QuoteProject
I have wasted the greater part of my life looking for money and trying to get along, trying to make my work from this terribly expensive paintbox, which is a movie. And I've spent too much energy on things that have nothing to do with making a movie. It's about two percent moviemaking and ninety-eight percent hustling. It's no way to spend a life.
Orson Welles
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote reflects on the struggle and misallocation of effort in pursuit of money rather than the true essence of filmmaking.

In this quote, Orson Welles expresses his regret over spending the majority of his life chasing financial success and navigating the complexities of the film industry rather than focusing on the art of filmmaking itself. He emphasizes that the essence of creating movies is overshadowed by the need to hustle for resources and recognition, leading to a life that feels unfulfilled and misdirected.

Themes

FilmmakingHustlingArtMoneyLifeSuccess

In practice

Example use cases

This quote could be used as a reflective piece in a film school class discussion about the importance of passion in art.

More from Orson Welles

Create your own visual style... let it be unique for yourself and yet identifiable for others.
Orson WellesRead
When people accept breaking the law as normal, something happens to the whole society.
Orson WellesRead
A writer needs a pen, an artist needs a brush, but a filmmaker needs an army.
Orson WellesRead
I passionately hate the idea of being with it; I think an artist has always to be out of step with his time.
Orson WellesRead
Old age is the only disease you dont want to be cured of.
Orson WellesRead
Movie directing is a perfect refuge for the mediocre.
Orson WellesRead

Similar quotes

To keep beauty in its place is to make all things beautiful.
George SantayanaRead
The creative act is not hanging on, but yielding to a new creative movement. Awe is what moves us forward.
Joseph CampbellRead
Real fashion change comes from real changes in real life. Everything else is just decoration.
Tom FordRead
I certainly had no feeling for harmony, and Schoenberg thought that that would make it impossible for me to write music. He said, 'You'll come to a wall you won't be able to get through.' So I said, 'I'll beat my head against that wall.'
John CageRead
Know what the old masters did. Know how they composed their pictures, but do not fall into the conventions they established. These conventions were right for them, and they are wonderful. They made their language. You make yours. All the past can help you.
Robert HenriRead
All art should have a certain mystery and should make demands on the spectator. Giving a sculpture or a drawing too explicit a title takes away part of that mystery so that the spectator moves on to the next object, making no effort to ponder the meaning of what he has just seen. Everyone thinks that he or she looks but they don't really, you know.
Henry MooreRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.

Quote by Orson Welles | QuoteProject