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 prefer to be a dreamer in reality than a realist in a dream.
The discipline of the craft is the key to freedom.
Humans are not rational; we are driven by passions.
Every man is a poet when he is in love.
The camera lies as much as it reveals.
Endurance is the crowning quality of success.
I have never been in a hurry.
The world is magical; we often forget that.
Filmmakers must be explorers of the human soul.
Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face.
We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology.
The true luxury is time.
Art is the lie that enables us to realize the truth.
I am not afraid of death; I am afraid of a boring life.
The desert is a great leveler.
Creativity requires chaos.
Man is the only creature that refuses to be what he is.
I walk 500 miles just to be the man who walked 500 more.
The universe is a pretty big place; if it's just us, seems like an awful waste of space.
Filmmaking is like climbing Everest; you never know if you'll reach the top.
Contemporaries of Werner Herzog
Other Film & Theaters born within 50 years of Werner Herzog (1942).