David Lynch Quotes

Powerful David Lynch for Daily Growth

About David Lynch

David Lynch, born on January 20, 1946, in Missoula, Montana, is a renowned American film director, painter, musician, and transmedia artist known for his surreal, enigmatic, and often dreamlike works. Raised in a conservative family, Lynch's early life was marked by a deep interest in art and storytelling. He would draw comics as a child and later studied painting at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. In 1966, Lynch moved to Europe, where he honed his skills as a painter while also developing an interest in filmmaking. Upon returning to the United States, he enrolled in the American Film Institute (AFI), where he directed several short films that showcased his unique storytelling and visual style. Lynch's breakthrough came with the release of "Eraserhead" (1970), a surrealist body horror film that defied conventional narrative structures and established Lynch as a visionary director. His subsequent works, such as "The Elephant Man" (1980) and "Dune" (1984), showcased his ability to work within mainstream Hollywood while still maintaining his artistic vision. However, it was Lynch's next project, "Blue Velvet" (1986), that truly cemented his place in cinema history. The film's blend of small-town America with dark, unsettling undertones became a signature of Lynch's style. Following this, Lynch created "Twin Peaks," a groundbreaking television series that combined elements of crime drama, soap opera, and supernatural horror. In the late 1990s, Lynch released "Lost Highway" and "The Straight Story," showcasing his versatility as a director by moving between surrealism and more straightforward narratives. His return to television with a revival of "Twin Peaks" in 2017 further solidified his status as a cultural icon. Throughout his career, Lynch's works have been influenced by his love for painting, music, and the American Southwest, and have left an indelible mark on popular culture, inspiring generations of filmmakers, artists, and musicians.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"Fear has two heelhooks on us: it takes away the joy and the power."

This quote by David Lynch suggests that fear robs us of our happiness (joy) and strength (power). Fear can induce a state of anxiety, making us apprehensive about taking risks or embracing new experiences. By allowing fear to control us, we forfeit the potential joy and empowerment that comes from overcoming challenges and seizing opportunities in life.

"In dreams, we enter a world that's totally free, a world of wonder, beauty, and danger."

This quote by David Lynch suggests that dreams offer an escape into a realm where there are no boundaries or restrictions; a place where imagination thrives, and the extraordinary becomes reality. Dreams can be both enchanting and terrifying, reflecting the duality of beauty and danger inherent in our own subconscious minds. These dreamscapes serve as a reminder that while we may encounter challenges and fears in life, there is also immense wonder and beauty to be discovered within ourselves if we dare to explore the depths of our thoughts and emotions.

"The world is a magical place, but only if you keep your eyes open."

David Lynch's quote emphasizes the importance of an attentive and curious mindset in perceiving the extraordinary within the ordinary. It encourages us to engage actively with our surroundings, as they are filled with magic, beauty, and mystery if we choose to see them that way. The world is not inherently magical; it becomes so through our perception and appreciation of its details, patterns, and connections. Keeping our eyes open means maintaining a state of awareness, openness, and curiosity, allowing us to discover the enchantment hidden in everyday life.

"Ideas are like fish. If you want to catch little fish, you can stay in the shallow water. But if you want to catch the big fish, you've got to go deeper."

This quote suggests that one should delve deeper into their thoughts and ideas if they wish to discover profound or innovative concepts, much like a fisherman seeking larger catches must venture further out in the sea. It emphasizes that simple, surface-level thinking (shallow water) may only yield ordinary ideas (small fish), while going beyond the obvious (deeper water) offers the opportunity to catch more significant and impactful thoughts (big fish). In other words, it's a call to think deeply and explore novel or unconventional perspectives in order to create something truly meaningful.

"The world is full of strange mysteries; it is a most beautiful maze."

This quote by David Lynch suggests that the universe is filled with enigmatic, unexplained phenomena, yet it retains an undeniable beauty. The "beautiful maze" represents the complexities and intricacies of life, which can sometimes be confusing or challenging, but are also fascinating and aesthetically pleasing. In essence, Lynch is emphasizing that there's a harmonious balance between the mysterious and the beautiful in our world.

