“This idea that you're a successful tough guy if you evade taxes and deceive the state has got to change.” IfsIdeasStatesGuySuccessfulTaxesToughDeceivingTough Guy Author:George Papandreou
“I like to pretend that I'm a tough guy. It's kind of an admission of defeat if I have to ask for help - or even kindness. But if it doesn't come, at some point I snap and demand it.” IfsKindHelpingGuyAsksKindnessDemandToughDefeatSnapsAdmissionTough Guy Author:Mary-Louise Parker
“To be the leading man it's about the celebrity and the looks, and it's tough to do that. People who do it great are people like Tom Cruise and Will Smith - they're built for that. I ain't. I'm more of a character guy.” PeopleMenLooksCharacterGuyToughBuiltTomsCruise Author:Jamie Foxx
“I play tough guys in movies and behaved like one in front of the press because I thought that was what a man did.” MenPlayGuyFrontsToughPressesTough Guy Author:Tom Sizemore
“I don't know how to put on any tough guy pretensions.” KnowsGuyKnow HowToughPretensionTough Guy Author:Anson Mount
“After doing two years in prison, trust me, I've seen a lot of tough guys pray. They're not just praying for themselves; they're praying for their family and the people they've let down.” PeopleYearsTwoGuyPrayingToughPrisonTwo YearsTrust MeLet DownTough Guy Author:Ja Rule
“When you gotta go through something tough, I've always been a guy that just wants to get it out of the way.” WayWantGuyTough Author:Paul Pierce
“Boxer guys are very tough and they play a very tough game, but its a game. Karate guys, tae kwon doe guys, kickboxers or judo guys, they are very tough guys and a lot of heart and a lot of training, but its very specifically as a sport. It's not a fight. A fight is everything goes.” HeartDoePlayGuyFightingGamesSportsTrainingToughBoxersKarateJudoTough GuyTough Games Author:Rickson Gracie
“The difference between winning nineteen games and winning twenty for a pitcher is bigger than anyone out of baseball realizes. It's the same for hitters - someone who hits .300 looks back on the guy who batted .295 and says 'tough luck buddy.” LooksGuyGamesWinningRealizingDifferencesToughBaseballBiggerTwentiesLuckBuddyPitcherNineteen Author:Warren Spahn
“The qualifying system helps the top guys like Sergio Garcia, who play most of their golf in the U.S. They can rely on the world rankings and just play their four extra events [with the four majors and three World Golf Championship events counting as seven European events]. But for the other guys it's tough, and I don't know if that can be changed. It is a tricky situation.” IfsKnowsWorldPlayHelpingGuyThreeSituationFourEventsChangedMajorsToughGolfSevenRelyExtrasChampionshipCountingTrickyOther GuysRankingQualifying Author:Luke Donald
“We make a lot of fun at President Clinton's expense. But this transition is going to be tough because it's been 25 years since this guy has gotten laid in the private sector.” YearsGuyFunPresidentToughClintonExpensesTransitionThis GuyPrivate SectorPresident Clinton Author:David Letterman
“I never came with a conscious plan to replace anyone else. Stallone does feel that way. He is a real tough guy in real life, and he gets to act that out. If you meet him and work with him, he is what he is. He is a guy that works out every day.” IfsWayFeelsDoeRealGuyPlansConsciousToughWork OutReal LifeTough Guy Author:Dolph Lundgren
“Mob guys had muscle, and where in hell do you think employers got the tough guys when they wanted to break a strike?” ThinkingWantedGuyBreakHellToughStrikesMusclesEmployersTough Guy Author:Jimmy Hoffa
“I'm not a fighter. I'm not a tough guy at all. I walk away from fights.” GuyFightingWalksToughFighterTough Guy Author:Channing Tatum
“It's easy to be a bad ass, it's easy to act like a bad ass, easy to act like a tough guy, it's easy to be a diva, and it's easy to be self absorbed. The list goes on and on but to me, I always just find it more important to be nice and kind.” KindImportantSelfGuyEasyNiceGoes OnToughListsAssBeing NiceBad AssSelf AbsorbedTough Guy Author:Dwayne Johnson
