136 Quotes by Elia Kazan

The only guy who was at all helpful as a producer was Sam Spiegel with On the Waterfront. He’s one of the few who even knows what he’s doing.

I was not what you’d call a first-class actor, but I did all right.

I won’t go back to the theater. I like some of the things they’re doing but it’s different now, not something I could do. I’ll go on making films the rest of my life.

I’m small, but I’m neither compliant nor agreeable.

Truth gets buried, that’s why people write autobiographies.

I’ve come to believe that everything worth achieving is beyond one’s capacity – or seems so at first. The thing is to persist, not back off, fight your fight, pay your dues, and carry on. Effort is all; continue and you may get there despite everything.

I don’t remember anything anybody said in any Jack Ford picture. Nothing happens except action.

The camera is more than a recorder, it’s a microscope. It penetrates, it goes into people and you see their most private and concealed thoughts.

I know many of the critics and I don’t think of them as God-like figures. What can they do to hurt me? Sure, I might be slightly embarrassed for a day, but then you just go your own way.