Federico Fellini Quotes

Life is a combination of magic and pasta.

There is no end. There is no beginning. There is only the passion of life.

I don’t like the idea of “understanding” a film. I don’t believe that rational understanding is an essential element in the reception of any work of art. Either a film has something to say to you or it hasn’t. If you are moved by it, you don’t need it explained to you. If not, no explanation can make you moved by it.

Nothing is more honest than a dream.

You have to live spherically - in many directions. Never lose your childish enthusiasm - and things will come your way.

Regrets are a waste of time. They're the past crippling you in the present.

A different language is a different vision of life.

Never trust a woman who doesn’t like to eat. She is probably lousy in bed.

The visionary is the only realist.

One of the greatest handicaps is to fear a mistake. You have stopped yourself. You have to move freely into the arena, not just to wait for the perfect situation, the perfect moment... If you have to make a mistake, it's better to make a mistake of action than one of inaction. If I had the opportunity again, I would take chances.

Going to the cinema is like returning to the womb; you sit there, still and meditative in the darkness, waiting for life to appear on the screen.

You exist only in what you do.

Experience is what you get while looking for something else.

Money is everywhere but so is poetry. What we lack are the poets.

The artist is the medium between his fantasies and the rest of the world.

I spent my life trying to cure myself of my education.

What's important is the way we say it. Art is all about craftsmanship. Others can interpret craftsmanship as style if they wish. Style is what unites memory or recollection, ideology, sentiment, nostalgia, presentiment, to the way we express all that. It's not what we say but how we say it that matters.

There is abundant testimony that if we choose love rather than self, we gain immeasurably.

Realism is a bad word. In a sense everything is realistic. I see no line between the imaginary and the real.

No matter what happens, always Keep your childhood innocence. It's the most important thing.

Real religion should be something that liberates men. But churches don't want free men who can think for themself and find their own divinity within. When a religion becomes organized it is no longer a religious experience but only superstition and estrangement.

Fate is written in the face.

Even if I set out to make a film about a fillet of sole, it would be about me.

We can all pretend to be cynical and scheming, but when we’re faced with purity and innocence, the cynical mask drops off.

Even the most miserable life is better than a sheltered existence in an organized society where everything is calculated and perfected.