Whether you’re a fan of The Matrix and Speed or not, these Keanu Reeves will teach you a thing or two about living life and life in the filmmaking industry.
Earning his spot in the Hollywood limelight, he was at the top of his career.
However, as the saying goes, ‘You can’t have it all.’
While he was successful in his acting career, he was also facing many personal challenges.
This collection shows you his perspective while going through both the ups and the downs of his life.
Let’s get started.
Best Keanu Reeves Quotes
1. “When the people you love are gone, you’re alone.”
2. “The paparazzi culture is more pervasive than it used to be.”
3. “Sometimes, when you make a film, you can go away for three months and then come back and live your life. But this struck a much deeper chord. I don’t have the ability yet to speak about it in an objective manner.”
4. “It’s the journey of self, I guess. You start with this kind of loner, outside guy, which a lot of people can relate to, and he goes out into the world.”
5. “Fame is drag.”
6. “It’s always wonderful to get to know women, with the mystery, and the joy, and the depth.”
7. “It’s fun to be hopelessly in love. It’s dangerous, but it’s fun.”
8. “When I don’t feel free and can’t do what I want, I just react. I go against it.”
9. “The cost of knowledge is an important theme.”
10. “If you can make a woman laugh, you’re seeing the most beautiful thing on God’s Earth.”
11. “You have to change your life if you’re not happy, and wake up if things aren’t going the way you want.”
12. “I loved the material when I first read it, and the experience of making The Matrix was a great one. So when we came around to complete the trilogy, I just signed on board without even reading the scripts because the experience of the first film was so good.”
13. “So many people have that relationship—the companionship, the connection, to other beings, our pets. I hate to call them pets. But you know, to other creatures that we share our lives with.”
14. “I’ve been really fortunate to be able to do different kinds of films in different scales, different genres, different kinds of roles, and that is important to me.”
15. “Grief changes shape, but it never ends.”
16. “Art is about trying to find the good in people and making the world a more compassionate place.”
17. “The truth is often terrifying, which I think is one of the motifs of Larry and Andrew’s cinema.”
18. “I believe in love at first sight. You want that connection, and then you want some problems.”
19. “The simple act of paying attention can take you a long way.”
Related: John Wick Quotes
Keanu Reeves Quotes on the Balance and Cycle of Life
20. “The recognition of the law of cause and effect, also known as karma, is a fundamental key to understanding how you’ve created your world, with actions of your body, speech, and mind.”
21. “Violence is sometimes a very practical solution but I don’t think it is the ultimate solution.”
22. “The destruction in dark energy is also a subtle aspect of construction, like how even forest fires have their benefits.”
23. “When you truly understand karma, then you realize you are responsible for everything in your life.”
24. “Owning a gun is not okay for me.”
25. “Positive energy brings good feelings, and dark energy often means harm.”
26. “Personally, I do not own a weapon.”
27. “Sometimes, enemies are our best teachers. People can learn from their mistakes, destruction sometimes means rebirth.”
28. “Nothing ever truly dies. The universe wastes nothing; everything is simply transformed.”
29. “Every struggle in your life has shaped you into the person you are today.”
30. “Tattoos are interesting, but at the same time they are also a mask—you are exhibiting your past life on your body.”
31. “If you have been brutally broken but still have the courage to be gentle to other living beings, then you’re a badass with the heart of an angel.”
32. “Even in the face of tragedy, a stellar person can thrive.”
33. “It’s like we’re zombies. Look up and take your headphones out. Say ‘Hi’ to someone you see and maybe give a hug to someone who looks like they’re hurting.”
34. “Be thankful for the hard times, they can only make you stronger.”
35. “I’m a meathead. I can’t help it, man. You’ve got smart people and you’ve got dumb people. I just happen to be dumb.”
36. “Here comes 40. I’m feeling my age and I’ve ordered a Ferrari. I’m going to get the whole mid-life crisis package.”
37. “Hormonally, my body was changing, my mind was changing, and so my relationship to myself and the world around me came to this assault of finiteness.”
38. “I am not handsome or sexy. Of course, it’s not like I am hopeless.”
39. “I don’t know the law, the kind of law of quantity and quality, but I think the opportunity of people being able to express themselves and to have the means of production is a great thing. It’s also changing how we’re telling stories.”
Related: Point Break Quotes
Keanu Reeves Quotes on Fame, Wealth, and Acting
40. “Money doesn’t mean anything to me.”
41. “The inspiration really comes first from the character and the story. That vision of what the story is, and what the character is, the world that they inhabit and what the story wants to tell. That’s really what inspires me.”
