Carol Lea Mueller - The Quotable John Wayne: The Grit and Wisdom of an American Icon

THE

QUOTABLE

JOHN

WAYNE

THE
QUOTABLE
JOHN
WAYNE

The Grit and Wisdom
of an American Icon

COMPILED AND EDITED
BY CAROL LEA MUELLER

Copyright 2007 by Carol Lea Mueller

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review.

Published by Taylor Trade Publishing

An imprint of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.

4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706

Estover Road, Plymouth PL6 7PY, United Kingdom

Distributed by NATIONAL BOOK NETWORK

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Wayne, John, 19071979.

The quotable John Wayne : the grit and wisdom of an American icon / edited by Carol Lea Mueller. 1st Taylor Trade Publishing ed.

p. cm.

ISBN13: 9781589793323 (cloth : alk. paper)

ISBN10: 1589793323 (cloth : alk. paper)

1. Wayne, John, 19071979Quotations. 2. Quotations, American. I. Mueller, Carol Lea, 1940 II. Title.

PN2287.W36A25 2007

791.4302'8092dc22

2007010445

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.481992.

Manufactured in the United States of America.

This book is dedicated to SSG Roland L. Reyes,
Currently on his second tour of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan,
and to his entire HHC 635th Regimental Support Group,
Olathe, Kansas, United States Army
Operation Iraqi Freedom (0608)
Camp Arifjan, Kuwait

Just an ordinary soldier, among many, who represents
All his fellow warriors just as John Wayne,
An ordinary actor, has come to represent all Americas men
Of valor, always ready to saddle up for freedom.

John Wayne was bigger than life. In an age of few
heroes, he was the genuine article. But he was more
than a hero. He was a symbol of so many of the
qualities that made America great. The ruggedness, the
tough independence, the sense of personal courage
on and off screenreflected the best of
our national character.

President Jimmy Carter, 1979

Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. It comes to us at midnight very clean. Its perfect when it arrives, and it puts itself in our hands and hopes weve learned something from yesterday.

John Wayne

YOU WONT FIND John Waynes words in the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, but maybe thats not unfairhe did change the English language for the worse perhaps, with the introduction of such slang phrases as doing a John Wayne and who do you think you are, John Wayne? His critics always said he was too simple and too blunt, he saw things in black and white, and he was just another stubborn conservative full of hot air, like Ronald Reagan: Leave the running of the world to those sophisticated liberals was the idea. And then the Wall fell.

So, you may fairly ask, Why another book on John Wayne? Hes been dead over a quarter of a century. Whats left to be said? Sure, if you do a Google search on John Wayne, you are presented with a couple of million items relating to the Duke. The answer is that this book speaks in Waynes own voice and that, for the first time, his words are put together in a readable, memorable format that reveals, along with his grit, a quick and wicked sense of humor. It also becomes clear that the only roles he chose were those that had lines consistent with his beliefs; he never wanted to be ashamed of what he did or said on or off the screen.

He always resisted the pleas to write an autobiography, responding that Those who like me already know me, and those who dont like me wouldnt want to read about me anyway. He was wrong, of course. We are all, liberal and conservative alike, still fascinated by his reel- and real-life personas, and yet so few members of our current generation realize the effect that the power of his personal example along with his words and ideas has had upon our image as a nation.

What makes his character and words inspire us, despite their personal flaws, and still have resonance with us is that in his on-screen presentation and demeanor, he always tried to exemplify American ideals in the best sense of the word. We want to listen to this man, this totally honest, credible American even when we disagree, even when hes not acting, because we believe in him as an Americanas an Icon with a capital I along with Mom and Apple Pie.

Amazingly, the cowboy ideal he personified is also alive and thriving in a new millennium: Basic tenets such as being true to your word and the understanding that character really does matter are still being championed as American ideals. That rugged independence and stoic nature of the legendary outsider cowboy is still being portrayed on the screen; we see the continuing struggle of men striving to be true to themselves and redeeming themselves when they do fail.

One cannot help but wonder in the aftermath of the tragedy of September 11, 2001, if Waynes many heroic roles influenced our leaders on that horrific day and gave them the necessary strength. John Wayne wasnt there to lead or console us. Or was he? He certainly had shown us how to be Americans, how heroes behaved, and how to handle adversity. New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani was John Wayne, perhaps, on that day, as was our President George W. Bush and all the firefighters, police officers, Flight 93 passengers, and other countless heroes who will inspire future generations.

For once, I like to think, John Wayne, the Duke, was watching the action and was proud to be an American all over again.

Carol Lea Mueller

Santa Cruz, California

July 2006

There is no one who more exemplifies the devotion to our country, its goodness, its industry, and its strength than John Wayne.

President Ronald Reagan

John Wayne is loved the world over as a man who represents independence, the love of freedom, and the hearty strength of character which made our country great. For audiences at home, John Wayne, through his films, remains an authentic folk hero. In this era of shifting moral values and cynicism, he has made a contribution of inestimable value to American culture and is deserving of this tribute [a Congressional Gold Medal] from the American people.

Gregory Peck

No mans lifetime of work has better expressed the land of the free and the home of the brave. No mans lifetime of work has given proof to the world that our flag is still there. John Wayne is in truth a star-spangled man who so proudly we hail.

Frank Sinatra

THERE WAS NEVER any doubt that John Wayne was a patriot. He expressed that spirit in words and in his life and in the roles he chose to play; he was also a man of faith. The following are all off-screen quotations from the Duke:

Sure, I wave the American flag. Do you know a better one?

Weve made mistakes along the way, but thats no reason to start tearing up the best flag God ever gave to any country.