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I'll tell you something, and this is true: I've never been able to write a film which I didn't respect. I just can't do it. I'm very happy about all the films I haven't done.
Harold Pinter
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Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote expresses the importance of respecting one's work and creative process.

In this quote, Harold Pinter conveys a strong belief in the integrity of the artistic process, asserting that he cannot write a film unless he truly respects the work. This notion highlights the value of authenticity and self-respect in creativity, implying that the films he has chosen not to create hold equal importance to those he has, as they reflect his standards and personal values.

Themes

RespectArtIntegrityCreativityFilm

In practice

Example use cases

During a speech at a film festival about the importance of artistic integrity.

More from Harold Pinter

All that happens is that the destruction of human beings - unless they're Americans - is called collateral damage.
Harold PinterRead
I do tend to think that I've written a great deal out of my unconscious because half the time I don't know what a given character is going to say next.
Harold PinterRead
I never think of myself as wise. I think of myself as possessing a critical intelligence which I intend to allow to operate.
Harold PinterRead
It's so easy for propaganda to work, and dissent to be mocked.
Harold PinterRead
There are places in my heart...where no living soul...has...or can ever...trespass.
Harold PinterRead
The speech we hear is an indication of that which we don't hear. It is a necessary avoidance, a violent, sly, and anguished or mocking smoke screen which keeps the other in its true place. When true silence falls we are left with echo but are nearer nakedness. One way of looking at speech is to say that it is a constant stratagem to cover nakedness.
Harold PinterRead

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"Dirty Love" wasn't written and directed, it was committed. Here is a film so pitiful, it doesn't rise to the level of badness. It is hopelessly incompetent... I am not certain that anyone involved has ever seen a movie, or knows what one is.
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All of the films that I've made are about the country I live in and grew up in... And I think if you're going to put an artist's eye to it, you're going to put a critical eye to it. I've always been interested in the gray area that exists between the black and white, or the red and blue, and that's where complexity lies.
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The artist appeals to that part of our being which is not dependent on wisdom; to that in us which is a gift and not an acquisition-and therefore, more permanently enduring. He speaks to our capacity for delight and wonder, to the sense of mystery surrounding our lives; to our sense of pity, and beauty and pain.
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I passionately hate the idea of being with it; I think an artist has always to be out of step with his time.
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A strong experience in the present awakens in the creative writer a memory of an earlier experience (usually belonging to his childhood) from which there now proceeds a wish which finds its fulfilment in the creative work.
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A little wisdom, now and then

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