“Even today I meet people who think of me automatically as a tough, insensitive, coarse guy named Stanley Kowalski. They can't help it, but, it is troubling.” PeopleThinkingHelpingTodayGuyToughThink Of MeStanleyCoarseInsensitive Author:Marlon Brando
“"I tell you," he [Milosevic] continued, "Izetbegovic has earned Sarajevo by not abandoning it. He's one tough guy. It's his". These words were probably the most astonishing and unexpected of the conference.” GuyToughUnexpectedConferencesAstonishingTough Guy Author:Richard Holbrooke
“They gave high fives to all the players who say like the most obvious textbook answers in the world. It's like after each game, you already know what they're going to say. If they lost: "Ahh ... Tough loss." It's like, come on, how do you guys fall for that? And if they something that they really feel, everyone goes crazy. Like "Oohh! He's spazzing out!" Now he gotta say sorry for saying something he really felt. It's like, Oh lord.” IfsKnowsWorldFeelsGuyFallGamesLostFeltLossAnswersLordPlayerCrazyToughSorryObviousTextbooksSaying SorryTough Loss Author:Gilbert Arenas
“When fighting zombies, the only comfort one can have--if, indeed, it can be called a "comfort"--is knowing where the zombies are. "They are over there, and we are over here. When they come at us, we're going to shoot them down. That's how it's going to work. They're just zombies, and they're way over there. No way are we going to f*** this up." But when zombies then unexpectedly pop up behind you--Bam!--the whole battle plan's not so cut and dried, is it, Mr. Tough Guy?” IfsWayWholeGuyFightingBehindsKnowingCuttingPlansComfortBattleToughPopsGoing To WorkZombieBehind YouTough Guy Author:Scott Kenemore
“As a kid I decided that a Canadian accent doesn't sound tough. I thought guys should sound like Marlon Brando. So now I have a phony accent that I can't shake, so it's not phony anymore.” ShouldI CanKidsGuySoundToughDecidedShakesAccentsPhonyBrando Author:Ryan Gosling
“People are surprised that I'm nice and it helps me out a little bit; it's easy to be nice when everyone thinks you're going to be a jerk but if people think you're a nice guy then it's tough because it's what they expect.” PeopleIfsThinkingLittlesHelpingGuyEasyBitsNiceLittle BitToughHelp MeBeing NiceJerkNice Guy Author:Anthony Jeselnik
“I know with my size, a lot of people might think I'm like a slasher, a make-you-miss guy, which I can do that. But I also like to lower my shoulder and get the tough yards, too. I like contact. I like to mix it up.” PeopleThinkingKnowsI CanMightGuyCan DoMissingToughSizeShouldersContactYards Author:Javon Ringer
“Theres a great sense of achievement, testosterone, fun, being able to live out your masculinity when you play an action role or an action-adventure or a real tough-guy role.” RealPlayAbleActionGuyFunRolesAdventureAchievementToughMasculinityTestosteroneTough Guy Author:Gerard Butler
“One of the toughest guys in the world is Randy Couture - he is the true epitome of what a tough guy is.” WorldGuyToughEpitomeTough GuyCoutureRandy Author:Jason Statham
“My grandfather was a really, really tough no-nonsense factory worker who emigrated from Ireland in about 1900 to Bridgeport, Conn. He had a big effect on me. Those guys who took a great leap out into what they knew not were the ones who were the real stars, the real heroes.” RealBigsGuyStarsEffectsHeroToughWorkersNonsenseLeapFactoriesIrelandGrandfatherMy GrandfatherReal HeroesNo NonsenseFactory Workers Author:Brian Dennehy
“I'm good when I've got a bit of an edge, like the Clint Eastwood type of archetypal character. The tough guy that doesn't say a lot.” CharacterGuyBitsTypeToughEdgesTough Guy Author:Scott Adkins
“Coaching staff: I know there's days you look at that film and you want to kill me. I'm not playing defense, taking bad shots, getting too many techs. But you always believe that I can be the guy. Through the tough times, you guys never left my side... That's something that I really appreciate and I never want to take you guys for granted. I thank you so much for being part of my life. And not just on the basketball court, but giving me talks about growing as a man first, and a basketball player next.” KnowsMenWantGivingFirstsBelieveLooksI CanFilmGuyNextLeftSidesGrowingPlayerBasketballShotsToughAppreciateCourtDefenseGrantedCoachingStaffKill MeAlways BelieveTough TimesBasketball PlayerHumblingMvpBasketball CourtCoaching StaffPlaying Defense Author:Kevin Durant
