Top 67 Quotes by Elia Kazan

I've lost many of my best friends... I'm going to satisfy myself now, not the critics, not even my friends.

I want to thank the Academy for its courage and generosity.

A good director's not sure when he gets on the set what he's going to do.

The more ambivalent you are and the more uncertain you are, then you can get something that you cannot anticipate.

The physical life of the scene is determined by whether the set squeezes people together or whether the set has an escape place in it.

I would rather do what I did than crawl in front of a ritualistic Left and lie the way those other comrades did betray my own soul.

To be a member of the Communist Party is to have a taste of the police state. It is a diluted taste but is bitter and unforgettable.

I may be getting old, but not foolish.

Every fighter has one fight that makes or breaks him.

Very often the Group actor is a critic when he's acting and an actor when he's criticizing.