10 Essential Matthew McConaughey Quotes

The birthday boy has a way with words, so we're going to let him do all the talking

01 of 10
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"I don't want to just revolve. I want to evolve. As a man, as a human, as a father, as a lover."

– sharing a life motto with Elle in 2013

02 of 10
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"A man. I haven't worn deodorant in 20 years."

– telling PEOPLE what he thinks a man should smell like in his 2005 Sexiest Man Alive interview

03 of 10
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"There are three things that I need each day. One of them is something to look up to, another is something to look forward to and another is someone to chase."

– accepting the Best Actor Academy Award for Dallas Buyers Club in 2014

04 of 10
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"I wanted to really want to. You know, I didn't want it to be a destination. The fun is that we're on the adventure together."

– on why he decided to marry now-wife Camila after having children, to GQ in November 2014

05 of 10
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PEOPLE.com Illustration By Debra Cartwright

"At the end of your life, all the things you thought were periods, they turn out to be commas. There was never a full stop in any of it."

reflecting to Esquire in 2011 that life is "all continuation"

06 of 10
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"I am vain. I think vanity is a good thing. It's done more good things for me than it has not."

to GQ in November 2014 after transforming his body for his Dallas Buyers Club role

07 of 10
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"If you want your hair to be thicker, cut it when the moon is about to be full – a heavy, full, waxing moon. Do not cut it when the moon's waning."

– revealing a spirited beauty trick to Elle in 2013

08 of 10
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"If I start with 'All right, all right, all right,' and 'thank you,' I really can't go wrong."

– on incorporating his famous line from 1993's Dazed and Confused into his acceptance speech strategy, on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in February 2014

09 of 10
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PEOPLE.com Illustration By Debra Cartwright

"The best advice comes from people who don't give advice."

– to Details

10 of 10
matthew mcconaughey and camila alves with their children
Matthew and Camila Alves McConaughey with their children and his mother in February 2019. Gary Miller/Getty

"Since I was 8 years old, the one thing I've always known I wanted to be is a father."

– the proud dad of Levi, Vida and Livingston, to PEOPLE in 2014

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