80+ Best Alfred Hitchcock Quotes Every Film Fan Must Read
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Sir Alfred Hitchcock is a household name for all thriller fans, this being the genre of film that he is most famous for and loved making.
Hitchcock, as he is commonly known, is one of the greatest British film directors with a whole bunch of hits to his name, including more than five Oscar nominations for Best Director, and a prestigious Irving G. Thalberg Oscar award win that is awarded for maintaining consistency in high quality films.
Hitchcock's interest and taste in cinema got more morbid as time progressed and he was, without doubt, one of the most famous movie directors with a macabre sense of humor, producing a style of film that significantly toyed with the human psyche.
He even hosted a popular thriller anthology TV show called 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents'. You might recognise the classic line: "until then, goodnight", which was concluding each episode.
Hitchcock was known to start and end the show with a joke, pleasantry, or remark that was most likely a quip, yet the constant in all of the episodes was this closing line.
With a net worth estimated to be over 200 million dollars, Alfred Hitchcock was not just successful but also hugely influential and a favorite of critics worldwide.
From funny Alfred Hitchcock quotes such as, "the length of a film should be directly related to the endurance of the human bladder" and "puns are the highest form of literature", to more profound observations such as, "what is drama, after all, but life with the dull bits cut out?
", there is an Alfred Hitchcock quote for everyone on this list.
We hope that you're going to find from this list some Alfred Hitchcock quotes that are to your liking. While you enjoy these, do also look at our Alice in Wonderland quotes and 'Alice Through the Looking Glass' quotes.
Classic Alfred Hitchcock Quotes For All
Here are a collection of famous movie quotes about Alfred Hitchcock for everyone. Some of these Alfred Hitchcock quotes are statements he has made, whilst others are lines from his hugely successful films. Which is your favorite of these classic Alfred Hitchcock quotes?
1. "I always try to tell a story in the cinematic way, through a succession of shots and bits of film in between."
-Alfred Hitchcock.
2. "I know what it is to feel lonely and helpless and to have the whole world against me."
-Alfred Hitchcock, 'The 39 Steps'.
3. "The only way for me to get rid of my fears is to make films about them."
-Alfred Hitchcock.
4. "A boy's best friend is his mother."
-Alfred Hitchcock, 'Psycho'.
5. "Self-plagiarism is style."
-Alfred Hitchcock.
6. "If I won’t be myself, who will?"
-Alfred Hitchcock.
7. "Reality is something that none of us can stand, at any time."
-Alfred Hitchcock.
8. "The silent pictures were the purest form of cinema."
-Alfred Hitchcock.
9. "Fear isn't so difficult to understand. After all, weren't we all frightened as children?"
-Alfred Hitchcock.
10. "We all go a little mad sometimes."
-Alfred Hitchcock, 'Psycho'.
11. "I have a feeling that inside you somewhere, there's somebody nobody knows about."
-Alfred Hitchcock.
12. "There is nothing to winning, really. That is if you happen to be blessed with a keen eye, an agile mind, and no scruples whatsoever."
-Alfred Hitchcock.
13. "I don't want to appear disloyal to television, but I think reading will be good for you."
-Alfred Hitchcock.
14. "The picture's over. Now I have to go and put it on film."
-Alfred Hitchcock.
15. "Making a film means, first of all, to tell a story. That story can be an improbable one, but it should never be banal. It must be dramatic and human."
-Alfred Hitchcock.
16. "In many of the films now being made, there is very little cinema; they are mostly what I call 'photographs of people talking'."
-Alfred Hitchcock.
17. "Never climb a fence if you can sit on it."
-Alfred Hitchcock, 'The Lady Vanishes'.
18. "Ideas come from everything."
-Alfred Hitchcock.
19. "I'm a typed director. If I made Cinderella, the audience would immediately be looking for a body in the coach."
-Alfred Hitchcock.
20. "The more successful the villain, the more successful the picture."
-Alfred Hitchcock.
Funny Alfred Hitchcock Quotes From Movies And The Man Himself
Here are some witty and famous Alfred Hitchcock quotes from and about his best work, including Alfred Hitchcock quotes about feature films, suspense and actors
21. "I'm a writer and therefore automatically a suspicious character."
