By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues
On happiness and money
“I disagree with the philosophy that you can’t buy happiness. I know a lot of wealthy people who are happy as Larry…what you can’t buy is joy. Joy is very very costly.”
On what brings him joy
“The realization of my flawed humanity…that the great mystery of the universe includes me personally… I feel to the core of my being that I am loved, and if I can be loved anyone on earth is capable of feeling they can be loved.”
On what God is
“I don’t know what God is, but I have a profound, fundamental belief that God is in fact love. That there is a reality there and I am personally loved. I know it’s true for everyone if it’s true for me, but I can’t explain it and I can’t make anyone aware of it.”
On how he developed his social activist ideals as a golf caddie
“Around the age of 14, I became aware of the injustices associated with the work. We were non-entities to them…and they often used obscene language in front of us….we were little boys and they were abusive… anti-Semitic … racist. And they, for the most part, were upstanding members of the community, businessmen, lawyers, doctors. As the result of being a servant at so young an age, I learned how NOT to treat servants whether they’re waiters of bus-boys or cabdrivers. …and I organized a strike.”
On his green motivations and action
“There’s a Hebrew adage that says, ‘he who hath offspring giveth hostages to the future.‘Well I’ve given children and grandchildren, so they own that future. We have to be aware of our responsibility to future generations.”
On his heart attack while filming Apocalypse Now
“I got ill in the Philippines and I damn near died. They got me to a hospital and it was like in the movies. I was on a gurney being rolled through the corridors, lights were flashing and faces were coming and going, and this little face came alongside of me and I realized it was my wife Janet. She leaned down and whispered in my ear, ‘It’s only a movie babe.’ And I started to get well at that moment.”
