“The play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king.”
William Shakespeare (Hamlet)
DramaStorytelling
Movies Quotes
100 FAMOUS QUOTES · MOVIES
Movies Quotes
Read 100 of the best movie quotes from Alfred Hitchcock, Charlie Chaplin, Akira Kurosawa, Roger Ebert, Shakespeare and more, plus original quotes for film lovers.
“Like a dull actor now, I have forgot my part, and I am out, even to a full disgrace.”
William Shakespeare (Coriolanus)
ActingStage Fright
“Piece out our imperfections with your thoughts.”
William Shakespeare (Henry V)
AudienceImagination
“On your imaginary forces work.”
William Shakespeare (Henry V)
ImaginationAudience
“Our revels now are ended. These our actors, as I foretold you, were all spirits and are melted into air, into thin air.”
William Shakespeare (The Tempest)
ActorsEndings
“Tragedy is an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude, through pity and fear effecting the proper purgation of these emotions.”
Aristotle (Poetics)
TragedyEmotion
“The plot, then, is the first principle, and, as it were, the soul of a tragedy.”
Aristotle (Poetics)
PlotStorytelling
“Character is that which reveals moral purpose.”
Aristotle (Poetics)
CharacterStorytelling
“If you wish me to weep, you must first feel grief yourself.”
Horace
ActingEmotion
“He always hurries to the main event and carries his listener into the middle of things.”
Horace
StorytellingPlot
“Drama is a representation of the states of all the three worlds.”
Natya Shastra (attributed to Bharata Muni)
DramaIndian Tradition
“Drama is an imitation of the ways of the world.”
Natya Shastra (attributed to Bharata Muni)
DramaLife
“Drama is the one delight for people of different tastes.”
Kalidasa
EntertainmentAudience
“Imitations produce pain or pleasure, not because they are mistaken for realities, but because they bring realities to mind.”
Samuel Johnson
FictionEmotion
“The world is a stage, but the play is badly cast.”
Oscar Wilde
FunnyLife
“If in the first act you have hung a pistol on the wall, then in the following one it should be fired.”
Anton Chekhov
PlotWriting
“Love the art in yourself, and not yourself in the art.”
Konstantin Stanislavski
ActingHumility
“The cinema is an invention without any future.”
Attributed to the Lumière family
Cinema HistoryFunny
“You will see that this little clicking contraption with the revolving handle will make a revolution in our life.”
Leo Tolstoy
Cinema HistoryChange
“I believe that the motion picture is destined to revolutionize our educational system.”
Thomas Edison
Cinema HistoryEducation
“Drama is life with the dull bits cut out.”
Alfred Hitchcock
DramaEditing
“There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it.”
Alfred Hitchcock
SuspenseStorytelling
“To make a great film you need three things: the script, the script and the script.”
Alfred Hitchcock
ScreenwritingGreat Films
“Some films are slices of life. Mine are slices of cake.”
Alfred Hitchcock
EntertainmentFunny
“Life is a tragedy when seen in close-up, but a comedy in long-shot.”
Charlie Chaplin
LifePerspective
Related Topics
About Movies Quotes
Movies make us laugh, cry, dream and think. From the first flickering pictures of the 1890s to today's blockbusters and Indian cinema, films have become one of the world's favourite ways to tell stories. Long before the camera was invented, playwrights and thinkers were already writing about drama, actors and the magic of a good story, and the great filmmakers who came later added their own wisdom.
This collection brings together 100 of the best movie quotes. It starts with timeless words about drama from Shakespeare, Aristotle, the Natya Shastra and Anton Chekhov, continues with quotes from legendary filmmakers like Alfred Hitchcock, Charlie Chaplin and Akira Kurosawa, and ends with original WebFunFacts quotes about movie nights, filmmaking and Indian cinema. For more on creativity, explore our [Art Quotes](/topics/art-quotes) and [Imagination Quotes](/topics/imagination-quotes).
Frequently asked questions
Quick answers about Movies quotes.
What is the most famous quote about movies?
Alfred Hitchcock's "Drama is life with the dull bits cut out" is one of the best known. Charlie Chaplin's "Life is a tragedy when seen in close-up, but a comedy in long-shot" is another favourite.
What did Akira Kurosawa say about Satyajit Ray?
Kurosawa said that not to have seen the cinema of Satyajit Ray "means existing in the world without seeing the sun or the moon." It's one of the greatest tributes ever paid to an Indian filmmaker.
What is Chekhov's gun?
It's a storytelling rule from Anton Chekhov: if a pistol hangs on the wall in the first act, it should be fired later. In other words, every detail in a story should matter.
What is the best quote about acting?
Sanford Meisner defined acting as "behaving truthfully under imaginary circumstances." Horace said something similar 2,000 years earlier: "If you wish me to weep, you must first feel grief yourself."
Why don't you include famous movie dialogue lines?
Dialogue from films is protected by copyright, so this page focuses on quotes about movies, drama and storytelling from filmmakers, actors and writers.
What is a good movie caption for Instagram?
Try "Popcorn tastes better when the story is good," or "Lights off, phones down, story on."