Francis Ford Coppola Quotes

“You have to really be courageous about your instincts and your ideas.”

“There's nothing creative about living within your means.”

“The things you get fired for when you're young are the same things that you get lifetime achievement awards for when you're old.”

“Drinking wine is just a part of life, like eating food.”

“The essence of cinema is editing.”

“I think cinema, movies, and magic have always been closely associated.”

“To me the great hope is that now that these little 8mm video recorder and stuff now, some - just people who normally wouldn't make movies are going to be making them.”

“I was young and had no power. So they figured they could just boss me around.”

“When the first Godfather was done, screens were generally so blitzed with light that you could see into every corner of every toilet and closet on the set. When the studio people saw what we were doing, their reaction was, 'What happened?'”

“I have more of a vivid imagination than I have talent. I cook up ideas. It's just a characteristic.”

“We were in the jungle. There were too many of us. We had access to too much money, too much equipment, and, little by little, we went insane.”

“The great frustration of my career is that nobody really wants me to do my own work. Basically, The Godfather made me violate a lot of the hopes I had for myself at that age.”

“He is the best director of our generation. When it all gets said and done, he is the best director of our generation.”

“Artists have to not be afraid of risk. Risk is part of the artistic formula. You have to sometimes leap into the unknown to express how you feel. You can't be like the company that wants to make fast food that is habit-forming. Movies are not fast food. Movies are a living art form that tries to illuminate life for people.”

“All of you here: The money doesn't matter. What is important are the friends. A friend will never let you down. The money may evaporate.”