Quote

Civilization is like a thin layer of ice upon a deep ocean of chaos and darkness.

Werner Herzog

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

Werner Herzog
Age: 82
Born: 1942
Born: September 5
Author
Cinematographer
Film Actor
Film Director
Film Editor
Film Producer
Screenwriter
Voice Actor
München
Werner Herzog Stipetić
Werner Stipetić
Ice
Chaos
Ocean
Civilization
Darkness
Deep
Layer
Upon
Layers
Like
Thin

More quotes by Werner Herzog

Image
I see planets that don't exist and landscapes that have only been dreamed.
Werner Herzog
Image
I travel without barely any luggage. Just a second set of underwear and binoculars and a map and a toothbrush.
Werner Herzog
Image
I like to direct landscapes just as I like to direct actors and animals.
Werner Herzog
Image
The wonderful thing is that Clive [Oppenheimer ] insisted on training his camera - his private camera - on me at one point. We were discussing things such as how to avoid certain dangers, while reflecting on a volcano that had threatened to explode 40 years ago.
Werner Herzog
Image
Fragility of modern world leaves me with the idea we'd better anticipate what's going on. We take our right steps today and now. And we'd better avoid, that we are overdependent on, let's say, the internet.
Werner Herzog
Image
English is a really wonderful language and I urge you all to investigate it
Werner Herzog
Image
I went to volcanoes where I knew that there was a lot of mythology around them there was something like the creation of gods and monsters and demons.
Werner Herzog
Image
If you truly love film, I think the healthiest thing to do is not read books on the subject. I prefer the glossy film magazines with their big color photos and gossip columns, or the National Enquirer. Such vulgarity is healthy and safe.
Werner Herzog
Image
The power of a volcano when it erupts is so evident, so visible, so palpable.
Werner Herzog
Image
I do other sorts of things. I act in other people's movies. I direct operas. I write books.
Werner Herzog
Image
[This kind of strange mythology about me.] I've pulled a huge steamboat over a mountain I've done a feature film with all the actors acting under hypnosis - things that are very unusual.
Werner Herzog
Image
The opinion of the public is sacred. The director is a cook who merely offers different dishes to them and has no right to insist they react in a particular way. A film is just a projection of light, completed only when it crosses the gaze of the audience[...]
Werner Herzog
Image
I'm reminded of an interview Larry King had on his talk show with one of Michael Jackson's sisters. He's talking about how many millions she made on her latest record, and all of a sudden, she looks at him tearfully and says, Larry, you know, I'm not interested in money or sales or songs. I'm a spiritual person. And I thought, Oh my god...
Werner Herzog
Image
Well, it had to be about the stories and the people who live under the volcano, what kind of new gods do they create? What sort of demons? And of course North Korea falls clearly into this category since the socialist revolution at the end of the Second World War. Somehow they adopted the myth of the power and dynamics of their volcano.
Werner Herzog
Image
Tourism is a mortal sin.
Werner Herzog
Image
When I say tourism is sin and traveling on foot is virtue, it's condensed into a dictum. It's much more complex than that, but let's face it, for me, my experience, the world reveals itself to those that travel on foot. You understand the world in a much deeper level. And it does good to anyone who makes film.
Werner Herzog
Image
I looked, for example, to certain types of literature to which I would like to refer, like The Peregrine by J. A. Baker, and I mention a book, read this, read it, read it if you are serious of being in any type of art or into filmmaking, or films that I should quote as examples.
Werner Herzog
Image
In Germany, you would be hanged if you cracked a joke about Hitler and you would be killed by the state if you were insane in a project of euthanasia.
Werner Herzog
Image
Public life is constantly aware of the volcano.
Werner Herzog
Image
I'm very, very curious about how people live under the volcano, how they handle the permanence of danger.
Werner Herzog