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)
The true artist is a rebel.
I have always been interested in the human condition.
We are all travelers in the wilderness of this world, and the best we can find in our travels is an honest friend.
The whole thing about being a director is that you have to be a bit of a dictator.
There are no happy endings, because nothing ends.
The best way to keep your friends is not to give them away.
I have a great deal of respect for the audience.
The artist is a person who is always looking for something new.
I believe in the power of the imagination.
The cinema is a very powerful medium.
I am a storyteller.
I have always been interested in the dark side of human nature.
The artist is a person who is always questioning.
I believe that art should be accessible to everyone.
I am a very private person.
I have a great deal of respect for the past.
The artist is a person who is always trying to create something new.
I believe that the human spirit is indomitable.
The cinema is a universal language.
I am a very complex person.
Contemporaries of Orson Welles
Other Film & Theaters born within 50 years of Orson Welles (1915–1985).