"I have learned more about love, selflessness and human understanding from the people I have met in this great adventure in the world of AIDS than I ever did in the cutthroat, competitive world in which I spent my life."

These are the words used when talking about AIDS by movie star Anthony Perkins, the actor who played the murderer character in "Psycho" the classic cult thriller movie by Alfred Hitchcock.

Yesterday I was watching this movie and I was so impressed by Perkins' interpretation that afterwards I spent some time looking for information about him.

I discovered Perkins died at 60 in 1992 after complications related to AIDS. The image you can get from descriptions on the internet about Perkins is pretty obscure, even though he was with no doubt one of the biggest movie stars of his time. Apparently he was an extremely shy person who had a difficult childhood. He also decided to keep his illness a secret for a very long time, nevertheless the words he used after having come out as gay are strong and pretty unique in their style:

"I chose not to go public about (having AIDS) because, to misquote 'Casablanca,' 'I'm not much at being noble,' but it doesn't take much to see that the problems of one old actor don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world," Perkins said. "There are many who believe that this disease is God's vengeance, but I believe it was sent to teach people how to love and understand and have compassion for each other.

The best advice often comes from the last person you would expect. The proof is the funny fact that one of the most impressive statements about HIV and AIDS I've ever heard comes directly from the "Psycho" killer.