Chris Carter Quotes & Sayings

There's always the pressure to make the movie good. — Chris Carter

You have these catch-phrases that you associate with 'The X-Files': 'Trust No One,' 'Deny Everything.' 'Believe the Lie' was one of them. — Chris Carter

When something original works, then everyone wants to copy it. But if you're trying to do something that no one's ever seen before it's frightening. — Chris Carter

I'm a big fan of Barack Obama. I think he carries a heavier burden and is held to a greater and higher standard than other candidates : I think there's a large, large portion of this country that feels disenfranchised and marginalized by the political process. — Chris Carter

Interpretation is directly related to a person's frame of mind. Looking at the same image, a person could see two different things depending on the mood that person is in at the time. — Chris Carter

There are things I'm doing with 'The After' that would've never flown on 'The X-Files' and on network television, so it's more permissive. That's not to say that you want to abuse that. I think that a show like 'The X-Files' actually worked better as a network show with the restraints put on it, the censorship that was applied. — Chris Carter

We've got DNA tests; we can convict someone by his saliva. Hell, if the killer had farted in that house the forensic team would probably have some gadget that could pick it up. How can the crime scenes be so clean? — Chris Carter

He is a leader among leaders. — Chris Carter

Writing is a little athletic for me. I get worked up a little bit when I do it. So I guess I'm a little bit like that composer conducting. There are a lot of things that go into what I do, but I think athletics really sort of shaped my ethic. — Chris Carter

I wasn't a big science-fiction fan growing up. But I loved Jules Verne and Sherlock Holmes. Both came into play on 'The X-Files.' — Chris Carter

I've been asked to do surfing movies over the years and offered several opportunities. I just felt that if I were to do one, I'd have to do the perfect surfing movie. And I don't know if that exists because surfing is such a personal thing. — Chris Carter

I think that you appreciate that there are extraordinary men and women and extraordinary moments when history leaps forward on the backs of these individuals, that what can be imagined can be achieved, that you must dare to dream, but that there's no substitute for perseverance and hard work and teamwork because no one gets there alone; and that, while we commemorate the ... the greatness of these events and the individuals who achieve them, we cannot forget the sacrifice of those who make these achievements and leaps possible. — Chris Carter

My brother is a scientist. He's a professor at MIT. He brought science fiction into my world. — Chris Carter

People thought the storyline and characters for 'X-Files' made it a 'dark' show, but I never saw it that way. I always thought Mulder and Scully were the light in dark places. — Chris Carter

Respect yourself, your Opponent and the Game — Chris Carter

It's really hard to scare people on network television. You've got to be smart about it. You've got to parcel out the scares. — Chris Carter

In Canada, I climbed some mountains with the Alpine Club of Canada, which taught me a lot about stamina. — Chris Carter

To start with, the overwhelming majority of serial killers are male,' Hunter explained. 'Female serial killers have a tendency to kill for monetary profit. While that can also be true their male counterparts, it's very unlikely. Sexual reasons top the list for male serial killers. Case studies have also shown that female killers generally kill people close to them, such as husbands, family members, or people dependent on them. Males kill strangers more often. Female serial killers also tend to kill more quietly, with poison or other less violent methods, like suffocation. Male serial killers, on the other hand, show a greater tendency to include torture or mutilation as part of the process of killing. When women are implicated in sadistic homicides, they've usually acted in partnership with a man. — Chris Carter

Hunter let go of JJ who started dusting his jacket with both hands. 'Look at what you've done to my suit man, these things don't come cheap you know.'

Garcia checked his pocket change. 'Here.' He extended his hand towards JJ. 'A dollar ninety-five. Go buy another one. — Chris Carter

I got to do Disney Sunday movies. I got to do a TV pilot there. And it really helped me to realise that I needed to not just be a writer, but a producer, to see my work up on the screen the way I wanted it to look and play. — Chris Carter

Learning to fly an airplane taught me a way of thinking, an approach to problem-solving that was applicable and effective. Pilots are very methodical and meticulous, and artists tend not to be. — Chris Carter

I think science is about the search for God; it just comes at it from a different angle than religion. — Chris Carter

So many things for me are unfortunate in the commercialization of something that is special. It's like when Led Zeppelin appears in Cadillac commercials. There's something that is taken away from your love of this thing and your connection to it. — Chris Carter

I love jazz and funk, because it's hard. If it's not hard, it's not worth doing. — Chris Carter

It's funny - I was a big fan of 'The Sopranos.' It became kind of a threat to 'The X-Files' in a way because they could play with language, character, and story in ways that we never could because of the limitations of network television. — Chris Carter

Really, some of the best 'X-Files' stories come right out of science. And you just apply that 'what-if' idea. Oh, what if this were true? And that's why so many times the show is scarier because it was not necessarily improbable. — Chris Carter

'The X-Files' from the beginning was a very visual show, and with Bob Mandel directing the pilot and Dan Sackheim being involved in the production of the pilot and directing the first episode, they brought a visual style to it that was elaborated on by so many good directors. — Chris Carter

