Werner Herzog
Visionary filmmaker and profound quotable figure
Most quoted
"There are deeper strata of truth in cinema, and there is such a thing as poetic, ecstatic truth. It is mysterious and elusive, and can be reached only through fabrication and imagination and stylization."
— from Minnesota Declaration, 1999
"I don't think there's any such thing as 'nature' in the abstract. There's only the nature of this particular jungle, this particular desert, this particular mountain range. And they are all hostile."
— from Various interviews
"I don't think there's any such thing as a natural born filmmaker. I think you have to be a little bit crazy to want to be a filmmaker."
— from Interview
All quotes by Werner Herzog (379)
I believe the common denominator of the universe is not harmony, but chaos, hostility, and murder.
The world reveals itself to those who travel on foot.
I'm not interested in facts, I'm interested in illumination.
Civilization is like a thin layer of ice upon a deep ocean of chaos and darkness.
The best way to learn is to do. The best way to do is to fail. The best way to fail is to try.
I would rather die than give up on a film.
The only way to make a film is to be completely obsessed with it.
The world is full of ghosts, and I am one of them.
I have often been accused of being a madman. But I am not a madman. I am a dreamer.
The only way to find your true self is to get lost.
I don't make films to entertain people. I make films to provoke them.
The truth is not always beautiful, but it is always interesting.
I am not afraid of death. I am afraid of not living.
The world is a mystery, and I am a detective.
I am not a director who tells stories. I am a director who creates experiences.
The only way to make a great film is to take great risks.
I am not interested in what people think of me. I am interested in what I think of myself.
The world is a stage, and I am a performer.
I am not a philosopher. I am a filmmaker.
The only way to understand the world is to experience it.
Contemporaries of Werner Herzog
Other Film & Theaters born within 50 years of Werner Herzog (1942).