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There is only one purpose in hand-to-hand combat, and that is to kill. Never face an enemy with the idea of knocking him out. The chances are extremely good that he will kill you.

William Powell

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William Powell
Age: 91 †
Born: 1892
Born: July 29
Died: 1984
Died: January 1
Actor
Film Actor
Stage Actor
Television Actor
Pittsburg
Pennsylvania
William Horatio Powell
Chance
Knocking
Purpose
Chances
Faces
Combat
Idea
Extremely
Hands
Kill
Ideas
Enemy
Good
Hand
Never
Face

More quotes by William Powell

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If a man is to be a man, a free spirit unto himself, he must arm himself not only with weapons but with ideals and concepts he is willing to die for.
William Powell
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I would warn against holsters with devices for quick-draw. Devices always fail when you need them most.
William Powell
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Power is not a material possession that can be given, it is the ability to act. Power must be taken, it is never given.
William Powell
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Unity is the only way in which the people of this country can overthrow the fascists, communists, capitalists, and all the other assholes who claim running a representative government is so difficult. The emphasis has been taken from the Bill of Rights and placed on the type of interpretation of the Constitution that best suits the people in power.
William Powell
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Have you noticed that the people who actually make the laws, the people in power, never make laws for themselves?
William Powell
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I can fully appreciate the fury and anger that a person can feel when put through a humiliating experience by a cop, but I would recommend strongly that a person maintain his cool, and in no circumstances lose his temper. If you lose your temper, you are playing right into the cop's hands.
William Powell
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I do not hold that because the author did a bad job of writing the player need trump it with the same kind of acting. When I go into a picture I have only one character to look after. If the author didn't do him justice, I try to add whatever the creator of the part overlooked.
William Powell
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A government creates its own revolution. There can be no revolt without it.
William Powell
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Treat any and all drugs with respect, for most of the time they are stronger than you are.
William Powell
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A word of advice: If you get the choice between the upper and lower bunks in a cell, choose the lower. Prisons do not turn off their lights at night, and I spent a sleepless night, without a mattress, with a five-hundred-watt bulb shining directly into my eyes.
William Powell
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One of the greatest myths of all time is that so-called civilized man is no longer an animal, and for that reason can strive to disarm himself and grow fat with false concepts.
William Powell
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Believe it or not, bananas do contain a small quantity of Musa Sapientum bananadine, which is a mild, short-lasting psychedelic.
William Powell
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Prison does strange things to men. Although its purpose is to break the free spirit of a man, in many cases it just adds fuel to the fire that has never been and will never be extinguished.
William Powell
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Cultivate solitude and quiet and a few sincere friends, rather than mob merriment, noise and thousands of nodding acquaintances.
William Powell
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I detest symbolic protest, as it is an outcry of weak, middle-of-the-road, liberal eunuchs. If an individual feels strongly enough about something to do something about it, then he shouldn't prostitute himself by doing something symbolic. He should get out and do something real.
William Powell
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Why did God make so many dumb fools and Democrats?
William Powell
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A revolution was never fought, throughout history, for ideals. Revolutions were fought for much more concrete things: food, clothes, housing, and to relieve intolerable oppression. … I know of no one, outside of Patrick Henry, willing to die for an abstraction.
William Powell
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Unfortunately, or perhaps it is fortunate that I have always been forced to stand on my acting ability. I haven't a personality such as Jack Gilbert's, for instance, that attracts women and makes them like me for myself. When I am on the screen I must make them forget me entirely and think only of my acting.
William Powell
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It seems acceptable today to scream for revolution, without any concept of what will follow it. This is just what the forces at large want, for who will follow a man who doesn't know where he's going?
William Powell
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The only laws a man can truly respect are the ones he makes for himself.
William Powell