6 Words of Wisdom From Tom Hanks

Laura Grande | July 9th, 2018

As Tom Hanks turns 62 this month (July 9), we look back at some of the most quotable quotes from everyone’s favourite actor.

“My Mama always said, ‘life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.'” 

“Are you crying? Are you crying?! There’s no crying. There’s no crying in baseball!”

“Houston, we have a problem.”

Tom Hanks has uttered some of the most memorable lines of dialogue in modern cinema, and his reputation as a Hollywood “nice guy” has never diminished. Over the years, since his big screen debut in Splash (1984), he’s continued to win over audiences in his films and during candid interviews. But not only does he have a knack for making a line memorable, he’s also doled out some of his own words of wisdom while talking to reporters. Here are some of our favourites.

1. On loneliness:
“Everybody has something that chews them up and, for me, that thing was always loneliness. The cinema has the power to make you not feel lonely, even when you are.”

Actors Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson attend the premiere of "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" at the Ziegfeld Theater on Thursday, Dec. 15, 2011, in New York. (AP Photo/Peter Kramer)
At the Ziegfeld Theater on Thursday, Dec. 15, 2011, in New York. (AP Photo/Peter Kramer)

2. On his wife, Rita Wilson:
“That woman has loved me skinny, she’s loved me fat. She’s loved me bald, she’s loved me hairy. That woman, I know, loves me. So, I’m a lucky man.”

Tom Hanks poses for photographers as he walks the red carpet at a screening for the movie "Captain Phillips" at the Newseum, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2013 in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
At the Newseum, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2013 in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

3. On humanity:
“I’ll never know all there is to know about you just as you will never know all there is to know about me. Humans are, by nature, too complicated to be understood fully. So, we can choose either to approach our fellow human beings with suspicion or to approach them with an open mind, a dash of optimism and a great deal of candour.”

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4. On aging:
“If you can feel like a good man in your 40s, you can feel like a better man in your 50s, a Superman in your 60s, and maybe a Spider-Man in your 70s.”

 

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Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg at the National World War II Memorial in March 2010.

5. On his career:
“I love what I do for a living—it’s the greatest job in the world. But you have to survive an awful lot of attention that you don’t truly deserve and you have to live up to your professional responsibilities and I’m always trying to balance that with what is really important.”

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6. On love:
“There’s no substitute for a great love who says, ‘No matter what’s wrong with you, you’re welcome at this table.'”