I've become very interested in the spectrum of political discourse as seen on the cable news channels that are conveniently right in a row on my cable provider's dial. I can flip from Fox to CNN to HLN to MSNBC, and I find myself at night flipping it back and forth through them, and it's something of an addiction. — Chris Carter

The teaching of any science, for purposes of liberal education, without linking it with social progress and teaching its social significance, is a crime against the student mind. It is like teaching a child how to pronounce words but not what they mean. — Chris Carter

Even if I see 300 'X-Files' fans together, I can't fathom - I cannot imagine - the audience itself. All I think about is the show and all I think about is why I like it and why I like to write it and why I like the characters and what I have to say through them. — Chris Carter

I've got funny things. David Duchovny had to have a cast made of his face to do an old person's make-up, and I've got that cast of his face in my house. I've got something from the pilot, the original implant that was in Billy Miles' head. I've got a sign from 'The Erlenmeyer Flask.' But my house isn't a museum to 'The X-Files!' — Chris Carter

When the surf is really good, it's hard for me to concentrate on work. So I really have to watch when and where I surf - I won't get anything done if I get the fever. Then it's like I come into work and I'm wet and waterlogged and ready for lunch. — Chris Carter

The experience of seeing a surf movie in the 1970s, as a teenager, and the energy in those theatres, was amazing. It was the only way to see people surfing. These guys would go out and make these surf movies and bring them to four-wall theatres. It was an incredible experience that I'll never forget. — Chris Carter

The Truth is out there — Chris Carter

Producing a series is like being Lewis and Clark: You know where you're going, you just don't know how you're going to get there. When people say, 'You should create a bible for your show,' I say, 'You don't want a bible. It'll prevent you from making discoveries along the way.' And that's what happened on 'The X-Files.' — Chris Carter

What makes you think I'd know this woman?'

Hunter knew what he was trying to do. 'Listen, P-Diddy . . .'

'D-King . . .'

'Whatever. — Chris Carter

If you look at 'The X-Files' generally, we did 202 episodes. About 80% of them are not 'mythology' episodes, which tend to be the epic episodes. They deal with the big conspiracies, the search for Mulder's sister. They deal with what I would call the 'saga' of 'The X-Files.' — Chris Carter

I hope that I'm not simply defined by 'The X-Files,' and I hope I have more work that is important to do. — Chris Carter

I have to be careful with surfing. It's still an addiction to me. It's all I want to do, and that's the big dilemma I have with it. — Chris Carter

Hunter's father had a passion for single malt Scotch whisky. A passion that, frankly, Hunter had never understood. He found whisky, any type of whisky, way too overwhelming for his palate. — Chris Carter

It's so interesting that when I finished 'The X-Files' in 2002, the - call it the political and cultural climate in America - was one of fear, and trust of government. Because we put ourselves in the hands of the authority who was going to protect us. And, you know, we gave up a lot of our liberties to Homeland Security, etc. — Chris Carter

'The X-Files' was a hard sell because people didn't know what it was. The network didn't understand what it was that they were buying, and at the beginning, they wanted us to have closure. They wanted us to put the cuffs on the bad guy at the end of each episode. — Chris Carter

When reality becomes too senseless to make sense, the human mind will sometimes create its own — Chris Carter

New Zealand totally rejects Japan's proposals to double the number of whales slaughtered in the Southern Ocean — Chris Carter

The nightmares were so devastating that as a self-defense mechanism his brain did all it could to keep him awake at night. Instead of falling asleep, Hunter read ferociously. Books became his refuge, his castle. A safe place where the ghastly nightmares couldn't breach the gates. — Chris Carter

Fuck you! Someone has tortured and killed one of your girls and you couldn't give a damn? I thought you were supposed to protect them, to be their guardian. Isn't that what pimps do?' Garcia's face flared red. — Chris Carter

I think I've been asked a lot more than most TV producers to go on-camera. But I just do what I do and don't think about the package. — Chris Carter

I grew up a child of Watergate. It gave me a good dose of skepticism about authority. One of my favorite movies is 'All the President's Men.' Woodward and Bernstein, those guys were my heroes. I have a degree in journalism. — Chris Carter

Really? We always have a choice, do we? What about the choices that other people make that end up completely changing your life, not theirs? Where is our choice there, then? — Chris Carter

He's my new partner JJ and I don't think he likes you very much. Last guy he took a dislike to still can't eat anything more solid than yogurt.'

'Can't you keep him on a leash?'

'Sure I can. The leash is in the car. I'll go get it. You guys will be OK by yourselves for ten minutes or so, right? — Chris Carter

I admired shows like 'Six Feet Under.' That was an amazing show. Never boring, always inventive, smart. Loved the characters. Completely original. Those are shows that I admire. — Chris Carter

The real challenge in doing a TV show is in what I would call the maintenance energy. You take that creative energy and you use it every week, of course. But you then need to maintain the quality of the stories, and it's harder to do. — Chris Carter

I'm not involved on any social media; it's really not my style. — Chris Carter