340 Quotes by Leonardo DiCaprio

Considering all that's happened in my life, I feel like I'm a pretty levelheaded person that has remained happy and not let my shortcomings overtake the better part of me. I'm fulfilling the things I wanted to fulfill, and I'm still sane.

My parents, who were split up, were so good at keeping my environment strong and keeping everything around me not focused on the fact that we were poor. They got me culture. They took me to museums. They showed art to me. They read to me. And my mother drove two hours a day to take me to University Elementary School.

As a young boy, I was obsessed with endangered species and the extinct species that men killed off. Biology was the subject in school that I was incredibly passionate about.

Hollywood is a very volatile place where artists come in, and they essentially say they want to belong. It's incredibly vulnerable to be an actor and also get criticism at a young age when you're formulating who you are. We've seen a lot of people fall victim to that, and it's very unfortunate.

I took some time off after 'Titanic' because I needed to let the dust settle and recharge my battery. I felt, 'OK, you've been given a tremendous opportunity; what are you going to do with it? Now your name can finance movies that you do want to do.'

It's always this grand search in the industry to find good material. Whenever there is good material, they all jump on it, and it's like a food fight to get it made. That's why so many things take years and years to develop because it all shows up on screen.

I am trying to do the best work I possibly can and making movies that will have resonance for years to come. I think if you try for an Oscar or a goal like that, the more people are going to see it as transparent. It's not on my radar. If it happens, great, but I'm happy to continue working as I am, really.

I get unhappy doing things that I'm not passionate about. Because I feel like I'm squandering this incredible gift I've been given to finance films. As soon as my name alone was enough to make this happen, I vowed to myself that I was going to work with directors who were changing cinema, doing something important, you know?

When you are given an opportunity to make a film like 'Body of Lies' - and I would put 'Blood Diamond' in the same category - of course you jump at these opportunities.