Oliver Stone

Film & Theater USA 1946 100 quotes

Conspiracy chronicler of JFK, Stone's polemics sparked quotable political debates.

Most quoted

"Greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, for knowledge, has marked the upward surge of mankind."

— from Wall Street (film), 1987

"War is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives."

— from Platoon (film), 1986

"The media is the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that's power. Because they control the minds of the masses."

— from Natural Born Killers (film), 1994

All quotes by Oliver Stone (100)

The only way to do great work is to love what you do.

Wall Street (film) 1987

The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.

JFK (film) 1991

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

Platoon (film) 1986

The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.

Wall Street (film) 1987

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.

JFK (film) 1991

It is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both.

Wall Street (film) 1987

The only thing that is constant is change.

JFK (film) 1991

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

Platoon (film) 1986

The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.

Wall Street (film) 1987

The only way to escape the corruptible effect of praise is to go on working.

Natural Born Killers (film) 1994

The first casualty of war is innocence.

Platoon (Film Script) 1986

Greed is good.

Wall Street (Film Script) 1987

I'm a dramaticist, and the dramaticist always looks for the big moments.

Interview 1991

The Academy is a made-up thing. In a way, it's like the Oscars. It's an award, and it's a symbol.

Speech 2008

History is powerful stuff. It can change the world.

The Untold History of the United States (Book) 2012

I think the American people have been lied to so much.

Interview 2010

Film is a powerful medium. It can shape perceptions.

Speech 1995

War is a racket.

Interview on Platoon 1987

The truth is out there, but you have to dig for it.

JFK (Film Commentary) 1991

Hollywood is a place where they'll pay you a million dollars for a kiss and fifty cents for your soul.

Interview 2000