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- Tom Hanks is one of Hollywood's most recognizable actors due to his starring roles in films such as "Cast Away,""Forrest Gump,""Apollo 13," and more.
- Hanks and his wife, Rita Wilson, were recently diagnosed with COVID-19, and Hanks took to social media to announce they had both recovered, as well as share an uplifting message with his followers.
- "[It's] going to take a while but if we take care of each other, help where we can, and give up some comforts ... this, too, shall pass. We can figure this out," he wrote.
- Hanks has offered a number of other inspiring, thoughtful quotes throughout his decades-spanning career.
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Few Hollywood actors are as beloved and respected as Tom Hanks.
Hanks has been appearing on television and movie screens since the early 1980s, and has since created a memorable portfolio of work that has captured the hearts of viewers across generations.
Here are 12 of Tom Hanks' most thoughtful quotes about his outlook on the world and his work.
SEE ALSO: 12 of the most inspiring Fred Rogers quotes to get you through any crisis
"The cinema has the power to make you not feel lonely, even when you are."
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"Everybody has something that chews them up and, for me, that thing was always loneliness," Hanks is quoted as saying.
"As a young man, even if I was going to see a play or a film by myself, I didn't feel like I was alone. There was something that was unfolding up there that brought me into it. And I recognized that. For those two hours, it made me feel like I belonged to something really good."
"A hero is someone who voluntarily walks into the unknown."
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Speaking about Captain Richard Phillips, whom he portrayed in the 2013 film "Captain Phillips,"Hanks explained his mentality on what it means to be a true hero.
"I have gone through so many examinations of what a hero is ... I think by and large a third of people are villains, a third are cowards, and a third are heroes. A villain and a coward can choose to be a hero, but they've got to make that choice," he said.
"I think it's better to feel good than to look good."
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Hanks has supported a number of different causes throughout his life. According to New York Minute Magazine, his philanthropic work includes serving as a board member and honorary co-chair of the Entertainment Industry Foundation's Women's Cancer Research Fund.
Hanks is also an active supporter of the Women in the World Foundation and has advocated for more diverse roles for women in the film industry.
Hanks has also spoken out for AIDS research and has campaigned for veterans' issues such as the construction of the World War II memorial in Washington, DC.
"I think 80% of the population is [made up of] really great, caring people who will help you and tell you the truth. That's just the way it is."
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However, Hanks continued, saying, "I think 20% of the population are crooks and liars. It's just a fact ... So the truth is, the secret is, find out who the crooks and liars are."
"You cannot look up at the night sky on the Planet Earth and not wonder what it's like to be up there amongst the stars. And I always look up at the moon and see it as the single most romantic place within the cosmos."
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Tom Hanks starred as Jim Lovell in the 1995 drama "Apollo 13," which was based on a true story. Hanks acted alongside Kevin Bacon and Bill Paxton as three astronauts on a lunar mission that is thrown into turmoil after their oxygen tank explodes.
"I try to do what I call the three E's — educate, entertain, and enlighten."
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"If you don't entertain, no one will show up. But you also have to educate, because people want to discover specific things about a world unlike their own—whether it's how hard it is to go to the moon or how scary it is to be on Omaha Beach,"Hanks told Oprah.
"A story also has the opportunity to enlighten us, because as we connect the extraordinary moments on film with the ordinary moments of our lives, we ask ourselves, 'What am I going to do the next time I'm scared? What would it be like to say goodbye to my family for the last time?' Despite the fact that these movies are big engines of commerce, the characters remind us that we're part of a greater humanity and that we can actually affect the world by the choices we make once we leave the theater."
"At the end of the day it's got to be a good movie, it's got to be a funny movie, and it's got to make people think, 'Hey, I couldn't have spent my time any better.'"
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"If you're funny, if there's something that makes you laugh, then every day's going to be OK,"Hanks said.
"'Forrest Gump' was great, it was fabulous. It lasted much longer than anybody thought, and brought me a degree of attention that no human being on the face of the planet deserves."
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Tom Hanks won the Oscar and Golden Globe for best actor for "Forrest Gump" in 1995. The film also won the Academy Award that year for best picture and best director.
"There isn't any great mystery about me. What I do is glamorous and has an awful lot of white-hot attention placed on it. But the actual work requires the same discipline and passion as any job you love doing, be it as a very good pipe fitter or a highly creative artist."
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President Obama awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Hanks in 2016 for his work in filmmaking and social justice activism.
"People have said that Tom is Hollywood's Everyman; that he's this generation's Jimmy Stewart or Gary Cooper. But he's just Tom Hanks. And that's enough. That's more than enough,"Obama said of Hanks at the ceremony.
"I would like to think I've reflected the audience's lives somehow, though it's in this big, false, glamorous arena of movies. I hope people see themselves somehow up on the screen."
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"Shakespeare said it best: Hold the mirror up to nature. Human behavior is worthy of examination and celebration,"Hanks told Oprah.
"Again and again, we're searching for that person who's a magic key for us, makes us feel connected, secure, part of something bigger than ourselves. Without it, the world ain't any fun."
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Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson have been married since 1988 and have two children together, Chester and Truman. Tom Hanks also has two other children, Colin and Elizabeth Hanks.
"[When I won best actor for 'Forest Gump,'] I said that I have a woman who teaches me what love is every day. Maybe that sentiment is possible to fake, but for me, it's really true. What makes me different from others is that I verbalize this stuff. A lot of people would flee from what they think is award-show cheesiness, and I don't. I often joke that my speeches are very personal moments that play themselves out in front of billions of people,"Hanks told Oprah.
"[It's] going to take a while but if we take care of each other, help where we can, and give up some comforts ... this, too, shall pass. We can figure this out."
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Tom Hanks and his wife, Rita Wilson, were diagnosed with COVID-19 while filming an Elvis Presley biopic, directed by Baz Luhrman, in Australia. The couple announced on March 11 that they had both tested positive.
Two weeks later, Hanks took to Twitter to announce that they had both recovered, offering the inspirational message above.
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