Roger Ebert Quotes

Powerful Roger Ebert for Daily Growth

We can now have action movies with two stars where one might be African American and one might be Asian American. One of them doesn't have to be white, and the other one doesn't have to be the ethnic sidekick. We're way over that. And I think it's happening in society, too.

- Roger Ebert

American, Other, I Think, African American

The idea that a book can advise a woman how to capture a man is touchingly naive. Books advising men how to capture a woman are far less common, perhaps because few men are willing to admit to such a difficulty. For both sexes, I recommend a good novel, offering scenarios you might learn from, if only because they reflect a lot of doubt.

- Roger Ebert

Woman, Idea, Willing, Few Men

I'll tell you, I think that the Internet has provided an enormous boost to film criticism by giving people an opportunity to self publish or to find sites that are friendly.

- Roger Ebert

Think, I Think, Friendly, Sites

In my reviews, I feel it's good to make it clear that I'm not proposing objective truth, but subjective reactions; a review should reflect the immediate experience.

- Roger Ebert

Clear, Subjective, Proposing, Reviews

No movie has ever been able to provide a catharsis for the Holocaust, and I suspect none will ever be able to provide one for 9/11. Such subjects overwhelm art.

- Roger Ebert

Art, Movie, Been, Overwhelm

All over the web there are some very good critics and it's become for people who are interested. It's become a very good way to get to reviews and involve yourself in discussions.

- Roger Ebert

Some, Over, Very, Reviews

Because I don't give the studios advanced quotes or an advanced look at my reviews. I think the readers deserve to read my reviews before the studios do.

- Roger Ebert

Think, Deserve, Give, Reviews

When we're discussing who to invite to a dinner party, my wife Chaz and I sometimes use the shorthand, 'good value for money,' which indicates guests expected to be entertaining.

- Roger Ebert

Dinner Party, Which, Guests

Parents and schools should place great emphasis on the idea that it is all right to be different. Racism and all the other 'isms' grow from primitive tribalism, the instinctive hostility against those of another tribe, race, religion, nationality, class or whatever. You are a lucky child if your parents taught you to accept diversity.

- Roger Ebert

Lucky, Other, Primitive, Tribe

Why do alcoholics begin down the same hazardous road day after day? They are in search of that elusive window of well-being that opens when you drink your way out of a hangover and aren't yet drunk all over again. The alcoholic's day consists of trying to keep that window open.

- Roger Ebert

Down, Why, Your, Hazardous

We think of first love as sweet and valuable, a blessed if hazardous condition.

- Roger Ebert

Love, Think, Condition, Hazardous

But considering that I walked in expecting no complexity at all, let alone the visual wonderments, 'Snow White and the Huntsman' is a considerable experience.

- Roger Ebert

Expecting, Complexity, Considering

Dogs notice, they share, they draw conclusions, they like it when they're able to be of service and are touchingly grateful when they're praised.

- Roger Ebert

Grateful, Like, Praised, Conclusions

One sign of a great actor is when he can be alone by himself on the screen, doing almost nothing, and producing one of a film's defining moments.

- Roger Ebert

Doing, Nothing, Almost, Defining

It is universally agreed that Jean Renoir was one of the greatest of all directors, and he was also one of the warmest and most entertaining.

- Roger Ebert

Entertaining, Warmest, Jean

' The Lucky One' is at its heart a romance novel, elevated however by Nicholas Sparks' persuasive storytelling. Readers don't read his books because they're true, but because they ought to be true.

- Roger Ebert

Lucky, Persuasive, However, Readers

There is a part of me that will forever want to be walking under autumn leaves, carrying a briefcase containing the works of Shakespeare and Yeats and a portable chess set. I will pass an old tree under which once on a summer night I lay on the grass with a fragrant young woman and we quoted e.e. cummings back and forth.

- Roger Ebert

Woman, Fragrant, Works, Grass

Horror fans are a particular breed. They analyze films with such detail and expertise that I am reminded of the Canadian literary critic Northrup Frye, who approached literature with similar archetypal analysis.

- Roger Ebert

Canadian, Literary, Analyze

What a terrible thing it would be to be the Pope! What unthinkable responsibilities to fall on your shoulders at an advanced age! No privacy. No seclusion. No sin.

- Roger Ebert

Shoulders, Pope, Seclusion, Terrible Thing

A film is a terrible thing to waste.

- Roger Ebert

Waste, Film, Thing, Terrible Thing

A few actresses have all but set up shop as women of a certain age who attract younger lovers. I think of Susan Sarandon, Cameron Diaz and Isabelle Huppert.

- Roger Ebert

Think, I Think, Set, Susan

And I think both the left and the right should celebrate people who have different opinions, and disagree with them, and argue with them, and differ with them, but don't just try to shut them up.

- Roger Ebert

Think, Shut, I Think, Differ

I'm kind of glad the web is sort of totally anarchic. That's fine with me.

- Roger Ebert

Kind, Web, Fine, Anarchic

Not everyone needs to be slammed into a category and locked there.

- Roger Ebert

Everyone, Needs, Slammed, Locked

Why is it that English, drama and music teachers are most often recalled as our mentors and inspirations? Maybe because artists are rarely members of the popular crowd.

- Roger Ebert

Crowd, Maybe, Inspirations, Recalled

Lebanon was at one time known as a nation that rose above sectarian hatred; Beirut was known as the Paris of the Middle East. All of that was blown apart by senseless religious wars, financed and exploited in part by those who sought power and wealth. If women had been in charge, would they have been more sensible? It's a theory.

- Roger Ebert

Nation, Been, Religious, Lebanon

Sometimes it's all about the casting.

- Roger Ebert

Sometimes, About, Casting

From a dramatic viewpoint, there are few professions that grant their members entry into other lives, high among them cops, doctors, clergymen, journalists and prostitutes. Perhaps that explains why they figure in so much television and cinema. Their lives are lived in the midst of human drama.

- Roger Ebert

Other, Cops, Professions, Grant

One difference between film noir and more straightforward crime pictures is that noir is more open to human flaws and likes to embed them in twisty plot lines.

- Roger Ebert

More, Straightforward, Them, Flaws

I know as a critic I'm required to have a well-armored heart. I must be a cynical wise guy to show my great sophistication. No pushover, me.

- Roger Ebert

Guy, Show, Sophistication, Cynical

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