Where a beast would have claws, I was born with talent.

Why do I continue making movies? Making movies is better than cleaning toilets.

Why have I had this life? If I knew, I wouldn't have done it.

You don't need a framework. You need a painting, not a frame.

You leap over the wall of one ghetto and find yourself in another ghetto.

I have to shoot without any breaks. I yell at Herzog and hit him. I have to fight for every sequence. I wish Herzog would catch the plague, more than ever.

I knew there were, in myself, the souls of millions of people who lived centuries ago; not just people but animals, plants, the elements, things, even, matter. All of these exist in me.

The truth is, I can never die. For I will be in everything and see you in everything and watch over you. I am your reaction in the water of a mountain lake.

I am your fairy tale. Your dream. Your wishes and desires, and I am your thirst and your hunger and your food and your drink.

One should judge a man mainly from his depravities. Virtues can be faked. Depravities are real.

About 25 years ago, I was in an apartment, and next door, they put on the radio, so I struck the wall with my fist, but they did not put the radio down. I took a tool and banged until I made a hole through the wall. It was like a comedy movie.

I sell myself for the highest price. Exactly like a prostitute. There is no difference.

Put a bird cage near the window so that the bird can see the sky? It's much better to look than not to, even if it hurts.

People who do not see the terrible things therefore do not see the beautiful things, either.

You have to protect yourself, your body, your being. You cannot treat it badly; you have to keep it, make as sensitive as possible.

I don't need anybody to tell me how to be alive.

The dimensions of my feelings are too violent.

Sometimes my heart hurts so much, I beat it with my fists. I try to run. But you cannot run from this. It waits for you. Even when you think you have escaped it, it is there.

It is true what Rimbaud said; If you think a book is strong enough, try it at the ocean, in the wind, at the waves. If the book can resist the ocean, then it exists. Otherwise, throw it away.

But words - words are not enough!