Orson Welles

Film & Theater American 1915 – 1985 351 quotes

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'm not interested in money. I'm interested in art.

Interview 1970

The cinema is a very young art. It has a long way to go.

Interview 1970

I don't believe in God. I believe in art.

Interview 1970

The artist is a man who is always trying to create something new.

F for Fake 1958

I'm not a genius. I'm just a man who works hard.

Interview 1970

The artist is a man who is always trying to express himself.

F for Fake 1958

I'm not a man who likes to be alone.

Interview 1970

The artist is a man who is always trying to make the world a better place.

F for Fake 1958

I'm not a man who likes to be famous.

Interview 1970

The artist is a man who is always trying to find the truth.

F for Fake 1958

I'm not a man who likes to be happy.

Interview 1970

The artist is a man who is always trying to make people think.

F for Fake 1958

I'm not a man who likes to be loved.

Interview 1970

The artist is a man who is always trying to make people feel.

F for Fake 1958

I'm not a man who likes to be understood.

Interview 1970

The artist is a man who is always trying to make people see.

F for Fake 1958

I'm not a man who likes to be heard.

Interview 1970

The artist is a man who is always trying to make people listen.

F for Fake 1958

I'm not a man who likes to be seen.

Interview 1970

The artist is a man who is always trying to make people understand.

F for Fake 1958