42. “I’ve made a lot of money, but I want to enjoy life and not stress myself building my bank account.”
43. “We all know that good health is much more important.”
44. “Luxury is the opportunity to experience quality, be it a place, a person, or an object.”
45. “There’s a lot of great writing, and characters, and stories being told on television nowadays; and much more than there used to be—the opportunities to tell stories, because of the opportunities to show content. And so, it’s drawing actors from cinema, movie actors, actors to where there’s a lot of opportunities to where you can tell stories.”
46. “Money buys you the freedom to live your life the way you want.”
47. “The whole aspect of cinema and film festivals should be a moment to come together and celebrate art and humanity. It would be a shame if there was such a divide.”
48. “I try not to think about my life. I have no life. I need therapy.”
49. “I’ve been pleased to work with so many wonderful stars through the years. This has been an amazing journey. I hope it continues.”
50. “And I had a great time making Reloaded and Revolutions. It’s great that people are coming out to see the films and I hope they enjoy them.”
51. “Because we’re actors we can pretend and fake it, but I’d rather the intimate investment was authentic.”
52. “I’m Mickey Mouse. They don’t know who’s inside the suit.”
53. “When we talk about how movies used to be made, it was over 100 years of film, literal, physical film, with emulsion, that we would expose to light and we would get pictures.”
54. “You want to play another kind of character in another genre, and it’s been something I’ve been trying to do if I can in the career so far, and it’s something I hope to continue because it’s interesting to me and you get to do different things as an actor.”
55. “I think the form, the Hollywood movie, I think the quality is obviously always going to be there and I think that the question of taste—there’s always a question of taste.”
56. “How do people relate to movies now, when they’re on portable devices or streaming them? It’s not as much about going to the movies. That experience has changed.”
57. “It’s easy to become very self-critical when you’re an actor. Then you get critiqued by the critics. Whether you agree with them or not, people are passing judgment on you.”
58. “Artists are losing the choice to use film. People have a love for it—the grain, how it feels, the texture.”
59. “I have definitely been curious and involved in the process, even as a young actor. I was always looking at where the camera was, what story it was telling. And as my experience grew, I wanted to know even more.”
Keanu Reeves Quotes on Happiness and Living Life
60. “You need to be happy to live, I don’t.”
61. “Sometimes, simple things are the most difficult things to achieve.”
62. “It is incredibly empowering to know that your future is in your hands.”
63. “Multi-culture is the real culture of the world—the pure race doesn’t exist.”
64. “I guess living without love, without experiencing it or being able to give it, is pretty strong punishment.”
65. “Mortality is very different when you’re 20 to when you’re 50.”
66. “Sometimes, I go out and hear people talk about irrelevant things and then I tell myself, ‘This is why I don’t go out.’”
67. “Life is good when you have a good sandwich.”
68. “Our dreams can teach us, instruct us, confuse us, sometimes I think they look to be considered.”
69. “Sometimes, we get so caught up in our daily lives that we forget to take the time out to enjoy the beauty in life.”
70. “No matter what’s going on in your life, you can overcome it!”
71. “They are an opportunity and I think they most certainly could be utilized to focus, to try and achieve—whether it’s looking for someone, or influencing us, or inspiring us.”
72. “Life is worth living.”
73. “Falling in love and having a relationship are two different things.”
74. “A good date is when you are intoxicated with each other’s company and everything becomes good in the world.”
75. “How do I confront aging? With wonder and terror. Yeah, I’ll say that. Wonder and terror.”
76. “I mean, if you didn’t get it or if you didn’t feel like you enjoyed it, sometimes that experience can change.”
77. “I’m sorry my existence is not very noble or sublime.”
78. “Kissing someone is pretty intimate, actually very intimate, and your heart always kind of skips a beat before you do that.”
79. “But, you know, it’s still a drag to get your picture taken when you’re eating a sandwich. It’s a downer.”
80. “I do think there must be some kind of interaction between your living life and the life that goes on from here.”
Did These Keanu Reeves Quotes Make You Understand How Pain and Suffering Are Relative?
We may think those who live in the spotlight have their lives going for them—that they’re happy, successful, wealthy, and nothing could ever go wrong in their lives. However, we don’t really know what everyone is going through in their daily lives. There may be deeper, more complex troubles they’re facing when they’re off the screens, and that’s exactly what happened with Keanu Reeves. However, he also helps us understand that a difficult phase in our lives does not define the rest of it. Be generous, be yourself, and let your passions drive you where you need to be, and in the end, you’ll be happy.
Which of the quotes we included in the list are your favorites? Which Keanu Reeves movies did you like best? Share your thoughts down below.