-Alfred Hitchcock.
22. "The paperback is very interesting but I find it will never replace the hardcover book – it makes a very poor doorstop."
-Alfred Hitchcock.
23. "There is nothing quite so good as burial at sea. It is simple, tidy, and not very incriminating."
-Alfred Hitchcock.
24. "The length of a film should be directly related to the endurance of the human bladder."
-Alfred Hitchcock.
25. "Puns are the highest form of literature."
-Alfred Hitchcock.
26. "If it’s a good movie, the sound could go off and the audience would still have a perfectly clear idea of what was going on."
-Alfred Hitchcock.
27. "Really, the novelist has the best casting since he doesn't have to cope with the actors and all the rest."
-Alfred Hitchcock.
28. "I believe in putting the horror in the minds of the audience, and not necessarily on the screen."
-Alfred Hitchcock.
29. "Always make the audience suffer as much as possible."
-Alfred Hitchcock.
30. "I was an uncommonly unattractive young man."
-Alfred Hitchcock.
31. "In feature films the director is God; in documentary films, God is the director."
-Alfred Hitchcock.
32. "What is drama, after all, but life with the dull bits cut out?"
-Alfred Hitchcock.
33. "A good film is when the price of the dinner, the theatre admission, and the babysitter were worth it."
-Alfred Hitchcock.
34. "To make a great film you need three things – the script, the script and the script."
-Alfred Hitchcock.
35. "I'm not against the police; I'm just afraid of them."
-Alfred Hitchcock.
36. "I deny that I ever said actors are cattle. What I said was, 'Actors should be treated like cattle'."
-Alfred Hitchcock.
37. "Revenge is sweet and not fattening."
-Alfred Hitchcock.
38. "Deep inside, I am a shy man. And in the presence of colorful characters, I am a clam. I never try to out-eccentric the eccentrics!"
-Alfred Hitchcock.
39. "Kicking is very important in football. In fact, some of the more enthusiastic players even kick the ball, occasionally."
-Alfred Hitchcock.
40. "I’m frightened of eggs, worse than frightened, they revolt me."
-Alfred Hitchcock.
Thought Provoking Alfred Hitchcock Quotes
Here is a collection of thought provoking mystery and suspense quotes by Alfred Hitchcock.
41. "People don't always express their inner thoughts to one another; a conversation may be quite trivial, but often the eyes will reveal what a person really thinks or feels."
-Alfred Hitchcock.
42. "There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it."
-Alfred Hitchcock.
43. "A glimpse into the world proves that horror is nothing other than reality."
-Alfred Hitchcock.
44. "I can't read fiction without visualizing every scene. The result is it becomes a series of pictures rather than a book."
-Alfred Hitchcock.
45. "There is something more important than logic: imagination."
-Alfred Hitchcock.
46. "If it’s a good movie, the sound could go off and the audience would still have a perfectly clear idea of what was going on."
-Alfred Hitchcock.
47. "I've become a body of films; not a man, I am all those films."
-Alfred Hitchcock.
48. "I am, to provide the public with beneficial shocks."
-Alfred Hitchcock.
49. "If you can't do it naturally, then fake it."
-Alfred Hitchcock.
50. "Never turn your back on a friend."
-Alfred Hitchcock.
51. "Mystery is an intellectual process... But suspense is essentially an emotional process."
-Alfred Hitchcock.
52. "Nothing has changed since Little Red Riding Hood faced the Big Bad Wolf. What frightens us today is exactly the same sort of thing that frightened us yesterday. It's just a different wolf."
-Alfred Hitchcock.
53. "I would almost say that the best screen actor, is the man who can do nothing extremely well."
Alfred Hitchcock.
54. "I don't understand why we have to experiment with film. I think everything should be done on paper."
-Alfred Hitchcock.
55. "Conversation is the enemy of good wine and food."
-Alfred Hitchcock.
56. "Television is like the invention of indoor plumbing. It didn't change people's habits. It just kept them inside the house."
-Alfred Hitchcock.
57. "Love those wrongdoers, they need it more than you."
-Alfred Hitchcock.
