Perseverance has kept me going over the years. Things rarely happen overnight. Filmmakers should be prepared for many years of hard work. The sheer toil can be healthy and exhilarating.
Werner HerzogRead
I never have searched for a subject. They always just come along. They never come by way of decision-making. They just haunt me. I can't get rid of them. I did not invite them.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects the idea that inspiration and creative subjects come unexpectedly and cannot be forced.
Werner Herzog expresses a profound truth about the nature of creativity and inspiration. He suggests that rather than actively searching for ideas or subjects to pursue, they arise spontaneously and persistently, almost as if they have a mind of their own. This underscores the idea that true artistic endeavors are often beyond the control of the creator; they emerge naturally and demand attention regardless of one's willingness to engage with them.
Themes
CreativityInspirationArtSubjectsThoughts
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a discussion about the nature of artistic inspiration at an art seminar.
More from Werner Herzog
All quotes →Hold firm to your vision but don't be a tyrant on set.
Werner HerzogRead
For a moment the feeling crept over me that my work, my vision, is going to destroy me, and for a fleeting moment I let myself take a long, hard look at myself, something I would not otherwise do--out of instinct, on principle, out of self-preservation--look at myself with objective curiosity to see whether my vision has not destroyed me already. I found it comforting to note that I was still breathing.
Werner HerzogRead
Very often, footage that you have shot develops its own dynamic, it's own life, that is totally unexpected, and moves away from you're original intentions. And you have to acknowledge, yes, there is a child growing and developing and moving in a direction that isn't expected-accept it as it is and let it develop its own life.
Werner HerzogRead
Without dreams we would be cows in a field, and I don't want to live like that. I live my life or I end my life with this project.
Werner HerzogRead
Coincidences always happen if you keep your mind open, while storyboards remain the instruments of cowards who do not trust in their own imagination and who are slaves of a matrix If you get used to planning your shots based solely on aesthetics, you are never that far from kitsch.
Werner HerzogRead
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It's not that the creative act and the critical act are simultaneous. It's more like you blurt something out and then analyze it.
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We write from aspiration and antagonism, as well as from experience. We paint those qualities which we do not posses.
Ralph Waldo EmersonRead
Of course I know that the twins are only words on a page, and I'm certainly not the sort of writer who talks to his characters or harbours any illusions about the creative process. But at the same time, I think it's juvenile and arrogant when literary writers compulsively remind their readers that the characters aren't real. People know that already. The challenge is to make an intelligent reader suspend disbelief, to seduce them into the reality of a narrative.
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What you have in your head, put down on paper. The head is a fragile vessel.
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Jazz is a white term to define black people. My music is black classical music.
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When you write from your gut and let the stuff stay flawed and don't let anybody tell you to make it better, it can end up looking like nothing else.
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