Elia Kazan Quotes

“A face is a piece of sculpture that has taken a lifetime to mold, so it tells more than any actor’s technique possibly could.”

“A film director has to get a shot, no matter what he does. We're desperate people.”

“A good director's not sure when he gets on the set what he's going to do.”

“Anybody who informs on other people is doing something disturbing and even disgusting.”

“Every fighter has one fight that makes or breaks him.”

“Every picture that is successful has one little miracle in it.”

“Hey, you must be doin' good, 'cause I never hear from you.”

“History is written by the last fellow at the typewriter.”

“I am not a cosmic orphan.”

“I didn't have that much confidence. Maybe it looks that way. I'm glad it does.”

“I hate the Communists and have for many years and don't feel right about giving up my career to defend them. I will give up my film career if it is in the interests of defending something I believe in, but not this.”

“I like directors who come on the set and create something that's a little dangerous, difficult or unusual.”

“I may be getting old, but not foolish.”

“I question the value of stars. I think they're overrated. They get too much money, too much praise.”

“I said to Tennessee, this thing is becoming the Marlon Brando show.”

“I spoke without fear of contradiction. I simply did not suffer self-doubt.”

“I think there should be collaboration, but under my thumb.”

“I truly believe that all power corrupts. Such is probably the thinking behind every political film ever made in Hollywood.”

“I used to spend most of my time straining to be a nice guy so people would like me.”

“I value peace when it is not bought at the price of fundamental decencies.”

“I was an outsider... but I was also sympathetic with people that were struggling to get up, because I struggled to get up.”

“I was not a collective person or a bohemian; I was an elitist.”

“I was the true future. I understood Communism better than they did.”

“I will say nothing to an actor that cannot be translated into action.”

“I would rather do what I did than crawl in front of a ritualistic Left and lie the way those other comrades did betray my own soul.”

“I'm going to make a film where not one word is really important. I'm going to make it all action.”

“I'm small, but I'm neither compliant nor agreeable.”

“I’ve known only one person who’s not on some moral plane high above me — although she sure looks like an angel when we f*ck.”

“Miller didn't write 'Death of a Salesman'. He released it. It was there inside him, waiting to be turned loose. That's the measure of its merit.”

“Our relationship was cursed by the fact that we agreed on everything.”