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Preston Sturges Quotes

Powerful Preston Sturges for Daily Growth

About Preston Sturges

Preston Sturges (August 29, 1898 – August 6, 1959) was an American filmmaker, screenwriter, and playwright, renowned for his distinctive style of fast-paced, witty, and satirical comedies during the Golden Age of Hollywood. Born in Chicago, Illinois, Sturges developed a love for films early in life, often sneaking into movie theaters to watch silent films. He started writing plays while still in high school, and after dropping out, he sold his first script, "Remember Me?", to Paramount Pictures at age 19. Sturges' career took off when he joined RKO Radio Pictures, where he wrote and directed several critically acclaimed films, including "The Great McGinty" (1940), "Sullivan's Travels" (1941), and "The Lady Eve" (1941). These films showcased his unique blend of comedy and social commentary, often featuring intricate plots, rapid-fire dialogue, and unconventional characters. Sturges was known for his collaborative approach to filmmaking, often involving the cast and crew in the creative process. His films were also characterized by their political satire, reflecting his leftist leanings and criticism of American society during World War II. Despite his success, Sturges' career faced challenges due to conflicts with studio executives and changes in Hollywood's filmmaking landscape. After a series of box office failures, he moved to France in 1953 where he continued to write and direct films, including "Les Carnets du Major Thompson" (1955) and "Une femme est une femme" (1961), which were released posthumously. Sturges' impact on cinema is significant, with many of his films being recognized as classics of American comedy. He was a pioneer in the use of screenplays as a creative tool, influencing generations of filmmakers, including Woody Allen and the Coen Brothers.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"Remember this: The trouble with reality is that it's usually not as exciting as fiction."

This quote suggests that life often lacks the excitement, drama, or unpredictability found in fictional narratives. In essence, real-life events may be less thrilling due to their predictable nature and adherence to reality's constraints compared to the imaginative possibilities of fiction. It reminds us that stories can provide an escape from the mundane and offer a more captivating version of life.

"Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm."

This quote by Preston Sturges emphasizes resilience, optimism, and perseverance in the face of adversity. Success is not defined solely by achievements or outcomes, but by the ability to maintain a positive attitude and continue striving even when faced with setbacks and failures. It suggests that one should view each failure as a learning experience rather than a defeat, and retain enthusiasm for the journey ahead. This mindset encourages personal growth, adaptability, and eventual success in one's chosen endeavors.

"The only thing I know is that I know nothing."

This quote by Preston Sturges emphasizes humility and acknowledges the limits of human knowledge. It suggests that despite our best efforts to understand the world, there's always more to learn, and we should approach life with an open mind, curiosity, and a willingness to adapt our beliefs as we gain new insights.

"You can't say censorship is a good thing. You couldn't print a newspaper if it were raining cats and dogs, but that doesn't make the cats and dogs bad animals."

This quote suggests that while censorship may appear to suppress or restrict certain ideas or expressions, it does not inherently mean those ideas or expressions are harmful or negative. Instead, like rain containing animals such as cats and dogs, there can be valuable content amidst what is being censored. The quote implies that the role of censorship should be seen as a means of maintaining order, rather than casting judgment on the inherent worth of the content itself.

"We're not really alive until we've been through something terrible, a terrible thing that puts a shape on us—as water shapes a vessel."

This quote suggests that human resilience and maturity are deeply connected to overcoming challenging experiences. The "terrible thing" signifies an adversity or hardship that transforms an individual, much like water molding a vessel. The process of facing and surviving such difficulties gives shape and definition to our lives, making us more profound and resilient. It's through these trials that we truly come alive, discovering our inner strength and developing empathy, wisdom, and character.

It is probably a very good thing for a boy to learn to live with enmity, as opposed to an atmosphere of love and affection, as it hardens him and gives him a taste of what he is going to run into later in life.

- Preston Sturges

Love, Atmosphere, Very, Enmity

For a southern belle, my grandmother was remarkably modern. She threw my grandfather out, for one thing - some kind of argument about bourbon whiskey - shortly after the birth of their third child, and then went back to school to get herself a teaching certificate.

- Preston Sturges

Argument, Some, Southern, Remarkably

The hook is a word or an idea spoken by one character which gives the next character something to hook onto when he responds or, like a trapeze artist, gives him something to swing from on his way to another point of view.

- Preston Sturges

Artist, Point Of View, Next, Trapeze

I am, of course, directly descended from Brian Boru, the last king of Ireland, a fact certified by my mother and therefore beyond dispute. But as everybody else with a drop of Irish blood in his carcass is also a guaranteed descendant of the old billy goat, I am not overly arrogant because of this royal strain.

- Preston Sturges

Fact, Drop, Everybody, Overly

I worked out a rather deep-dish theory defining the theater as a form of architecture rather than a form of literature.

- Preston Sturges

Literature, Worked, Form, Defining

Though I believe in God, I don't believe in religion for everybody. Some people who are a little weak and don't want to shoulder any responsibility need Catholicism. For people at the other extreme, there is Christian Science... I think a powerful conscience is worth all the religions put together.