58. "I have never known birds of different species to flock together. The very concept is unimaginable. Why, if that happened, we wouldn’t stand a chance!"
-Alfred Hitchcock.
59. "Actually, I have no regard for money. Aside from its purchasing power, it's completely useless as far as I'm concerned."
-Alfred Hitchcock.
60. "For me, suspense doesn't have any value if it's not balanced by humour."
-Alfred Hitchcock.
Essential Alfred Hitchcock Quotes
Here are some essential Alfred Hitchcock movie quotes including quotes from 'The Birds' and 'Rear Window' quotes.
61. "We seem to have a compulsion these days to bury time capsules in order to give those people living in the next century or so some idea of what we are like."
-Alfred Hitchcock.
62. "The Birds could be the most terrifying motion picture I have ever made."
-Alfred Hitchcock.
63. "I always take the audience into account."
-Alfred Hitchcock.
64. "Luck is everything… My good luck in life was to be a really frightened person. I’m fortunate to be a coward – to have a low threshold of fear – because a hero couldn’t make a good suspense film."
-Alfred Hitchcock.
65. "I'm full of fears and I do my best to avoid difficulties and any kind of complications. I like everything around me to be clear as crystal and completely calm."
-Alfred Hitchcock.
66. "Besides, I get into each picture I make, if only for a couple of seconds – so I'm probably a frustrated actor at heart myself."
-Alfred Hitchcock.
67. "Content, I am not interested in that at all. I don’t give a damn what the film is about. I am more interested in how to handle the material so as to create an emotion in the audience."
-Alfred Hitchcock.
68. "I'm not much into rear window ethics."
-Alfred Hitchcock.
69. "There is a distinct difference between suspense and surprise, and yet many pictures continually confuse the two."
-Alfred Hitchcock.
70. "I am scared easily, here is a list of my adrenaline-production: 1. Small children, 2. Policemen, 3. High places, 4. That my next movie will not be as good as the last one."
-Alfred Hitchcock.
71. "Let us say, rather, that actors are a necessary evil. As a matter of fact, I couldn't work if I weren't on friendly terms with them; I'll bend over backward every time."
-Alfred Hitchcock.
72. "To me, Psycho was a big comedy. Had to be."
-Alfred Hitchcock.
73. "When an actor comes to me and wants to discuss his character, I say, 'It's in the script.' If he says, 'But what's my motivation?', I say, 'Your salary.'"
-Alfred Hitchcock.
74. "I find too many people are interested in the content. If you were painting a still life of some apples on a plate, it’s like you’d be worrying whether the apples were sweet or sour. Who cares?"
-Alfred Hitchcock.
75. "Give them pleasure – the same pleasure they have when they wake up from a nightmare."
-Alfred Hitchcock.
76. "In the old days, villains had mustaches and kicked the dog. Audiences are smarter today. They don't want their villain to be thrown at them with green limelight on his face."
-Alfred Hitchcock.
77. "The first of the four is a film editor, the second is a scriptwriter, the third is the mother of my daughter Pat, and the fourth is as fine a cook as ever performed miracles in a domestic kitchen. And their names are Alma Reville."
-Alfred Hitchcock.
78. "Even my failures make money and become classics a year after I make them."
-Alfred Hitchcock.
79. "It's only a movie, and after all, we're all grossly overpaid."
-Alfred Hitchcock.
80. "When you can look forward, and the road is clear ahead, and now you are going to create something – that's as happy as I'd want to be."
-Alfred Hitchcock.
Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created and curated lots of interesting family-friendly quotes for everyone to enjoy!
If you liked our suggestions for the best Alfred Hitchcock quotes that every film fan must read, then why not take a look at our Anna Wintour quotes, or Christian Dior quotes to bring the quotes of these movie stars to life?
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A professional content writer hailing from Kolkata, India, with extensive experience in the corporate sector, Writvik Gupta has worked with several reputed companies, including ITC WelcomHotel Jodhpur, Bharti AXA Life Insurance, Aryan Imaging, and Eduquity. He also serves as a consultant for a startup based in Bangalore. With a passion for the outdoors, Writvik enjoys trekking and traveling to remote destinations. He also has a keen interest in exploring various cuisines and regularly volunteers for social causes.
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