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45 Spectacular Francis Ford Coppola Quotes

Francis Ford Coppola is an American film director and producer best known for the movies “The Godfather,” “Apocalypse Now,” and “Bram Stoker’s Dracula.” Credited with being a central figure in the New Hollywood wave of film making, here is a look at some of the most notable Francis Ford Coppola quotes to know.

“A director is the ringmaster of a circus that’s inventing itself.”

“A number of images put together a certain way become something quite above and beyond what any of them are individually.”

“Although knowledge of structure is helpful, real creativity comes from leaps of faith in which you jump to something illogical. But those leaps form the memorable moments in movies and plays.”

“An essential element of any art is risk. If you don’t take a risk then how are you going to make something really beautiful, that hasn’t been seen before?”

“Anyone who’s made film and knows about the cinema has a lifelong love affair with the experience. You never stop learning about film.”

“Anything you build on a large scale or with intense passion invites chaos.”

“Art depends on luck and talent.”

“Drinking wine is just a part of life, like eating food.”

“I became quite successful very young, and it was mainly because I was so enthusiastic and I just worked so hard at it.”

“I don’t think there’s any artist of any value who doesn’t doubt what they’re doing.”

“I had a number of very strong personalities in my family. My father was a concert flutist, the solo flute for Toscanini.”

“I have always used the opportunity to make a film to learn more about myself, which I am still doing.”

“I like to work in the morning. I like to sometimes go to a place where I’m all alone where I’m not going to get a phone call early that hurts my feelings, because once my feelings are hurt, I’m dead in the water.”

“I liked to work in a shop down in the basement and invent things and build gadgets.”

“I never went to a psychologist or psychiatrist in my life. Never. You know, Italians are a little prejudiced against that kind of thing.”

“I probably have genius. But no talent.”

“I think a sequel is a waste of money and time. I think movies should illuminate new stories.”

“I think cinema, movies, and magic have always been closely associated. The very earliest people who made film were magicians.”

“I think it’s better to be overly ambitious and fail than to be underambitious and succeed in a mundane way. I have been very fortunate. I failed upward in my life!”

“I thought I wanted to be a playwright because I was interested in stories and telling stories.”

“I was a pretty shy, lonely kid. I blossomed about age 17, when I went to.”

“I was raised as a Catholic, but I didn’t like the Catholic Church at all. I thought the nuns were mean.”

“I was terrible at maths, but I could grasp science, and I used to love to read about the lives of the scientists. I wanted to be a scientist or an inventor.”

“I was the kind of kid that had some talents or ability, but it never came out in school.”

“If the movie works, nobody notices the mistakes… If the movie doesn’t work, the only thing people notice are mistakes.”

“It takes no imagination to live within your means.”

“It was the man’s dream, and his inspiring attempt to make them come true that remain important.”

“Listen, if there’s one sure-fire rule that I have learned in this business, it’s that I don’t know anything about human nature.”

“Movies are the art form most like man’s imagination.”

“Music is a big factor in helping the illusion of the film come to life. The same way music brings back different periods of our lives.”

“My talent is that I just try and try and try and try again and little by little it comes to something…”

“One thing that I’m sure of is the real pleasure of life – it’s not being known, it’s not having your own jet plane, it’s not having a mansion the pleasure is to learn something”

“Stay innocent. I’m 69 years old, and I’m still innocent.”

“The most adventurous thing I’ve done is learn how to fly a helicopter in the Philippines. One night we landed on a beach and slept on it.”

“The very earliest people who made film were magicians.”

“The whole reason one wants to do lower budget films is because the lower the budget, the bigger the ideas, the bigger the themes, the more interesting the art.”

“There can’t be art without risk. It’s like saying No Sex, and then expecting there to be children.”

“There’s nothing creative about living within your means.”

“Usually, the stuff that’s your best idea or work is going to be attacked the most.”

“We had access to too much money, too much equipment, and little by little, we went insane.”

“When you make a film it is like asking yourself a question. When it is finished, you know the answer. Ultimately with all of cinema, we are just trying to learn about ourselves.”

“Wine is so much more than a beverage. It’s a romance, a story, a drama-all of those things that are basically putting on a show.”

“You don’t have to specialize – do everything that you love and then, at some time, the future will come together for you in some form.”

“You have to really be courageous about your instincts and your ideas. Otherwise you’ll just knuckle under, and things that might have been memorable will be lost.”

“You ought to love what you’re doing because, especially in a movie, over time you really will start to hate it.”

Here is a brief video with Francis Ford Coppola as he discussed the future of cinema and some of his biggest regrets.

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