, simply become grateful.

Extracted from a recent interview, she talks about women’s fear of being judged by other women.

25. It is said that there is not enough religion for people to love each other, but there is enough for them to hate each other. (The heart of the angel)

Another phrase from De Niro that helps us reflect on our beliefs.