“Roger Federer and my boyfriend, Tiger Woods, inspire me. It's incredible what they've done in their respective sports, especially Roger. He is the nicest and humblest guy. You would never know that he's the best tennis player of all time. And Tiger is so mentally tough. He can block everything completely out and stay in the moment.” KnowsDoneMomentsGuySportsPlayerInspireToughIncrediblesWoodsBlockAll TimeTennisTigersRogerMy BoyfriendTennis PlayerFedererMentally Tough Author:Lindsey Vonn
“I earned that the strong will always beat the weak, but the smart will beat the strong. Boxing is a tough guy sport. But in the end, the tough guy gets to clean the streets and be a bodyguard. In the ring, the tough guy is going to get hurt; at the end of the day, he's going to talk funny. Only the smartest win. So, I know it's cliché, but power - real power - comes from knowledge, comes from smarts.” KnowsRealEndsGuyWinningStrongSportsHurtStreetsSmartBeatsToughWeakCleanRingsBoxingThe End Of The DayStrong WillBodyguardReal PowerTough Guy Author:Mike Tyson
“I never want to be told, "Hey, this is what you do best, and this is the only thing you're going to do." And there are other people that are put into that box. Or unable to navigate through all the different genres. Some people insist on being a tough guy even though it's not happening. People only want to see them in leading romantic roles. Yet they continue to try and force something that doesn't feel organic to people.” PeopleWantFeelsTryingDifferentGuyForceRolesHappeningsToughBoxesHeyGenreNavigateTough GuyDifferent Genres Author:Mark Wahlberg
“...America has enjoyed the doubtful blessing of a single-track mind. We are able to accommodate, at a time, only one national hero; and we demand that that hero shall be uniform and invincible. As a literate people we are preoccupied, neither with the race nor the individual, but with the type. Yesterday, we romanticized the "tough guy;" today, we are romanticizing the underprivileged, tough or tender; tomorrow, we shall begin to romanticize the pure primitive.” PeopleThinkingMindTodayAbleAmericaRomanceGuyIndividualRaceTypeHeroTomorrowBlessingPureDemandToughTrackYesterdayEnjoyedThoughtfulPrimitiveUniformsInvincibleDoubtfulAccommodateTough GuyUnderprivileged Author:Ellen Glasgow
“All those tough guys who want to scare the world into seeing them as men . . . who don't know how to be a man with a woman, only abrute or a boy, who fill up the divorce courts; all those corporate raiders and rain-forest burners and war starters who want more in hopes that will make them feel better; . . . are suffering from Father Hunger. They go through their puberty rituals day after day for a lifetime, waiting for a father to anoint them and say "Attaboy," to treat them as good enough to be considered a man.” KnowsMenWorldWantFeelsWarEnoughGuySufferingFatherWaitingBoysKnow HowSeeingToughRainTreatsCourtLifetimeHungerDivorceForestsCorporateGood EnoughRitualScareFeel BetterFatherhoodBe A ManPubertyStartersTough GuyRaiders Author:Frank Pittman
“I started to take care of my body after I turned 50. I never liked how I looked physically because I was too cute, short, with coloring only on my cheeks, the perfect little nose, and then the blue eyes. But I would have preferred to have the look of a tough guy from the wrong side of town - one of those fascinatingly ugly looks.” LooksLittlesBodyEyeCareGuySidesPerfectToughTownsBlueUglyTake CareNosesCuteCheeksBlue EyesTough Guy Author:Giorgio Armani
“Standup is tough; if you are going through a hard period in your life, it is very hard to get up in front of people and be the happy guy in the room.” PeopleIfsHardGuyRoomsFrontsPeriodsToughGet Up Author:Doc Brown
