Quotes By Francis Ford Coppola

I had an older brother who was very interested in literature, so I had an early exposure to literature, and and theater. My father sometimes would work in musical comedies.

Roger Corman exploited all of the young people who worked for him, but he really gave you responsibility and opportunity. So it was kind of a fair deal.

I like simplicity; I don't need luxury.

I remember growing up with television, from the time it was just a test pattern, with maybe a little bit of programming once in a while.

My film is not a movie; it's not about Vietnam. It is Vietnam.

Steven Spielberg is unique. I feel that the kinds of movies he loves are the same kinds of movies that the big mass audience loves. He's very fortunate because he can do the things he naturally likes the best, and he's been very successful.

I was never sloppy with other people's money. Only my own. Because I figure, well, you can be.

Art depends on luck and talent.

The essence of cinema is editing. It's the combination of what can be extraordinary images of people during emotional moments, or images in a general sense, put together in a kind of alchemy.

I had a number of teachers who hated me. I didn't do well in school.

When I was sixteen or seventeen, I wanted to be a writer. I wanted to be a playwright. But everything I wrote, I thought, was weak. And I can remember falling asleep in tears because I had no talent the way I wanted to have.

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

Ten Days That Shook The World, by Eisenstein, I went to see it, and I was so impressed with this film, so impressed with what cinema could do.

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.

I've been offered lots of movies. There's always some actor who's doing a project and would like to have me do it. But you look at the project and think, 'Gee, there are a lot of good directors who could do that.' I'd like to do something only I can do.

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

I associate my motion picture career more with being unhappy and scared, or being under the gun, than with anything pleasant.

They needed someone to write a script of The Great Gatsby very quickly for the movie they were making. I took this job so I'd be sure to have some dough to support my family.

I had been a kid that moved so much, I didn't have a lot of friends. Theater really represented camaraderie.

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 professional world was much more unpleasant than I thought. I was always wishing I could get back that enthusiasm I had when I was doing shows at college.

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

I wanted to write and direct movies and not be forced to adapt them from a bestselling book.

I always found the film world unpleasant. It's all about the schedule, and never really flew for me.

As long as I can make lots of money in other businesses, I'll continue to subsidize my own work.

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

The stuff that I got in trouble for, the casting for The Godfather or the flag scene in Patton, was the stuff that was remembered, and was considered the good work.

I remember teachers who really singled me out for their discouragement.

I wrote the script of Patton. I had this very bizarre opening where he stands up in front of an American flag and gives this speech. Ultimately, I was fired. When the script was done, they hired another writer and that script was forgotten.

I believe that filmmaking - as, probably, is everything - is a game you should play with all your cards, and all your dice, and whatever else you've got. So, each time I make a movie, I give it everything I have. I think everyone should, and I think everyone should do everything they do that way.