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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

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
Popularity should be no scale for the election of politicians. If it would depend on popularity, Donald Duck and The Muppets would take seats in senate.
ORSON WELLES

Dependent Election Fame Politics Popular
Living in the lap of luxury isn’t bad except that you never know when luxury is going to stand up.
ORSON WELLES

Bad Exception Live Luxury Stand Yourself
The trouble with a movie is that it’s old before it’s released. It’s no accident that it comes in a can.
ORSON WELLES

Accident Movie Old Trouble
A writer needs a pen, an artist needs a brush, but a filmmaker needs an army.
ORSON WELLES

Army Artist Movie Need Pen Writing
In my opinion, there are two things that can absolutely not be carried to the screen: the realistic presentation of the sexual act and praying to God.
ORSON WELLES

Act Carry God Opinion Pray Sex
Friendship creates only the illusion of not being alone.
ORSON WELLES

Alone Creation Friendship Illusion
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
When people accept breaking the law as normal, something happens to the whole society.
ORSON WELLES

Acceptance Break Law Normal People Society
Crooks aren’t the worst people, just the stupidest. The fleas of the world.
ORSON WELLES

People Stupidity World Worst
The camera is much more than a recording apparatus, it is a medium via which messages reach us from another world.
ORSON WELLES

Camera Record World
Hollywood is Hollywood. There’s nothing you can say about it that isn’t true, good or bad. And if you get into it, you have no right to be bitter — you’re the one who sat down, and joined the game.
ORSON WELLES

Bad Game Goodness Hollywood Right True Yourself
Nobody gets justice. People only get good luck or bad luck.
ORSON WELLES

Bad Goodness Justice Luck
I don’t say we all ought to misbehave, but we ought to look as if we could.
ORSON WELLES

Appearance Attitude Audacity Behavior
If I ever own a restaurant, I will never allow the waiters to ask if the diners like their dishes. Particularly when they’re talking.
ORSON WELLES

Food Myself Restaurant Talk Wait
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
A good artist should be isolated. If he isn’t isolated, something is wrong.
ORSON WELLES

Artist Goodness Himself Wrong
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
See, I believe that it is not true that different races and nations are alike. I’m profoundly convinced that that’s a total lie. I think people are different. Sardinians, for example, have stubby little fingers. Bosnians have short necks.
ORSON WELLES

Appearance Believe Different Lie Myself Nation People Race Thinking True
Personally, I don’t like a girlfriend to have a husband. If she’ll fool her husband, I figure she’ll fool me.
ORSON WELLES

Fools Husband Myself Personal Relationship
Future shock is a sickness which comes from too much change in too short a time. It’s the feeling that nothing is permanent anymore.
ORSON WELLES

Change Feeling Future Permanent Sick Time
Never expect justice in this world. That is not part of God’s plan. Everybody thinks that if they don’t get it, they’re some kind of odd man out. And it’s not true. Nobody gets justice – people just get good luck or bad luck.
ORSON WELLES

Bad Expectation God Goodness Justice Kind People World
Criticism is the essence of creation.
ORSON WELLES

Creation Criticism One Liner
If you want a happy ending, that depends, of course, on where you stop your story.
ORSON WELLES

Choice End Happiness Stop Story Yourself
Working is part of life, I don’t know how to distinguish between the two. Work is an expression of life.
ORSON WELLES

Expression Life Myself Philosophy 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
Race hate isn’t human nature; race hate is the abandonment of human nature.
ORSON WELLES

Abandonment Deep Hate Human Nature Race Wisdom

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.

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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.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

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