“I didn't go to Catholic school but I had a tough teacher, a tough math teacher.I remember everything that guy taught me. I really do.” SchoolRememberGuyTeacherTaughtToughCatholicMathThat GuyCatholic SchoolRemembers EverythingMath Teacher Author:Meryl Streep
“If you're a guy over 30 by yourself in the hotel pool, you automatically look like a murderer who's just relaxing after he strangled a family. "Yeah-that dad was a tough one to kill."” IfsLooksFunnyGuyComedyDadToughYeahHotelPoolMurderer Author:Jim Gaffigan
“I want to support young girls who are in their 20s now and tell them: You're not just imagining things. It's tough. Everything that a guy says once, you have to say five times.” WantYoungGuyGirlSupportFiveToughImagining Things Author:Bjork
“Look, I play all these tough guys and thugs and strong, complex characters. In real life, I am a cringing, neurotic Jewish mess. Can't I for once play that on stage?” LooksRealPlayCharacterGuyStrongStageToughComplexesReal LifeMessNeuroticThugTough GuyComplex Characters Author:Jason Isaacs
“I'm actually a softie. Tough guys get killed too early... I've got a full head of hair and don't wear eyeglasses.” GuyHairToughTough GuyEyeglasses Author:Mickey Spillane
“My father was a dreamer - my hero. He was a smart, tough guy from Poland, a cutter of lady's handbags, an old socialist-unionist who always considered himself a failure. His big line was: 'Don't end up like me.'” EndsBigsGuyFatherLinesHeroSmartToughLike MeDreamerSocialistMy HeroPolandTough GuyHandbagsCutters Author:Alan King
“Dieter Dengler was an amazing man. Who knows what he would've been had he not ever been tested in this way? It's a question that I certainly have myself. What would I be able to do in certain situations? He came out, obviously, looking like a true hero, but he didn't go in looking like that. He was not your typical image of somebody that you would think would be the tough guy who was able to endure. His lighthearted attitude, this sort of dorkiness, and naivete; it ended up being the finest tool for his survival.” ThinkingKnowsMenWayWould BeAbleGuyCertainAttitudeSituationHeroSurvivalToughToolsEndureTypicalFinestTestedTough GuyNaiveteTrue HeroAmazing Man Author:Christian Bale
“I am the nice adversary, the guy that's going to ask the tough questions and is not going to be happy with the quick answer.” GuyAsksAnswersNiceToughAdversariesTough Questions Author:Guillermo del Toro
“My dad - who was a tough guy, a Green Beret - always looked nice and wore these bright Sansabelt pants. He always said, "You have two options: You can be a follower or you can be a leader. And you don't ever want to follow anybody." And that's kind of become my philosophy about everything.” WantKindSaidTwoPhilosophyGuyLeaderNiceDadToughGreenMy DadFollowersPantsTough GuyTwo OptionsGreen Beret Author:Bubba Watson
“That Elvis, man, he is all there is. There ain't no more. Everything starts and ends with him. He wrote the book. But for him, I'd be selling encyclopedias right now. There have been a lotta tough guys. There have been pretenders. And there have been contenders. But there is only one king.” MenHas BeensBookEndsGuyKingsRight NowToughSellingEncyclopediaTough GuyPretender Author:Bruce Springsteen
“It's tough because a lot of my friends in normal life, a lot of my friends in the entertainment business, and a lot of my friends in the wrestling business are gay. Just to say something spiteful and hurtful, I don't get it... if it was true and I was gay, I'd embrace it, and I'd tell you guys about it and I'd celebrate it.” IfsGuyGayNormalMy FriendsToughEmbraceEntertainmentCelebrateWrestlingNormal LifeHurtfulSpitefulEntertainment Business Author:Hulk Hogan
“There's nothing tough about playing Third. All a guy needs is a strong arm and a strong chest.” NeedsGuyStrongArmsToughThirdsChestsStrong Arms Author:Frankie Frisch
“Zaveck is a tough guy. He has never been knocked down and I love putting people to sleep. Knowing that he has never been knocked down is a true test for me” PeopleGuySleepKnowingToughTestsDown AndKnocked DownTough Guy Author:Keith Thurman