Stanley Kubrick

Filmmaker

Modern influential 162 sayings

Sayings by Stanley Kubrick

The great nations have always acted like gangsters, and the small nations like prostitutes.

1980 — Interview with Michel Ciment
Strange & Unusual Confirmed

However vast the darkness, we must supply our own light.

Unknown, but often attributed — Reported saying, likely a personal philosophy
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

The most terrifying fact about the universe is not that it is hostile but that it is indifferent.

1980 — Interview with Michel Ciment
Strange & Unusual Confirmed

If it can be written, or thought, it can be filmed.

Unknown — Reported saying, often attributed as a filmmaking philosophy
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

Perhaps it's a good thing that we are not always able to understand the things we create.

Unknown — Reported saying, often attributed as a creative philosophy
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

You can't make a film without a script, but you can always change the script.

Unknown — Reported saying, often attributed as a filmmaking philosophy
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

The really terrifying thing about 'The Shining' is that it's a story about a man who goes mad and tries to kill his family. And that's something that can happen to anyone.

1980 — Interview about 'The Shining'
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

I think the big mistake in schools is to try to teach children to be like adults.

1980 — Interview with Michel Ciment
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

The greatest truth is that there is no truth.

Unknown — Reported saying, often attributed as a personal philosophy
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

Man is a part of nature, and his war against nature is a war against himself.

Unknown — Reported saying, often attributed as a personal philosophy
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

Only the very young and the very old can afford to be honest.

Unknown — Reported saying, often attributed as a personal observation
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

The best education is to travel.

Unknown — Reported saying, often attributed as a personal philosophy
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

The screen is a magic medium. It has such power that it can retain interest as it goes along, even when the mind wants to wander.

1969 — Interview with Joseph Gelmis, 'The Film Director as Superstar'
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

I've always been interested in the dark side of things.

Unknown — Reported saying, often attributed as a personal interest
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

The truth of a thing is in the feeling of it, not in the thinking of it.

Unknown — Reported saying, often attributed as a personal philosophy
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

What is there in the human spirit that makes it so difficult for us to be happy?

Unknown — Reported saying, often attributed as a personal reflection
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

The most important thing for me is to try to make films that are interesting to me, and that I would want to see.

1980 — Interview with Michel Ciment
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

I do not believe in God, but I am very interested in the possibility that there is something else.

Unknown — Reported saying, often attributed as a personal belief
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

The great problem with people is that they don't know what they want.

Unknown — Reported saying, often attributed as a personal observation
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

If you really want to do something, you'll find a way. If you don't, you'll find an excuse.

Unknown — Reported saying, often attributed as a motivational philosophy
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable