Quotes from Robert Altman

I was scared that no one would hire me. At that time, there was still a stigma attached to it. A big stigma. Actually, I think I was healthier after the operation than some people who have bypass surgery because I was completely cured. But when you mentioned "heart transplant," you got a very negative reaction. It triggered people's imaginations, and not in a good way.

If something works for you, you continue to do it. I did a bunch of pictures for 20th Century Fox when Alan Ladd was over there, but I set the budgets so low that they'd approve and I'd deliver the film. They would have no say in it, which is the kind of arrangement I liked.

The minute you have more than one voice, you have more possibilities opening up. You have all the molecules in all of those bodies and their make up interacting.

I don't know what "Altmanesque" means, though I suppose I'm flattered by it.

I insist that they do what they became actors to do. I want them to create something and not just hit marks and say words. So they all love that because they're playing. It's called playacting. Their contributions are not only welcomed, but are accepted and used.

They'll never give me an Oscar. And I sincerely, honestly don't care. I always turn up when I'm nominated and it would be nice to get one, but to win one would be bad luck. It comes with too much expectation. It would be the end.

Why should I keep doing things that I've done before?

People have asked me throughout the years which directors have influenced me. I don't know their names, because I was mostly influenced when I'd see a film and think, "Man, I want to be sure to never do anything like that." So I never learned their names. It wasn't a matter of copying or emulating somebody I admired. It was getting rid of a lot of stuff.

We make too much of the good and too much of the bad.

I love fishing. You put that line in the water and you don't know what's on the other end. Your imagination is under there.

Maybe there's a chance to get back to grown-up films. Anything that uses humor and dramatic values to deal with human emotions and gets down to what people are to people.

Real art is without irony. Irony distances the author from his material. Irony is a product of something. It's not the reason for doing something. Irony is a cheap shot.

To play it safe is not to play.

What's a cult? It just means not enough people to make a minority.

Titanic I thought was the most dreadful piece of work I've ever seen in my entire life. Another film that I think is equally bad was American Beauty. So badly acted and directed. But people like that.

Filmmaking is a chance to live many lifetimes.

From a May 1, 2004 article entitled "Still Up to Mischief" from The Guardian reporting on and quoting Altman ] Still, it's worth noting that by the age of 20 this whistle- blower had resisted two of the most powerful institutions - church and army, both. He is an atheist, 'And I have been against all of these wars ever since.

The role of the director is to create a space where the actresses and actors can become more than they have ever been before, more than they have ever dreamed of being.

If George W. Bush is elected president, I'm leaving for France.

I love fishing. You put that line in the water and you don't know what's on the other end. Your imagination is under there.

It's all just one film to me. Just different chapters.

What's a cult? It just means not enough people to make a minority.

To play it safe is not to play.

If you don't have a leg to stand on, you can't put your foot down.