Meditation is to dive all the way within, beyond thought, to the source of thought and pure consciousness. It enlarges the container, every time you transcend. When you come out, you come out refreshed, filled with energy and enthusiasm for life.

- David Lynch

Thought, Pure, Container, Source

Every viewer is going to get a different thing. That's the thing about painting, photography, cinema.

- David Lynch

Viewer, Different Thing, Photography

A poet could write volumes about diners, because they're so beautiful. They're brightly lit, with chrome and booths and Naugahyde and great waitresses. Now, it might not be so great in the health department, but I think diner food is really worth experiencing periodically.

- David Lynch

I Think, About, Brightly, Diner

Absurdity is what I like most in life, and there's humor in struggling in ignorance. If you saw a man repeatedly running into a wall until he was a bloody pulp, after a while it would make you laugh because it becomes absurd.

- David Lynch

Life, Running, While, Absurd

Intuition is the key to everything, in painting, filmmaking, business - everything. I think you could have an intellectual ability, but if you can sharpen your intuition, which they say is emotion and intellect joining together, then a knowingness occurs.

- David Lynch

Filmmaking, Joining, I Think, Occurs

I'm not a musician, but I play music. So it's a strange thing.

- David Lynch

Music, Play, Musician, Strange Thing

Cinema is a medium that can translate ideas.

- David Lynch

Ideas, Cinema, Translate, Medium

Film can't just be a long line of bliss. There's something we all like about the human struggle.

- David Lynch

Bliss, Line, Like, Long Line

I love super crispy, almost burned, snapping-crispy bacon.

- David Lynch

Love, Bacon, Super, Burned

There are only 24 hours in a day, and my top priority is working on my films, but I love short film experiments.

- David Lynch

Love, Hours, Films, 24 Hours

Music deals with time and timing. It's so magical, but when you get into it, every little sound and every little space between the sounds, it's critical, so critical. And if it's not there, it not only feels wrong, but it ruins things.

- David Lynch

Timing, Critical, Feels, Ruins

The ideas dictate everything, you have to be true to that or you're dead.

- David Lynch

Ideas, Be True, True, Dictate

Somewhere in talking and rehearsing, there is a magical moment where actors catch a current, they're on the right road. If they really catch it, then whatever they do from then on is correct and it all comes out of them from that point on.

- David Lynch

Them, Right Road, Correct, Rehearsing

I supported myself by delivering the 'Wall Street Journal' and doing odd jobs. I love plumbing and carpentry.

- David Lynch

Love, Doing, Delivering, Journal

I like things to be orderly.

- David Lynch

Like, Things, Orderly

I discovered that if one looks a little closer at this beautiful world, there are always red ants underneath.

- David Lynch

Always, Ants, Discovered, Underneath

Francis Bacon is one of my giant inspirations. I just love him to pieces.

- David Lynch

Love, Pieces, Bacon, Francis

I have no problem getting financing. I have a problem catching ideas that I fall in love with for the next feature.

- David Lynch

Love, Next, Getting, Financing

I always say Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is my biggest influence. But for painters, I like many, many painters, but I love Francis Bacon the most, and Edward Hopper.

- David Lynch

Love, Always, Like, Francis

The business side of film has goofed up so many things, but even that's changing. It happened to the music industry and now it's happening to the film studios. It's crazy what's going on. But artists should have control of their work; especially if, as I always say, you never turn down a good idea and never take a bad idea.

- David Lynch

Bad, Idea, Industry, Bad Idea

Stories hold conflict and contrast, highs and lows, life and death, and the human struggle and all kinds of things.

- David Lynch

Death, Stories, Kinds, Lows

I don't like Thomas Edison. I'm a fan of Nicolai Tesla.

- David Lynch

Fan, Like, Edison, None

I don't remember my dreams too much. I hardly have ever gotten ideas from nighttime dreams. But I love daydreaming and dream logic and the way dreams go.

