Stanley Kubrick Quotes

The very meaninglessness of life forces man to create his own meaning.

I don’t think of myself as a filmmaker. I think of myself as a storyteller.

The great nations have always acted like gangsters, and the small nations like prostitutes.

The truth of a thing is in the feel of it, not in the think of it.

If it can be written, or thought, it can be filmed.

A film is – or should be – more like music than like fiction.

Any time you think you have the game conquered, the game will turn around and punch you right in the nose.

To make a film entirely on one’s own terms is impossible.

I never learned anything at all in school.

The screen is a magic medium. It has such power that it can retain interest as it conveys emotions and moods that no other art form can hope to tackle.

The most terrifying fact about the universe is not that it is hostile but that it is indifferent.

I think the big mistake in schools is trying to teach children anything, and by using fear as the basic motivation.

The idea of trying to create things that are timeless, it’s so far out of one’s control that there’s no reason to even try.

A film is – or should be – more like music than like fiction. It should be a progression of moods and feelings. The theme, what’s behind the emotion, the meaning, all that comes later.

I don’t like doing interviews. I get embarrassed by my own voice.

Stanley Kubrick Quotes part 2

The most important part of any story is the ending.

The shortest distance between two points is a straight line few people take.

The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it’s great.

I’m not a pessimist. I’m an empiricist.

I don’t like doing anything that makes me sweaty.

I’m all for the scissors. I believe more in the scissors than I do in the pencil.

A director is a kind of idea and taste machine.

Perhaps, in a sense, literally every human being is a prison.

I’ve never ran in a public race. I’m told I’ve lived in isolation for too long. I wouldn’t know what to do.

The most terrifying thing about horror movies is that they tap into our deepest fears: monsters, darkness, the unknown.

People’s reactions to films are hidden in their unconscious mind, somewhere.

I don’t think that writers or painters or filmmakers function because they have something they particularly want to say. They have something that they feel.

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

I’m a total loser, in every aspect of my life.

I think shining is just metaphorical. It’s letting yourself shine, being good at what you do.

I think the big mistake in schools is trying to teach children anything by using fear as the basic motivation.

It’s time to end the great myth that the great directors have final control over their films.

It’s not the world that is cruel. It’s the people in it.

The screen is the altar. I’m the priest. I’m the stagehand. I’m about to give you the show.

One of the things that gives one a sense of worth is doing worthwhile things.

It was not a a mistake. It’s part of reaching perfection.

Society is basically not loyal to its members, that’s the bottom line.

I have a love-hate relationship with critics, but I love to hate them.

You can do anything with a piece of music.

What one movie has done to a book has got to be there for five million people.

Kubrick’s films are not intended to be personality crises.

The reality is the source of hope. That’s the future. And that’s what makes a film worth watching.

Art consists of reshaping life, but it does not create life, nor cause life.

Real is ivory, middle is veneer, and end is tomorrow.

I like to think of myself as a complete dunce.