Orson Welles
Citizen Kane, transformed cinema and radio
Most quoted
"I hate to be a failure. I hate and regret the failure of my personal life. I've been married three times. I've been a father. I've been a lover. I've been a friend. I've been a lot of things. I've been a lot of things that I'm not now. I've been a lot of things that I'm not now. I've been a lot of things that I'm not now."
"I believe that television is going to be the test of the modern world, and that in this new opportunity to see beyond the range of our vision we shall discover either a new and unbearable disturbance of the general peace or a saving radiance in the sky. We shall stand or fall by television—of that I am quite sure."
— from Speech: 'The Mercury Theatre on the Air', 1938
"In Italy for thirty years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love—they had five hundred years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock."
— from Film: The Third Man (as Harry Lime), 1949
All quotes by Orson Welles (351)
I am not a saint. I am not a genius. I am a man who has tried to do his best.
The true artist is a man who is always trying to do something that he can't do.
I don't want to be a star. I want to be a legend.
The world is a tragedy to those who feel, but a comedy to those who think.
I am a man who has been misunderstood. I am a man who has been misrepresented. I am a man who has been maligned.
I am a man who has made many mistakes. But I have learned from them.
The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it.
I am a man who has been blessed with a great talent. And I have tried to use it for the good of mankind.
The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist.
I don't want to make money. I just want to make movies.
I am a man who has been given a great gift. And I have tried to share it with the world.
The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.
I am a man who has been given a great opportunity. And I have tried to make the most of it.
The true measure of a man is not what he has, but what he gives.
I am a man who has been given a great responsibility. And I have tried to live up to it.
The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page.
I am a man who has been given a great challenge. And I have tried to meet it.
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.
I am a man who has been given a great dream. And I have tried to make it a reality.
I am a man who has been given a great vision. And I have tried to share it with the world.
Contemporaries of Orson Welles
Other Film & Theaters born within 50 years of Orson Welles (1915–1985).