- David Lynch

Love, Go, Gotten, Hardly

I love music, of course, and many, many, many genres. There are hardly any songs I would say that I hate. There's a couple, and I don't even know exactly why I don't like them.

- David Lynch

Love, Like, Couple, Hardly

Transcendental meditation is an ancient mental technique that allows any human being to dive within, transcend and experience the source of everything. It's such a blessing for the human being because that eternal field is a field of unbounded intelligence, creativity, happiness, love, energy and peace.

- David Lynch

Love, Mental, Technique, Transcend

You don't need a special place to meditate. You can transcend anywhere in the world. The unified field is here, and there, and everywhere.

- David Lynch

Need, Here, Meditate, Transcend

Digital video is so beautiful. It's lightweight, modern, and it's only getting better. It's put film into the La Brea Tar Pits.

- David Lynch

Digital, Film, Video, Tar

Music as background to me becomes like a mosquito, an insect. In the studio we have big speakers, and to me that's the way music should be listened to. When I listen to music, I want to just listen to music.

- David Lynch

Big, Like, Studio, Mosquito

I don't paint the town red. But when I do go out, people always want to touch my hair. It happens every time.

- David Lynch

Want, Always, Town, Every Time

I think that commercials can really ruin a song. You know that the person sold the song for a good deal of money, and that was the tradeoff. But, music and picture can marry in a beautiful way, and the reverse also.

- David Lynch

Song, Think, Sold, Ruin

Humor is very interesting to me. My films are not comedies, but there's comedy in them from time to time, absurdities, just like in real life.

- David Lynch

Like, Very, Films, From Time To Time

I love Christmas tree bulbs, and I started putting them in my paintings. You've got to plug this painting in, and it's got a rig in the back, so that each one can be replaced if it burns out.

- David Lynch

Love, Each One, Putting, Christmas Tree

I'm not a real film buff. Unfortunately, I don't have time. I just don't go. And I become very nervous when I go to a film because I worry so much about the director and it is hard for me to digest my popcorn.

- David Lynch

Popcorn, Very, About, Buff

A lot of music doesn't do one thing or another. It just doesn't do anything. Then there are those pieces of music that thrill your soul. It's such a wide range, and it's really interesting that we all love different things.

- David Lynch

Love, Soul, Wide Range, Different Things

Sometimes I get ideas for lyrics in anyplace, but I work a lot in the studio. So I collect little bits of lyrics. I go through the box of lyrics I have and see if something fits.

- David Lynch

Work, Through, Studio, Lyrics

More and more people are seeing the films on computers - lousy sound, lousy picture - and they think they've seen the film, but they really haven't.

- David Lynch

Think, Films, More People, Lousy

I love Bob Dylan. Who doesn't? He tapped into some kind of vein and it keeps on keeping on. There's nobody like him. He's unique, and just... way out cool.

- David Lynch

Love, Him, Some, None

In Hollywood, more often than not, they're making more kind of traditional films, stories that are understood by people. And the entire story is understood. And they become worried if even for one small moment something happens that is not understood by everyone.

- David Lynch

Small, Hollywood, Entire, Understood

The greatest thing my father left me was a love for cutting wood - my love for sawing, especially pine wood.

- David Lynch

Love, Father, Pine, Wood

If we didn't want to upset anyone, we would make films about sewing, but even that could be dangerous. But I think finally, in a film, it is how the balance is and the feelings are. But I think there has to be those contrasts and strong things within a film for the total experience.

- David Lynch

Strong, Upset, I Think, Feelings

If you stay true to your ideas, film-making becomes an inside-out, honest kind of process.

- David Lynch

Ideas, Process, Kind, Film-Making

I think part of the reason ideas haven't come in is that the world of cinema is changing so drastically, and in a weird way, feature films I think have become cheap. Everything is kind of throwaway. It's experienced and then forgotten.

- David Lynch

Reason, I Think, Part, Weird Way

Happy accidents are real gifts, and they can open the door to a future that didn't even exist. It's kind of nice sometimes to set up something to encourage or allow happy accidents to happen.

