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A bad word from a colleague can darken a whole day. We need encouragement a lot more than we admit, even to ourselves.

Orson Welles

Every true artist must, in his own way, be a magician, a charlatan.
ORSON WELLES

Artist Himself Magic True
I want to give the audience a hint of a scene. No more than that. Give them too much and they won’t contribute anything themselves. Give them just a suggestion and you get them working with you. That’s what gives the theater meaning: when it becomes a social act.
ORSON WELLES

Act Audience Meaning Myself Work
Paris is the playwright’s delight. New York is the home of directors. London, however, is the actor’s city, the only one in the world. In London, actors are given their head.
ORSON WELLES

Actor Director Home Movie Play Respect World Worth
The most personal thing I’ve put in [Touch of Evil] is my hatred of the abuse of police power. It’s better to see a murderer go free than for a policeman to abuse his power.
ORSON WELLES

Abuse Better Evil Freedom Hate Murder Personal Police Power See
The classy gangster is a Hollywood invention.
ORSON WELLES

Hollywood Invention
My kind of director is an actor-director who writes.
ORSON WELLES

Director Kind Myself Writing
Create your own visual style. Let it be unique for yourself and yet identifiable for others.
ORSON WELLES

Creation Identity Style Unique Visual Yourself
I don’t say we all ought to misbehave, but we ought to look as if we could.
ORSON WELLES

Appearance Attitude Audacity Behavior
Hollywood is a gold-plated suburb suitable for golfers, gardeners, assorted middlemen, and contented movies stars. I am none of these things.
ORSON WELLES

Gardener Gold Hollywood Movie Myself Stardom
What’s happening now is what happened before, and often what’s going to happen again sometime or other.
ORSON WELLES

History Philosophy Science Time
The cinema has no boundary; it is a ribbon of dream.
ORSON WELLES

Boundary Dreams Movie Perspective
A film is never really good unless the camera is an eye in the head of a poet.
ORSON WELLES

Camera Eyes Goodness Movie Poet
At twenty-one, so many things appear solid, permanent, untenable.
ORSON WELLES

Age Appearance Permanent
My doctor told me to stop having intimate dinners for four. Unless there are three other people.
ORSON WELLES

Doctor Food Funny Myself People Stop
I do not suppose I shall be remembered for anything. But I don’t think about my work in those terms. It is just as vulgar to work for the sake of posterity as to work for the sake of money.
ORSON WELLES

Money Myself Remember Thinking Work
I have a great love and respect for religion, great love and respect for atheism. What I hate is agnosticism, people who do not choose.
ORSON WELLES

Choice Greatness Hate Love Myself People Respect
If you want a happy ending, that depends, of course, on where you stop your story.
ORSON WELLES

Choice End Happiness Stop Story Yourself
I’ve spent most of my mature life trying to prove that I’m not irresponsible.
ORSON WELLES

Evidence Life Maturity Myself Responsibility
Now I’m an old Christmas tree, the roots of which have died. They just come along and while the little needles fall off me replace them with medallions.
ORSON WELLES

Death Myself Replacement Time Tree
There are three intolerable things in life – cold coffee, lukewarm champagne, and overexcited women.
ORSON WELLES

Drink Excitement Life Tolerance Woman
I prefer people who rock the boat to people who jump out.
ORSON WELLES

Choice Myself People
Criminals are never very amusing. It’s because they’re failures. Those who make real money aren’t counted as criminals. This is a class distinction, not an ethical problem.
ORSON WELLES

Amazing Crime Failure Money Problem Reality
Don’t give them what you think they want. Give them what they never thought was possible.
ORSON WELLES

Inspirational Motivational Possible Thinking
Criticism is the essence of creation.
ORSON WELLES

Creation Criticism One Liner
I have made an art form of the interview. The French are the best interviewers, despite their addiction to the triad, like all Cartesians.
ORSON WELLES

Art Best Interview Myself
Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what’s for lunch.
ORSON WELLES

Country Food Yourself
I’m never certain of a performance – my own or the other actors’ – or the script or anything. But to me it seems there’s only one place in the world the camera can be, and the decision usually comes immediately.
ORSON WELLES

Actor Camera Decision Myself Performance Place Script World

A bad word from a colleague can darken a whole day. We need encouragement a lot more than we admit, even to ourselves.

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A bad word from a colleague can darken a whole day. We need encouragement a lot more than we admit, even to ourselves.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

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