Best Francis Ford Coppola Quotes & Sayings

I have more of a vivid imagination than I have talent. I cook up ideas. It's just a characteristic. — Francis Ford Coppola

I had a number of teachers who hated me. I didn't do well in school. — Francis Ford Coppola

I always found the film world unpleasant. It's all about the schedule, and never really flew for me. — Francis Ford Coppola

Anything you build on a large scale or with intense passion invites chaos. — Francis Ford Coppola

When I do a novel, I don't really use the script, I use the book; when I did Apocalypse Now, I used Heart of Darkness. Novels usually have so much rich material. — Francis Ford Coppola

Steven Spielberg is unique. I feel that the kinds of movies he loves are the same kinds of movies that the big mass audience loves. He's very fortunate because he can do the things he naturally likes the best, and he's been very successful. — Francis Ford Coppola

I don't think there's any artist of any value who doesn't doubt what they're doing. — Francis Ford Coppola

Movie-wise, there is nothing I wouldn't do again. It's not possible to make one perfect movie every time. — Francis Ford Coppola

I think it's better to be overly ambitious and fail than to be underambitious and succeed in a mundane way. I have been very fortunate. I failed upward in my life! — Francis Ford Coppola

I believe that filmmaking - as, probably, is everything - is a game you should play with all your cards, and all your dice, and whatever else you've got. So, each time I make a movie, I give it everything I have. I think everyone should, and I think everyone should do everything they do that way. — Francis Ford Coppola

Most filmmakers can't afford to try something out that doesn't work. — Francis Ford Coppola

One of the most important tools that a filmmaker has are his/her notes. — Francis Ford Coppola

When newspapers started to publish the box office scores of movies, I was horrified. Those results are totally fake because they never include the promotion budget. — Francis Ford Coppola

Anyone who's made film and knows about the cinema has a lifelong love affair with the experience. You never stop learning about film. — Francis Ford Coppola

Usually, the stuff that's your best idea or work is going to be attacked the most. — Francis Ford Coppola

When you make a film it is like asking yourself a question. When it is finished, you know the answer. Ultimately with all of cinema, we are just trying to learn about ourselves. I have always used the opportunity to make a film to learn more about myself, which I am still doing. — Francis Ford Coppola

To make great movies, there is an element of risk. You have to say, 'Well, I am going to make this film, and it is not really a sure thing.' — Francis Ford Coppola

I just admire people like Woody Allen, who every year writes an original screenplay. It's astonishing. I always wished that I could do that. — Francis Ford Coppola

There's nothing creative about living within your means. — Francis Ford Coppola

I remember teachers who really singled me out for their discouragement. — Francis Ford Coppola

I wrote the script of Patton. I had this very bizarre opening where he stands up in front of an American flag and gives this speech. Ultimately, I was fired. When the script was done, they hired another writer and that script was forgotten. — Francis Ford Coppola

The professional world was much more unpleasant than I thought. I was always wishing I could get back that enthusiasm I had when I was doing shows at college. — Francis Ford Coppola

The stuff that I got in trouble for, the casting for The Godfather or the flag scene in Patton, was the stuff that was remembered, and was considered the good work. — Francis Ford Coppola

I always think upon Lee Strasberg with warmth, and reviewing his wisdom is a pleasure. — Francis Ford Coppola

But who said art has to cost money? And therefore, who says artists have to make money? — Francis Ford Coppola

A lot of the young people make beautiful films or big films or are able to finance them, but they can't get anyone to distribute them, they can't get anyone to see them, so they go to these thousands of film festivals. So I still believe that even though a young kid might be able to make a masterpiece or something that changes the direction of cinema, the issue of how to get it to people is still not solved. — Francis Ford Coppola

I've been offered lots of movies. There's always some actor who's doing a project and would like to have me do it. — Francis Ford Coppola

Everything I do is personal. I have never made a movie that didn't have very strong personal resonance. — Francis Ford Coppola

In America, even the critics - which is a pity - tend to genre-ize things. They have a hard time when genres get mixed. They want to categorize things. That's why I love Wes Anderson's films and the Coen Brothers, because you don't know what you're going to get, and very often you get something that you don't expect and that's just what a genre's not supposed to do. — Francis Ford Coppola

Francis Ford Coppola observed, "The way to come to power is not always to merely challenge the Establishment, but first make a place in it and then challenge and double-cross the Establishment. — Adam M. Grant

I live near San Francisco in the most beautiful spot on earth and enjoy myself in many ways. Yes, I love to work, which for now is to think and read and write, so it's all a dream come true. — Francis Ford Coppola

Without a doubt, I was born to want to make cinema, but the kind of cinema I want to make is not like commercial movies, which I enjoy myself, but I wanted to be the kind of filmmaker who wrote original work, sort of like a novelist would who deals with who we are and our times or our relationships. — Francis Ford Coppola

I was a pretty shy, lonely kid. I blossomed about age 17, when I went to college. — Francis Ford Coppola

There's a story that during the filming of Apocalypse Now, Francis Ford Coppola had a sign on his trailer: Fast, Cheap, Good: Pick Two. — Maria Semple