- David Lynch

Door, Happen, Allow, Open

Somehow, the French got this idea of the starving artist. Very romantic, except it's not so romantic for the starving artist.

- David Lynch

Artist, Very, Starving, French

To make the script, you need ideas, and for me a lot of times, a final script is made up of many fragments of ideas that came at different times.

- David Lynch

Ideas, Need, Made, Fragments

Sex is a doorway to something so powerful and mystical, but movies usually depict it in a completely flat way.

- David Lynch

Movies, Mystical, Depict, Doorway

It makes me uncomfortable to talk about meanings and things. It's better not to know so much about what things mean. Because the meaning, it's a very personal thing, and the meaning for me is different than the meaning for somebody else.

- David Lynch

Very, Makes, About, Meanings

The mantra that you're given in Transcendental Meditation you keep to yourself. The reason being, true happiness is not out there, true happiness lies within.

- David Lynch

Reason, Mantra, Given, Transcendental

Transcendental meditation is like a car, a vehicle that allows you to go within. It's a mental technique.

- David Lynch

Car, Like, Within, Transcendental

I think that ideas exist outside of ourselves. I think somewhere, we're all connected off in some very abstract land. But somewhere between there and here ideas exist.

- David Lynch

Think, Here, Some, Between

I didn't watch much TV as a kid and I don' t watch it now. I don' t find anything beautiful or unique to the medium, and the only thing you can do on TV that you can't do in film is make a continuing story - which is so cool!

- David Lynch

Kid, The Only Thing, TV, Continuing

A lot of artists think they want anger. But a real, strong, bitter anger occupies the mind, leaving no room for creativity.

- David Lynch

Strong, Mind, Think, Occupies

I don't think that people accept the fact that life doesn't make sense. I think it makes people terribly uncomfortable. It seems like religion and myth were invented against that, trying to make sense out of it.

- David Lynch

Think, Fact, I Think, Invented

I've said many, many, many unkind things about Philadelphia, and I meant every one.

- David Lynch

Philadelphia, Things, Meant, Unkind

Sugar does make people happy, but then you fall off the edge after a few minutes, so I've really pretty much cut it out of my diet. Except for cupcakes. I like those.

- David Lynch

Happy, Out, Cut, Sugar

A filmmaker doesn't have to suffer to show suffering. You just have to understand it. You don't have to die to shoot a death scene.

- David Lynch

Death, Suffering, Die, Filmmaker

I've always loved the electric guitar: to hold it and work it and hear what it does is unreal.

- David Lynch

Work, Loved, Always, Hear

To me, a story can be both concrete and abstract, or a concrete story can hold abstractions. And abstractions are things that really can't be said so well with words.

- David Lynch

Words, Concrete, Really, Abstract

I believe in creative control. No matter what anyone makes, they should have control over it.

- David Lynch

Over, Over It, Makes, I Believe In

You get a painting idea, and you go do that. You get a cinema idea, and you go in to do that. The difference is, even though the paintings might take some time to make, with cinema you are booked for a year and a half, minimum.

- David Lynch

Some, Booked, Half, Minimum

An artist makes a painting, and nobody bugs him or her about it. It's just you and your painting. To me, that's the way it should be with film as well.

- David Lynch

Artist, Makes, About, Bugs

The cinema is really built for the big screen and big sound, so that a person can go into another world and have an experience.

- David Lynch

Big, Sound, Built, Cinema

Sometimes I get an idea for cinema. And when you get an idea that you fall in love with, this is a glorious day.

- David Lynch

Love, Fall, Idea, Cinema

As a kid, I was always building things. My father had a shop in the house, and we built things - we were kind of a project family. I started out as a painter, and then painting led to cinema, and in cinema, you get to build so many things, or help build them.

- David Lynch

Father, Kid, Shop, Cinema

I didn't really grow up listening to blues, because I grew up in the Northwest. It wasn't really the center for blues.

- David Lynch

Listening, Grow, Northwest, Blues

I've loved music always, and my music fire was lit by Elvis Presley, really, and all that was happening back then.

