23 Great Werner Herzog Quotes In All Of Their Unabashed Glory

Famous As: German Film Director Regarded as a Pioneer of 'New German Cinema'

Born On: 1942

Born In: Munich, Germany

Age: 82 Years

Werner Herzog is a German actor, screenwriter, author, film director and opera director. He is counted among the most important personalities as far as new age German cinema is concerned. As a matter of fact, he is considered to be among the greatest film makers in the world and has been regarded as such by fellow filmmakers. Herzog is best known for his signature themes which revolve around exploring the stories of people with special talents or of people getting to realise farfetched dreams. These themes along with his exquisite direction have made him one of the greatest filmmakers of his era and beyond. He financed his own short films in the beginning of his career by working in odd jobs but eventually hit it big. Some of his noted films include ‘The Enigme of Kasper Hauser’, ‘Invincible’, ‘Signs of Life’, ‘Heart of Glass’, ‘Where the Green Ants Dream’, ‘Even Dwarfs Started Small’ and ‘Scream of Stone’ among others. He has also been a noted documentary film maker and is without doubt one of the most versatile film makers in the world. Here is a collection of Herzog’s most famous quotes that would give you a glimpse into his mind. Go through the collection of famous quotations and sayings by Werner Herzog which have been scanned from the vast sea of his work.

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Film & Theater Personalities

What would an ocean be without a monster lurking in the dark? It would be like sleep without dreams.

What would an ocean be without a monster lurking in the dark? It would be like sleep without dreams.
Like Dreams
Werner Herzog

Do you not then hear this horrible scream all around you that people usually call silence.

Do you not then hear this horrible scream all around you that people usually call silence.
You
Werner Herzog

Academia is the death of cinema. It is the very opposite of passion. Film is not the art of scholars, but of illiterates.

Academia is the death of cinema. It is the very opposite of passion. Film is not the art of scholars, but of illiterates.
Death Art
Werner Herzog

Look into the eyes of a chicken and you will see real stupidity. It is a kind of bottomless stupidity, a fiendish stupidity. They are the most horrifying, cannibalistic and nightmarish creatures in the world.

Look into the eyes of a chicken and you will see real stupidity. It is a kind of bottomless stupidity, a fiendish stupidity. They are the most horrifying, cannibalistic and nightmarish creatures in the world.
You Will
Werner Herzog

People think we had a love-hate relationship. Well, I did not love him, nor did I hate him. We had mutual respect for each other, even as we both planned each other's murder.

People think we had a love-hate relationship. Well, I did not love him, nor did I hate him. We had mutual respect for each other, even as we both planned each other's murder.
Love Think Relationship I
Werner Herzog

Facts do not convey truth. That's a mistake. Facts create norms, but truth creates illumination.

Facts do not convey truth. That's a mistake. Facts create norms, but truth creates illumination.
Werner Herzog

In the face of the obscene, explicit malice of the jungle, which lacks only dinosaurs as punctuation, I feel like a half-finished, poorly expressed sentence in a cheap novel.

In the face of the obscene, explicit malice of the jungle, which lacks only dinosaurs as punctuation, I feel like a half-finished, poorly expressed sentence in a cheap novel.
Like I
Werner Herzog

Read, read, read, read, read, read, read, read, read, read, read, read, read...if you don't read, you will never be a filmmaker.

Read, read, read, read, read, read, read, read, read, read, read, read, read...if you don't read, you will never be a filmmaker.
You Never Will
Werner Herzog

I believe the common denominator of the universe is not harmony; but chaos, hostility and murder.

I believe the common denominator of the universe is not harmony; but chaos, hostility and murder.
Believe I
Werner Herzog

May I propose a Herzog dictum? those who read own the world, and those who watch television lose it.

May I propose a Herzog dictum? those who read own the world, and those who watch television lose it.
I
Werner Herzog

There are deeper strata of truth in cinema, and there is such a thing as poetic, ecstatic truth. It is mysterious and elusive, and can be reached only through fabrication and imagination and stylization.

There are deeper strata of truth in cinema, and there is such a thing as poetic, ecstatic truth. It is mysterious and elusive, and can be reached only through fabrication and imagination and stylization.
Werner Herzog

Someone like Jean-Luc Godard is for me intellectual counterfeit money when compared to a good kung fu film.

Someone like Jean-Luc Godard is for me intellectual counterfeit money when compared to a good kung fu film.
Me Money Like
Werner Herzog

If you’re purely after facts, please buy yourself the phone directory of Manhattan. It has four million times correct facts. But it doesn’t illuminate.

If you’re purely after facts, please buy yourself the phone directory of Manhattan. It has four million times correct facts. But it doesn’t illuminate.
Yourself
Werner Herzog

I'm quite convinced that cooking is the only alternative to film making. Maybe there's also another alternative, that's walking on foot.

I'm quite convinced that cooking is the only alternative to film making. Maybe there's also another alternative, that's walking on foot.
Werner Herzog

A fairly young, intelligent-looking man with long hair asked me whether filming or being filmed could do harm, whether it could destroy a person. In my heart the answer was yes, but I said no.

A fairly young, intelligent-looking man with long hair asked me whether filming or being filmed could do harm, whether it could destroy a person. In my heart the answer was yes, but I said no.
Me Heart Young I
Werner Herzog

One more thing: Philippe, you are not a coward-so what I want to hear from you is the ecstatic truth about the twin towers.

One more thing: Philippe, you are not a coward-so what I want to hear from you is the ecstatic truth about the twin towers.
You I
Werner Herzog

Nothing I have witnessed, from lava to crustacean, assailed me liked the caked debris haunting that small plastic soap hammock in the smaller of the bathrooms. Nausea is not a sufficient word.

Nothing I have witnessed, from lava to crustacean, assailed me liked the caked debris haunting that small plastic soap hammock in the smaller of the bathrooms. Nausea is not a sufficient word.
Me I
Werner Herzog

Truth itself wanders through the forests.

Truth itself wanders through the forests.
Werner Herzog

You should look straight at a film; that's the only way to see one. Film is not the art of scholars but of illiterates.

You should look straight at a film; that's the only way to see one. Film is not the art of scholars but of illiterates.
You Art
Werner Herzog

In the evening I finished reading a book, and because I was feeling so alone, I buried the book on the edge of the forest with a borrowed spade.

In the evening I finished reading a book, and because I was feeling so alone, I buried the book on the edge of the forest with a borrowed spade.
Alone I
Werner Herzog