Robert Redford in his own words: 9 powerful quotes from the legendary actor and director

Robert Redford wasn’t just a movie star. He was a storyteller, a truth seeker, and, to generations of fans, the very definition of cool. Redford didn’t just act in iconic films — Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Way We Were, All the President’s Men, The Natural — he elevated them. Redford, who died on Tuesday at the age of 89, had a presence onscreen that was often understated, but never forgettable.

Offscreen, Redford was just as influential. He founded the Sundance Institute and Sundance Film Festival, championing independent filmmakers long before it was trendy. He was a director and an activist. He used his platform to fight for democracy, for art. He rarely courted the spotlight, but when he spoke, people listened.

And he said some beautiful things. Here are some of Redford’s best quotes — about life, legacy and, yes, even good looks.

“Speak out for what you believe and what you feel. Or don't. You have to live with yourself.”

For Esquire’s "Meaning of Life" issue in Jan. 2011, Redford wrote his 24 life lessons, reflecting on everything from aging to activism. This one captured his quiet defiance, a reminder that integrity isn’t about volume, it’s about living in alignment with your values.

Redford often spoke out for what he felt was important, whether it was about protecting the environment or preserving the integrity of storytelling in a commercialized industry.

“Image is crap.”

Redford never attached to any kind of “sex symbol” label. In a 1974 interview with the New York Times, he said, “I never thought of myself as a glamorous guy, a handsome guy, any of that stuff.”

“Suddenly, there's this image. And it makes me very nervous, because it keeps people from judging you on performance. When I made The Candidate, people said, ‘Yeah, sure, slick, handsome guy, the part's just right for him.’ When I made The Way We Were, they said, Yeah, Ivy League WASP jock. The part fits him like a glove.’ But I had to fight to get Jeremiah Johnson because it didn't fit the image,” he said. “So this glamour image can be a real handicap.”

“Be careful of success, it has a dark side.”

Redford never chased fame. In fact, he spent much of his life trying to outrun it. When stardom found him in the ’60s, he bought land in Utah to get away from the noise. When the Hollywood studio system shifted, he didn’t play along and built Sundance instead. Success, he believed, could be seductive and distracting. At the height of his career, Redford stepped back to lift up other voices. He told the Washington Post his mindset is to always begin again.

“Let’s face it — if you’re a movie star, you’re not likely to be taken seriously. “

Redford spoke to Harvard Business Review about entrepreneurship. In a 2002 discussion, he reflected on what it took to earn credibility, especially when people only saw him as a flashy name.

In 1969, he gave a passionate speech to a room full of Utah bankers after he purchased his Sundance property about corporate greed, only to be met with silence and a single question: did he really jump off the cliff in Butch Cassidy? He quickly realized that passion alone wasn’t enough — he had to be strategic. Redford learned how to lobby, how to meet people where they were, and how to trade on his fame to make riskier, more meaningful films. If the studio wanted The Way We Were, he’d make it — but only if they let him direct Ordinary People.

“Anybody can put something up on the internet. It's harder and harder to find what the truth is.”

In a 2013 interview reflecting on All the President’s Men, Redford spoke candidly about the state of journalism — and how much had changed since Watergate. He lamented the rise of misinformation, and the race to be first rather than right. The democratization of information, he said, made it easier to publish — but harder to know what to trust.

“Life is essentially sad. Happiness is sporadic. It comes in moments and that's it. Extract the blood from every moment.”

Another one of Redford’s quotes in his “Meaning of Life” profile. It speaks for itself.

“I try to avoid giving advice. The only advice I will give is to pay attention. I don’t mean to the screen in your hand.”

Redford was asked in 2017 if people came to him for advice. His answer was simple, but telling. He wasn’t interested in preaching, but he did believe in presence. For Redford, that meant putting down the phone and tuning into the natural world, a value he passed on to his children. He saw attention as a form of reverence — for nature, for curiosity, for mistakes, for discovery.

“I'm just interested in moving forward. Legacy means looking back, and I tend to not do that.”

The New York Times asked Redford in 2018 how he views his legacy after six decades, and his answer was poignant. “Somehow when somebody says, ‘What about your legacy?’ it doesn't register in my brain,” he said. “Because I guess I’m just interested in moving forward.”

“You’ve got to make the most of your life.”

He may not want to dole out advice, but he sure had a way with words. This is what Redford would tell himself when he was young. Life, he told Esquire U.K., was about pushing yourself beyond your comfort zone. Because sometimes, when you think you’ve found yourself, you’ve only just begun.