Fitzcarraldo (1982)
Every man should pull a boat over a mountain once in his life.
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Poll: Werner Herzog Quotes - Part 1
Besides Werner Herzog's real-life incidences, which inspired two polls, he has also become famous for his voice and the peculiar way he delivers sentences. His way of talking is strange already in German, when he tries to hide his Bavarian accent, and even more original when he attempts to speak English. Herzog's idiosyncrasies as a man who grew up in the faraway mountains, reading Greek poetry until he came down to meet an alien modern world, give his statements their special spice.
The following quotes are assembled from films, books and interviews. Which is your favorite?
Make Your Choice
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Stroszek (1977)
You look into the eyes of a chicken and you lose yourself in a completely flat, frightening stupidity. They are like a great metaphor for me... I kind of love chicken, but they frighten me more than any other animal. -
Werner Herzog and Klaus Kinski in My Best Fiend (1999)
(on Klaus Kinski)People think we had a love-hate relationship. Well, I did not love him, nor did I hate him. We had mutual respect for each other, even as we both planned each other's murder.
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Klaus Kinski and King Ampaw in Cobra Verde (1987)
Your film is like your children. You might want a child with certain qualities, but you are never going to get the exact specification right. The film has a privilege to live its own life and develop its own character. -
Klaus Kinski in Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972)
Civilization is like a thin layer of ice upon a deep ocean of chaos and darkness. -
#6
Facts do not convey truth. That's a mistake. Facts create norms, but truth creates illumination. -
Cobra Verde (1987)
Yes, the pyramids have been built, but if you give me 300,000 disciplined men and give me 30 years, I could build a bigger one. -
Timothy Treadwell in Grizzly Man (2005)
In all the faces of all the bears Treadwell ever filmed, I discover no kinship, no understanding, no mercy. I see only the overwhelming indifference in nature. To me, there is no such thing as the secret world of bears. And this blank stare speaks only of a half-bored interest in food. -
Werner Herzog in Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2010)
Are we today the crocodiles who look back into the abyss of time when we see the paintings of Chauvet cave? -
Happy People: A Year in the Taiga (2010)
Happiness is a strange notion. I am just not made for it. It has never been a goal of mine; I do not think in those terms. -
Into the Inferno (2016)
Nothing I have witnessed, from lava to crustacean, assailed me liked the caked debris haunting that small plastic soap hammock in the smaller of the bathrooms. Nausea is not a sufficient word. -
Lessons of Darkness (1992)
We comprehend... that nuclear power is a real danger for mankind, that over-crowding of the planet is the greatest danger of all. We have understood that the destruction of the environment is another enormous danger. But I truly believe that the lack of adequate imagery is a danger of the same magnitude. It is as serious a defect as being without memory. [...] if we do not develop adequate images we will die out like dinosaurs. -
Werner Herzog and Klaus Kinski in My Best Fiend (1999)
Every gray hair on my head I call Kinski. -
Last Words (1968)
If you’re purely after facts, please buy yourself the phone directory of Manhattan. It has four million times correct facts. But it doesn’t illuminate. -
Heart of Glass (1976)
Tourism is sin, and walking on foot virtue. -
Fitzcarraldo (1982)
(about the jungle)The trees here are in misery, and the birds are in misery. I don't think they sing. They just screech in pain.
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"Lone Ranger, The" Clayton Moore 1955 Warner Bros.
I kept wondering: Why is it that human beings put on masks or feathers to conceal their identity? And why do they saddle horses and feel the urge to chase the bad guy?And why is it that certain species of ants keep flocks of plant lyce as slaves to milk them for droplets of sugar? I asked them, why is it that a sophisticated animal like a chimp does not utilize inferior creatures? He could straddle a goat, and ride off into the sunset.
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Patrick Stewart, James Corden, Anna Faris, and T.J. Miller in The Emoji Movie (2017)
(on Emojis)Let them keep smiling. I don't care.
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