This collection of Pete’s words are also found in the “Complicated, Simple Me” book, available in the PDMS Store, pulled from various newspaper and magazine articles which quoted him as saying such.

I always have had the tendency to go with one girl at a time. I have sometimes found things got a little sticky because of that; because of my proclivity for becoming very involved. Then, boom, it’s over, and I run around like a chicken with my head cut off. You know, looking for another girl.

It’s very hard to find yourself in love with two women at one time. We’ve been brought up to think of it as ‘cheating’ and through the guilt we feel from it, we wind up hating both women. We’re taught it by our family, our church, even through the things we talk about and the jokes we tell our friends when we’re kids.

I don’t see how I could become interested in a woman who didn’t give a damn about ecology. She would obviously be a very stupid woman or a very cruel woman with practically no sensitivity.

[re: go-go girls in cages]
It annoys me to be able to look, but not touch.

I like girls who are natural. The girl I’ll marry will have to be unaffected. I like sincerity in anyone, but unfortunately don’t find too much of it around. If I were to sum it all up in one word, I’d say that honesty was the most important quality anyone could have.

I’d rather a girl not wear make-up at all.

I can be turned off at first glance by a girl’s hairdo. Those over-teased, stiffly sprayed styles are terrible. I like a soft, natural hairdo that I can touch.

I enjoy women’s fashions if they’re not absurd. I can’t stand hairdos. When she starts getting into elaborate curls, teases and sprays, forget it…

I’ll choose the girl I want to take out because I find her intriguing, not for publicity!

Beauty and brains, plus class, make an irresistible combination at any age.

Platonic relationships can exist if neither is romantically interested in the other. This is very rare. Usually one is hopeful that the friendship will in time ripen into something that is non-platonic. It is possible, though, to have a very healthy, non-romantic relationship with an ex-girlfriend.

When I think of the term “nice girl,” it brings to my mind one who can be compatible with me and my desires and interested in how I feel. While I don’t believe in the double standard intellectually, it’s a different story emotionally. I do feel that if a girl has committed herself to a relationship with me, then I must in turn commit myself to her, in so far as being faithful. The danger that exists in getting romantically involved at too young an age is that early teens haven’t had the opportunity to develop any real values. The cold, cynical, clinical outlook kids have today destroys the lyrical beauty and aesthetic aspects of love.

Women should be honest … Tell the guy the truth. He’ll respect you more for it.

There’s a thing that is very exciting which can happen at first sight. You know, that real magic, very strong — incredibly strong — attraction. But it’s a matter of degree. You can walk into a room and see someone you’re intensely attracted to. That’s where people misuse the word “love.” They call it “love at first sight” and it’s just an incredibly intense, immediate attraction between two people. Love is very simple. And love comes with an awful lot of work. Love and understanding. Being together. The basis for love can happen at first sight but very often it’s misleading. Again, I think it has something to do with ESP and a lot of it is physical. You see someone and it just happens. Now when “love at first sight” happens it’s because you look at someone who physically just knocks you out! Their face, their figure, everything about them. It can be very painful because that kind of relationship starts off at such a high pitch. You’ll go two, three, four months really getting involved with each other, and then all of a sudden, you start having problems because you start getting into deeper areas. There are just simple areas that are quite basic. Then you find it very hard to commun­icate the way you feel to the other person because you’re on such different tracks. You start fighting and get very defensive. And that’s very painful. It’s worth it if you can make it last. I don’t know …

Tentative is a good word if you use it kindly and positively.

You can choose not to get involved at all, to stay outside of the whole thing.

What is the first feature you notice when you meet a girl?
It depends on what mood I’m in … Now we’re getting into the sexual areas, you know. Just say I like attractive people and they can be attrac­tive in many different ways.

I like a woman who is physically attractive, who is somewhat physical herself, who is strong — enjoys the outdoors and she has to be sensitive to the arts. To my work. To philo­so­phy in general. She has to be some­what metaphysical, because that’s what I am.

It’s very hard to find yourself in love with two women at one time. We’ve been brought up to think of it as “cheating” and through the guilt we feel from it, we wind up hating both women. We’re taught it by our family, our church, even through the things we talk about and the jokes we tell our friends when we’re kids.

On Bachelorhood

I never really stopped to think about life as a bachelor until recently. I guess I never had time to give much thought to anything except my career before.

I want to be a bachelor because they are a dying class in America today and I feel obligated to preserve it. I think of bachelor­hood as a class and all these young marr­iages are killing it.

I stayed a bachelor because I didn’t want a frantic existence. That’s what marrying too soon would have been.

I always get wild crushes on different girls every two weeks.

On Dating Co-Stars

Let me tell you something; it’s impossible to be in constant physical contact with a leading lady without getting emotionally involved. Anyone who tells you differently is crazy! Oh, yeah, I’ve heard guys say that necking before the camera does nothing to them, doesn’t turn them on. That’s ridi­culous! Who are they trying to kid? You simply have to be turned on if you’re not a robot! Let me ask you something. Do you think it’s possible for a normal man with normal instincts to kiss a gorgeous gal for hours at a time without feeling anything? Well, it’s not. It’s happened to me with other leading ladies, with every leading lady I’ve ever worked with. Oh, look, I don’t mean to imply that you have to fall in love with every actress you work with. I said you become emotionally involved with them — but that doesn’t mean they all turn you on. Some of them do just the opposite. They turn you off. And with others you begin to feel this thing, then take them out on a date and discover there’s nothing beyond the phys­ical. And that’s it. You never see them again. Lots of times when you break the thing off it’s almost impossible to pretend you still like each other on the screen. You try to act loving before the camera with a gal you’ve split from in a wild, bitter ending and it can be murder.

