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'm not a director who wants to be loved. I'm a director who wants to be understood.
The camera is a pen, not a brush.
I want to give the audience a sense of participation, a sense of being there.
The artist is a man who has to be alone to do his work.
I'm not interested in being a star. I'm interested in being a filmmaker.
The most important thing in life is to be true to yourself.
I don't believe in art for art's sake. I believe in art for life's sake.
The cinema is a matter of what you can get away with.
I'm not a pessimist. I'm a realist.
The only way to do great work is to love what you do.
I'm not interested in making money. I'm interested in making movies.
The artist is a person who has to be alone to do his work.
I don't believe in rules. I believe in breaking them.
The cinema is a dream machine.
I'm not a genius. I'm just a hard worker.
The most important thing in life is to be happy.
I don't believe in success. I believe in struggle.
The cinema is a mirror of life.
I'm not a rebel. I'm just a nonconformist.
The most important thing in art is to be original.
Contemporaries of Orson Welles
Other Film & Theaters born within 50 years of Orson Welles (1915–1985).