"I make movies for money, exclusively for money."

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

"The ultimate acting is to destroy yourself."

"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."

"I am dying of hunger."

"I didn't choose solitude."

"Whenever I was with a woman, I always sort of want another one. So there was always another one. I can't explain this."

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

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

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

"I am not the Jesus of the official church tolerated by those in power. I am not your superstar."

"The dimensions of my feelings are too violent."

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

"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."

"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 could be with a woman in a bed, for weeks even, and it would seem to me like three seconds. Or 300 years."

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

"Fun? There is no fun."

"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."

"What do you think, that a dollar in a savings account is freedom? Maybe you have understood nothing I have said."

"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."

"Once, I took a taxi. I hate those limousines. They stink and their drivers have been driving dead people to the cemeteries."

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

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

"When you are there, you are. With words, you aren't."

"It is the Nobel Prize I want. It's worth $400,000."

"But words - words are not enough!"