When two actors marry the problems are enormous. If I work with an actress in a film, I want to establish a good relation­ship for the sake of our per­formances. And, let’s face it, the average girl in a movie is a lot more attractive than the average girl. You find yourself wanting to sleep with your leading lady. And more than that, you find a relation­ship devel­op­ing. You find you want it to last. You find you’re in love. Sup­pose you’re married. Then you have to go home to your wife with that on-the-set relationship in your pocket. It’s impos­sible — and so are the alter­natives. The alternatives are you do it and don’t let it bother you, which is bad for your conscience; or you build a wall around you on the set, which is bad for your performance; or you only work with your wife, which is practically impossible.

The real danger comes when you are on location for long periods of time and she can’t go with you. Because, I don’t care what anybody says, if you’re on location alone, doing love scenes with beautiful women, you do become involved. Which puts a whole lot of strain on a marriage.

On Love and Marriage

I guess I am a hard guy to love — mainly because I won’t let anyone try. I don’t mean to say that I don’t need love — everyone needs love. It’s just that right now, falling in love could be dangerous. I’ve waited a long time to get as far as I am in my career — and it’s sure been worth it. I look forward to getting married and raising a family one day — and the waiting is going to make that part of my life all the more worthwhile when it happens. Until then, I’ve got to be a loner.

Having a marriage when you’re in show business and making it work is damn hard — it’s damn hard for anybody. We weren’t built to be with just one person all the time; we were built to be with one or two people most of the time. We’ve been brought up to think we should be with just one person in order to exist. Now, mores are changing.

There are times when you go for weeks, months, without working. How can an actor even consider getting married under those conditions? It would be impossible, or near to it, to support a wife — if you marry an actress, there’s a good chance that you could both starve to death. So you wait. You wait until you get somewhere — till that right break comes along. When it does, you can start living like a real human being. The love, the recognition you get from your audience isn’t enough any longer — you need a more personal relationship. Dating is fun, sure, but when you go home, you’re alone again.

Playing husband to Judy (Carne) is one thing. But actually being legally, morally, emotionally, and every other way married, is something else again.

The antics Judy and I go through in our show are funny. But I wouldn’t take the invasion of privacy in a marriage of my own.

I don’t want marriage now. I’m not ready for it. I like living the way I live. Someday I won’t. Someday I’ll meet a girl I can’t live without. Maybe, I can’t say for sure. Nothing is for sure.

I think it would be stupid for me to marry now, when I’m not emotionally ready. I would make a miserable mess of marriage right now, I’m afraid. Of course it’s possible I might not. Maybe the marriage would succeed, but I’m not willing to take the risk.

I may never get married … who knows? Anyway, I have a feeling that I won’t get married for at least three or four years. That could change, but I’m sure I’ll get married only when I feel ready.

I’ll be very honest with you — I’m not an easy guy to live with. At least not right now. I don’t think I’d make a very good husband. I guess that’s the magic of acting … But being a con­vincing actor and being a real-life husband are two different roles. I just feel that I’m not ready to handle the real-life role as yet. Because I feel that I can’t get married for a while, I haven’t made it too easy for any girl to really get to know me … I’m very cautious about letting any ­relationship go too far. I don’t want to hurt anyone and I don’t want to get hurt, either.

I guess I am a hard guy to love — mainly because I won’t let anyone try. I don’t mean to say that I don’t need love — everyone needs love. It’s just that right now, falling in love could be dangerous. I’ve waited a long time to get as far as I am in my career — and it’s sure been worth it. I look forward to getting married and raising a family one day — and the waiting is going to make that part of my life all the more worthwhile when it happens. Until then, I’ve got to be a loner.

When I do get married, I think I’ll make a fantas­tic husband. No, don’t use the word fantastic. People might misunderstand. What I mean is, once I’ve committed myself to mar­riage, I’m going to make the best husband I possibly can. I’m not going to settle down until I can commit myself totally to one woman. That doesn’t mean that I’ll lose my independ­ence. Or take hers away. I think people who get married and lean on each other for every­thing every minute of the day eventually become resentful of each other. They lose their indivi­duality and become no-faces.

I never make ridiculous promises of un­dying love. Nor do I expect them from the girl. But when I find myself in love, well, that’s what I am, a man in love. I am not advocating free love nor indiscriminate sex relationships. Yet I think the divorce rate in this country would drop to a new low if every couple who thinks they can’t live without each other would just try living without each other. Most of them would find they got along very well. And it would alleviate, considerably, the terrible injust­ices done to innocent babies born into marriages between men and women who never took the time to evaluate their relationships beyond the bedroom.

Listen, you take a hundred people in locations all over this country, and maybe there is only a twenty percent divorce rate. But that doesn’t mean a whole lot more aren’t wishing they were divorced. I think it’s a shame everyone isn’t that honest. Even those with children. Children know what’s going on and if parents are honest, they can adjust to anything.

If you remember who the person is and if you can remember what you once felt for the person, you won’t have problems. If you respect them and their feelings, you don’t have a big court battle. You don’t hear about the quiet divorces that go on in Hollywood, but there are lots of them.

I think it’s time I stopped thinking only of myself. I want to get married. If I do I’ll buy some land in the country and build a house. But it’s got to be flat land. I’m not comfortable walking up hills. I come from nice rolling country in New York state.