- David Lynch

Back, Always, Elvis Presley, Happening

I thought when I started meditation that I was going to get real calm and peaceful and it's going to be over. It's not that way; it's so energetic. That's where all the energy and creativity is.

- David Lynch

Thought, Over, Energetic, Peaceful

I like L.A. because of the light. The light makes me feel so good. It's really beautiful. And there's something about L.A. being so spread out that gives you a feeling of freedom. Light and freedom.

- David Lynch

Like, Makes, About, Gives

I love the quality, feel and history of film. I love the pictures of the giant cameras and the way it was.

- David Lynch

Love, Feel, I Love, Cameras

A lot of painters listen to music, I think, while they paint. But I hate to do that. It's a horror. I can't really listen to the music. I'm not really concentrating on it, and I'm not really concentrating on the painting.

- David Lynch

Think, Horror, Concentrating, Painters

This whole world is wild at heart and weird on top.

- David Lynch

Weird, World, Top, Wild

I always loved smokestack industry, and I love towns or cities that have grown up around factories.

- David Lynch

Love, Always, Cities, Towns

Most of Hollywood is about making money - and I love money, but I don't make the films thinking about money.

- David Lynch

Love, Making, Films, Making Money

You're right on the money with that. We're all like detectives in life. There's something at the end of the trail that we're all looking for.

- David Lynch

Life, Right, Like, Trail

I was raised Presbyterian, but I'm not really going to church. I think the experience in meditation is pretty much where it's at for me.

- David Lynch

Think, Pretty, I Think, Meditation

The concept of absurdity is something I'm attracted to.

- David Lynch

Concept, Attracted, Absurdity

Life is very, very complicated, and so films should be allowed to be, too.

- David Lynch

Very, Films, Too, Complicated

People think in Hollywood there's a family, where everybody gets together talks about stuff and we all know each other, and it's just not that way at all to me.

- David Lynch

Think, Other, Everybody, Talks

I like cappuccino, actually. But even a bad cup of coffee is better than no coffee at all.

- David Lynch

Better, Bad, Actually, Coffee

See, a painting is much cheaper than making a film. And photography is, you know, way cheap. So if I get an idea for a film, there are many ways to get it together and go realise that film. There's really nothing to be afraid of.

- David Lynch

See, Idea, Cheaper, Realise

Everyone is on the internet but they're not all talking with each other. There are groups upon groups out there, but they don't talk to one another. So while the internet brings everyone into a shared space, it does not necessarily bring them together.

- David Lynch

Other, Another, Shared, Groups

Television provides the opportunity for an ongoing story - the opportunity to meld the cast and the characters and a world, and to spend more time there.

- David Lynch

Cast, Characters, Ongoing, Story

I love paint. I like watercolours. I like acrylic paint... a little bit. I like house paint. I like oil-based paint, and I love oil paint. I love the smell of turpentine and I like that world of oil paint very, very, very much.

- David Lynch

Love, Like, Very, Paint

I like watercolours. I like acrylic paint... a little bit. I like house paint. I like oil-based paint, and I love oil paint. I love the smell of turpentine and I like that world of oil paint very, very, very much.

- David Lynch

Love, Like, Very, Paint

Building a set is like building a place, but it's a temporary place, because sets usually get torn down. Kind of unfortunate.

- David Lynch

Temporary, Torn, Set, Unfortunate

Life should be blissful, and blissful doesn't mean just a small happiness. It's huge. It is profound.

- David Lynch

Happiness, Small, Profound, Huge

A film - especially when it's a personal film - is going to hit somebody or it's not. There's nothing you can do about it.

- David Lynch

Nothing, Going, About, Hit

Some things we forget. But many things we remember on the mental screen, which is the biggest screen of all.

- David Lynch

Remember, Some, Which, Screen

My cow is not pretty, but it is pretty to me.

- David Lynch

Me, Pretty, Cow

Negativity is the enemy of creativity.

- David Lynch

Enemy, Negativity, Creativity

If you're searching for quotes on a different topic, feel free to browse our Topics page or explore a diverse collection of quotes from various Authors to find inspiration.