Top John Hurt Quotes - Quotesmemo.com

John Hurt Biography

Sir John Vincent Hurt CBE (22 January 1940 – 25 January 2017) was an English actor whose screen and stage career spanned more than 50 years. Hurt was regarded as one of Britain's finest actors; director David Lynch described him as "simply the greatest actor in the world".

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John Hurt Quotes

Be true to what you want to say, or whatever style it is that you've chosen or genre you've chosen. Do it well! My criteria always has been that the piece must stand the chance of succeeding on the level it's intended to succeed on.

Genre, Levels, Pieces, Say, Style

The common misconception is that we create films for ourselves. And I really don't do it for myself. I get stopped in the street by people saying, "Do you mind if I say this about your work?" Do I mind? I'm delighted. I do it for you. It's not for me. It's my living, yes, sure.

Common, Mind, People, Stopped

I'd say the film to avoid is a director's second film, particularly if his first film was a big success. The second film is where you've really needed to have learned something.

Directors, Film, Firsts, Particularly, Say, Success

The most difficult thing about painting is the self-discipline. When I finish a job, I give myself a few days, but then I have to discipline myself quite fiercely if I want to do some painting that's worthwhile. Otherwise, you're just doodling. It's much easier when you're just told what you have to do.

Difficult, Discipline, Jobs, Self, Thing, Told

By the very nature of being a clergyman's son, people tend to put you slightly apart, which is - you tend to live a life, at some stages, as being - people being suspicious of you and puts you rather on a - I don't mean lonely, particularly. But it does tend to put you apart.

Lonely, Mean, Slightly, Son, Stages, Tend

I think you can get better in mathematics on a school level, but when you're talking about being a mathematician, I think that's definitely a gift of genes or whatever.

School, Thinking, Talking, Gift, Definitely

Pretending to be other people is my game and that to me is the essence of the whole business of acting.

Acting, Business, Essence, Game, Games, Pretending

You have to learn to cut your cloth accordingly. But it seems to be a human weakness. Once you start making a lot of money, you just join in with everyone else. It's like the banks, and we've seen what happens there.

Cutting, Everyone, Happens, Humans, Seen, Weakness

I was keen on sports-that's how my nose got this way. It's not actually broken; the nose was just pushed up a little bit and moved over. It's an aquiline nose, quite Irish.

Aquiline, Broken, Keen, Nose, Noses, Sports

Some directors involve waiting, and if you want to work with that particular director you're going to have to hang around.

Waiting, Directors, Want, Particular, Hang, Director

I remember once when I told Lindsay Anderson at a party that acting was just a sophisticated way of playing cowboys and Indians he almost had a fit.

Acting, Cowboy, Cowboys, Party, Remember, Way

The truth is rarely true and never simple.

Simple, Truth Is, Truth, Rarely, True

One wonders sometimes, looking at the world, how it's dealing with itself. There are days when you wake up and you feel very optimistic and there are days when you feel pessimistic.

Dealing, Looking, Optimistic, Pessimistic, Wake Up

Also the wonderful thing about film, you can see light at the end of the tunnel. You did realize that it is going to come to an end at some stage.

Light, Realizing, Stage, Tunnel, Tunnels, Wonderful

I'm not interested in awards. I never have been. I don't think they are important. Don't get me wrong, if somebody gives me a prize, I thank them as gratefully as I know how, because it's very nice to be given a prize. But I don't think that awards ought to be sought. It encourages our business to be competitive in absolutely the wrong way. We're not sportsmen; we're not trying to come in first.

Competitive, Giving, Nice, Ought, Thinking, Way

It's a great relief to feel that you're working with someone rather than for someone. You don't feel that you're being tested, as it were.

Feels, Relief, Tested, Working

We're all far too afraid of being so arrogant to say "Either you can or you can't. "

Afraid, Arrogant, Say

You carry that through and adapt it to a camera lens, but you're quite right, you cannot be sure of what an audience is going to do. You don't know what's going to happen to the piece you're doing anyway. You don't know how it's going to be edited. There are a lot more unknowns in cinema. But that you have to readily accept. That's when, I think, you have to forget about intellect, to a degree. Intuition is very important when you're working with a lens, I believe, for what the lens is doing, too.

Audience, Believe, Degree, Intuition, Know, Thinking

The great joke is that a realist is an optimistic pessimist. That's very witty. Whether it's truthful or not, that I don't know.

Optimistic, Pessimist, Realist, Truthful, Witty

With [Fred] Zinnemann I did A Man For All Seasons. He was my screen godfather. I'm happy to say he was.

Fred, Men, Screen, Screens, Seasons, Zinnemann

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