- Preston Sturges

Some, Other, Everybody, Shoulder

I am quite sure that a little man who braves ridicule to improve the lot of his fellow men, and is thanked by their jibes, is an interesting character.

- Preston Sturges

Interesting, Sure, Am, Ridicule

In 'Remember the Night,' love reformed her and corrupted him, which gave us the finely balanced moral that one man's meat is another man's poison.

- Preston Sturges

Love, Which, Corrupted, Reformed

I have always wondered why the movie industry was so firmly persuaded that the original author could be of no possible help in the case of a remake or any other change in a work.

- Preston Sturges

Always, Other, Firmly, Remake

Paris Singer had vastly more to do with shaping my character than Mother had; although Mother made innumerable sacrifices for me, and Paris Singer made none. I wanted to be like him.

- Preston Sturges

Singer, Like, Sacrifices, Vastly

By the very nature of his art, which depends on invention and innovation, a story teller must depart from the beaten track and, having done so, occasionally startle and disagree with some of his associates. Healthy disagreement we must have.

- Preston Sturges

Some, Very, His, Invention

The camera must point at the exact spot the audience wishes to look at any given moment. To find that spot is absurdly easy: you only have to remember where you were looking at the time the scene was made.

- Preston Sturges

Audience, Made, Given, Absurdly

Much as I disliked the un-American idea of marrying a lady with a dowry, I must admit that little Mrs. Godfrey's little private income put everything in a faintly different light.

- Preston Sturges

Income, Idea, Private, Marrying

Of the Sturges family, much more is known than is available about poor Irish immigrants and obscure Scottish-English settlers around Rochester.

- Preston Sturges

More, Available, About, Settlers

You can't go around the theatres handing out cards saying, 'It isn't my fault'. You go onto the next one.

- Preston Sturges

Cards, Go, Next, Handing

I did not think that a good movie was the equivalent of a good stage play, any more than I thought an automobile ride was as exhilarating as a drive behind a spirited horse, nor a trip by steam as soul-satisfying as a voyage by sail.

- Preston Sturges

Play, Behind, Equivalent, Steam

The more you stand in the limelight, the more scarred you will become and the more you will love the limelight.

- Preston Sturges

Love, Will, More, Scarred

Our gymnasium was remarkable and had more stuff in it than one could dream up in a nightmare. Furthermore, every boy had to use every piece of it during gymnasium class.

- Preston Sturges

More, Could, Use, Gymnasium

I did all my directing when I wrote the screenplay. It was probably harder for a regular director. He probably had to read the script the night before shooting started.

- Preston Sturges

Director, Before, Read, Regular

I don't believe environment has the slightest bit to do with anything - I only believe in ancestral influence. It would have made no difference whether I'd been brought up in a reform school, or on the island of Lesbos.

- Preston Sturges

Been, Made, Brought, Ancestral

The more nearly the film cutter approaches the natural law of interest, the more invisible will be his cutting. If the camera moves from one person to another at the exact moment that you in the legitimate theatre would have turned your head, you will not be conscious of a cut.

- Preston Sturges

Cut, Turned, Nearly, Exact

I thought for a month or so along the lines of what I call Monsieur Beaucaire in modern clothes. By that, I mean a hero who is believed by all to be a villain but who, in the end, is introduced as a man of great honor with a long list of decorations.

- Preston Sturges

Honor, Thought, Villain, In The End

I have never done anything but my very best work for anyone, and to do this and retain my first fine enthusiasm over a period of thirty years has required a rather special set of working conditions.

- Preston Sturges

Rather, Very, Retain, Best Work

I go through life accumulating possessions... I've always done it... and then, every once in a while, a sort of tidal wave comes along and washes them all away.

- Preston Sturges

Through, Always, Away, Tidal

Directing was easy for me because I was a writer director and did all my directing when I wrote the screenplay.

- Preston Sturges

Director, Wrote, Screenplay, Directing

According to my mother, positively no one, least of all herself, had even the faintest suspicion that she was heavy with child at the time of my birth.

- Preston Sturges

Suspicion, According, Least, Herself

How many years and how many pictures does it take to win the confidence of Paramount? How many years before my fellow workers say, 'I know he is doing his best?'

- Preston Sturges

Confidence, Doing, Before, Paramount

Despite my express wish, I was not left in Chicago, but taken to Paris to live, and I did not see my father for many years. But we never stopped loving each other, and in 1940 he died in my arms in Hollywood, where he had come to be near me at the end.

- Preston Sturges

Father, Hollywood, Other, Chicago

If I can't find real situations that interest me in real life, then I'll go and write them in play form.

- Preston Sturges

Play, Go, Them, Situations

I compared pooh-poohers of the movies to the myopics who used to holler, 'Get a horse!' when an early automobile exploded by.

- Preston Sturges

Movies, Used, Exploded, Compared

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